Throwback Thursday: The Destructive Power of Carnage
Apr 14, 2022
Carnage is a symbiote created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley as a more dangerous version of Venom. The supervillain who is Venom’s archenemy and a regular adversary for Spider-Man debuted as a cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man #359 (February 1992), followed by his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992).
It has similar abilities to Venom, but with some differences because it gestated on Earth. The symbiote gives Cletus Kasady strength greater than Venom and Spider-Man. It can shapeshift to make a web-like substance and weapons, such as knives, axes, and darts. It can shift its appendages into different ones, including wings, and can use tendrils to plant suggestions into a person’s mind.
Carnage can adjust the hardness, texture, and size of the symbiote. Not only does this come in handy for battle, Carnage can make the symbiote look like clothing on Kasady so he can go out in public.
It has powers similar to Spider-Man since the Venom symbiote had bonded to Peter Parker. It can cling to nearly all surfaces to walk, crawl, or run nearly anywhere and has a power similar to the spider-sense in which it can anticipate threats coming from any angle.
Since they are connected, Carnage protects Kasady from the most extreme injuries or ailments. It can regenerate body parts that have been destroyed and Kasady is immune to all Earthly infections or diseases. The symbiote can also adapt to extreme environments, like when the Sentry took Carnage to space and the symbiote developed a way for his human side to breathe.
Spidey’s spider-sense does not detect Carnage and it can block Venom from sensing or tracking it. It has shown the ability to call severed parts of its body back to the main symbiote.
Carnage doesn’t have many weaknesses. Like Venom, it is vulnerable to sound (though not as acutely) and is harmed by heat (to a higher degree).
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Parental Advisory
Carnage slashes his way into his own Epic Collection! When the offspring of Eddie Brock's alien symbiote bonds with Brock's psychopathic former cellmate, Cletus Kasady, the result is the most deranged and bloodthirsty foe Spider-Man has ever faced! Against the remorseless killer that is Carnage, Spidey must do the unthinkable and forge an alliance with Venom! But Carnage soon gathers some fiendish friends of his own: Carrion, Demogoblin, Shriek and the evil six-armed Spider-Man Doppelganger! And now a small army of heroes - including Spidey, Captain America, Iron Fist, Black Cat, Cloak and Dagger, Morbius and Venom - must hit the streets in a desperate bid to stop Maximum Carnage! Collecting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #361-363 and #378-380, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #101-103, SPIDER-MAN (1990) #35-37, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #201-203 and material from SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED (1993) #1-2 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #28.
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This article originally appeared in Gemstone Publishing’s e-newsletter Scoop.
