Extreme Carnage

Extreme Carnage #1-8

by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Clay McLeod Chapman

Spider-Man and friends were pushed to the limits in MAXIMUM CARNAGE. The Marvel Universe barely survived ABSOLUTE CARNAGE. Now we’re taking symbiote chaos to the Extreme! As the dust continues to settle after the symbiote-redefining KING IN BLACK saga, Eddie and Dylan Brock aren’t the only ones adjusting to a new normal. The Life Foundation symbiotes — Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony — are trying to reconcile the sometimes noble intentions of their hosts with the all-too-often bloodthirsty impulses of their others! But another symbiote is facing a stunning reinvention as well…and that means Carnage! What will happen when the refreshed Carnage symbiote targets the rest one by one? Be here for an event that truly lives up to its name!

COLLECTING: Extreme Carnage Alpha (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Scream (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Phage (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Riot (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Lasher (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Agony (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage: Toxin (2021) 1, Extreme Carnage Omega (2021) 1

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Graphic Novels, Spider Man

200 pages, Paperback

Published February 22, 2022

About the author

Phillip Kennedy Johnson earned a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, where he served as Teaching Fellow for the Department of Jazz Studies, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastern Kentucky University. SFC Johnson has performed with the Lexington Philharmonic, Dallas Opera, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Moscow Ballet, and was a member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 2004 to 2005. SFC Johnson remains active as a composer, arranger, teacher, and clinician, and also enjoys a second career as a writer of comics and graphic novels. His work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, BOOM! Studios, and more.

Reviews

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extreme Carnage is basically a gimmick to cash in on the success of Donny Cates' Venom and the launch of the new movie, and even though I found the idea of having all these symbiotes featured on the same book quite attractive, after Venomverse, Absolute Carnage and King In Black, it ended up being too much, too soon for me, and apparently for the artists as well, because there were a lot of mistakes made on the design of the characters, Andi Benton for example was drawn with three completely different haircuts throughout the whole book, the symbiotes on the covers have different color schemes from the interior art, and more, there was a clear lack of communication between the creators of this book, and the result was another rushed, poorly executed graphic novel by Marvel, skip this one.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash is back and is living his life when he gets pulled into an insane symbiote war with Carnage supposedly taking over Peter Krane's body and allying with Friends of humanity to pits humans and symbiotes against each other but turns out there are things happening with all the life foundation symbiotes and so we follow them all as Toxin and then Silence comes in and they fight the different symbiotes and we get stories about each of them following them in different issues like Phage, Lasher, Riot and Agony. Most of these origins were boring and uninteresting but the one with Agony and her host Gemma was interesting.

Then the eventual war and we find out who the host of carnage really is and its surprising and the war of good vs evil, the coming of Iron man and his new extrembiote armor (got it in king in black and the big war) and the eventual get away and a promise to a continuation of the story maybe?

Most of the issues in this were not bad and were readable and some good origins and twists with Carnage and scream and I love the way the story unfolds and gives a new status quo for symbiotes as to how people are scared of them now more than ever and it hits home on real world politics but its subtle and I like that. Though the art varies and it can be a bit frustrating but overall its okay and a good one time read and a great one if you like the life foundation symbiotes.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically what you would expect from a Symbiote related book.
It did hold my interest ..a new Carnage appears seems to be ongoing..and Flash Thompson is back

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carnage is dead, long live...Extreme Carnage! The worst symbiote this side of Knull has returned, and he's all about family this time. He's attempting to recruit as many of his wayward symbiote brethren as possible, but the newly resurrected Flash Thompson isn't about to let him do that without a fight. And where does Andi Benton, now Scream, fit into all this?

Extreme Carnage is one of those 'you can probably read the Alpha and the Omega and get the whole story' type stories. The one-shots in the middle move the plot along like a glacier, instead telling side-plots about the symbiotes they're named after and how they fit into Carnage's grander plan. There's a throughline, especially involving new symbiote Silence, but it's not really enough to justify all the middle stuff when the big developments happen in the bookend issues.

I am glad that Scream's story wasn't just thrown away after the impromptu cancelling of her ongoing, so that's nice, and there's a reveal late in the game that I didn't see coming which I always appreciate, but Carnage's plot never really hits home, especially given his last plan was Absolute Carnage. I'm not expecting something like that again, but this seems a little more cerebral for Carnage, which could backfire if it's not handled properly going forward.

I don't remember any of the art here being particularly good or bad, but I've just looked at the individual issues again and Chris Mooneyham unfortunately returns for some of these issues, so there's that. Some of the other artists include Manuel Garcia on the bookend issues, and Gerardo Sandoval on two stories, who's no stranger to symbiote stories.

If you're missing your symbiote fix, then Extreme Carnage isn't a bad place to get it, but there are definitely better ones elsewhere.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Marvel Universe, the name "Carnage" is becoming synonymous with chaotic and extremely violent storylines. Not that this is a change from how it's always been, but with the symbiote focus of the huge crossovers "Absolute Carnage" and "King in Black", our symbiotes are well known to many now. This story, "Extreme Carnage" is merely the follow up and reset of the character for next time.
The story is straightforward. The recent events have brought the Friends of Humanity to light again, this time using the symbiote stuff to rally the call against aliens (which since they are usually against mutants was a nice change of pace). Carnage, still present in the void, which is an aspect of the hivemind that all symbiotes share, gathers his forces (Phage, Riot, Lasher, Agony) to fight against the symbiotes who oppose him (Anti-Venom, Toxin, and Scream, who has been rebonded and altered to be more anti, now calling herself Silence) The fight ends much like you'd expect, except this time when Carnage gets away, he takes Tony Stark's symbiote fighter, the Extrembiote, which is a hybrid of symbiote and Extremis. This will be very bad when it comes back around.
I love Carnage. He's such a crazy and chaotic character. He'll be back... and I'll be ready.
Recommend. Definitely something to end the "trilogy" it is part of.

[Lillian Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was a bit of a mess.
It felt like cashing in on the recent success of Cates Venom run. But it was too soon after the whole King in Black storyline for me. I could have forgiven all that because the idea of all the life foundation symbiotes in one book really appealed to me but the execution was poor.
The story felt confused at the start and rushed at the end. And while all the art was pretty good, there was no consistency to the characters' style. I appreciate this was probably crafted in lockdown but how hard can it be to talk to fellow contributors and share design details.
I liked certain individual issues but overall, a missed opportunity.

[Mark Metzler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art was decent. Story had potential the went nowhere and abruptly ended in like 6 pages. It may be foundational to more, but really...?

[Linus Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about Carnage’s kids and Carnage. You only see Venom once in the book. Carnage takes over a bunch of things and a lot of people get killed.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si algo ha demostrado Cletus Kassady, es que es imposible acabar con él. Ni aunque quede una mínima brizna de su ser y locura en lo que ahora conocemos como la mente colectiva de la raza simbionte tras el truncado plan del retorno de KNULL. Y así, una nueva amenaza sangrienta puede cernirse sobre el planeta, que aún está asimilando ese ataque de criaturas ponzoñosas alienígenas. Llegando a ser esto incluso un nuevo objetivo para el movimiento político de la Amigos de la Humanidad. Pero no todos los simbiontes y sus anfitriones son malvados, ¿no?

Como una coda a toda la saga de Venom y King In Black de Donny Cates, este Extreme Carnage hace coincidir a varios simbiontes extendidos de Matanza y Venom en respectivos bandos de los inminentes planes de Cletus. Phillip Kennedy Johnson arquitrama el inicio y desenlace pero el grueso está en diferentes one shots dedicados en esencia a cada simbionte en particular que en conjunto establecen ese gusto y estilo de espéctaculo de acción sanguinolenta que Marvel Comics ha dejado promover en torno a la relevancia de Matanza. Hay historias y personajes que interesan más que otras. Artistas que casan mejor en ese estilo general tirando a "feísta" para aumentar la sensación de grotesquería anti heroíca. Sí que se lamenta que la propuesta de derivar la amenaza social usualmente anti mutante al ámbito alien simbionte y la implicación de Tony Stark se sientan tan anecdóticas. Pero en el conjunto de la acción extrema, sí que el título justifica bien la propuesta y el rato de lectura.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a interesting microcosm of a event crossover. Readers milage will vary completely on if they have any investment in all the symbiotes spawned in the last 20 years, and if they have any attachment to Flash Thompson and Andi. While it really feels like a bridge to more stories to come, it does move pieces around, and gives me just enough of a reunion and cool moments to make me happy I read it. Seeing Agent Venom again makes me happy, seeing Flash and Andi reunite after the venom book got cut short and only Bunn seemed to care about Andi, and having this sorta give Carnage a new place without his original host makws this worth at least taking a look at.

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

what could have been a solid enough mini is hindered by its random grab bag of writers (good and bad) and its focus on one-shots focusing on all the different symbiotes... most of which are not very interesting or memorable at all, and in doing so, removes focus from the characters that should be the main characters, all while slowing the story to a crawl
an extreme letdown compared to absolute carnage or king in black

[Joey Amorim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty big misfire from Marvel here. They obviously rushed this out because Absolute Carnage was a big hit and Venom 2 was coming out. The hodgepodge of artists and writers leaves this book a complete mess. What makes it even more disappointing is that it totally squanders the return of Flash Thompson as Agent Anti-Venom. Don’t even bother with this one.

[Darren-lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was quite basic, but the artwork was pretty good...

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Symbiote event! Fairly typical and as expected.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The symbiotes are some of the most disturbing villains that I've come across in comics. Some great variety in the hive though.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was incredibly silly and the art was very inconsistent but despite all of that I still had a pretty damn good time.

[Gaspar Machado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why does Hank lose melanin for a little bit

oh and why do they not spend any time on Flash and Andi reuniting? After all the struggle she had after the former died?

[Nunya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like what comes of this story, but this in and of itself is pretty alright.

There are some terrible things that I would let Gemma Shin do to me.

[Anja von "books and phobia" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spätestens nach den Venom-Filmen, war mein Interesse für die Symbionten geweckt. Egal ob in „King in Black“ oder Storys zu einzelnen Symbionten, ich war stets gespannt, was hier zu erleben gab. Als ich dann diesen Band entdeckte war ich sofort neugierig, denn immerhin sollte es hier gleich um mehrere Symbionten gehen, unter denen dann auch Scream war, welche übrigens mein Lieblingssymbiont ist.

Die anfängliche Handlung erinnerte mich sehr an Civil War, denn hier sprach sich eine Partei gegen Außerirdische aus. Wie man der Kurzbeschreibung entnehmen kann, hatte man es aber vorallem auf Symbionten abgesehen, was übrigens später niemanden mehr überraschen dürfte.

Für das Lesen des Bandes sollte man auf jeden Fall ein wenig Hintergrundwissen besitzen. Zwar kommen die Symbionten kapitelweise dazu, doch aufgeklärt, wer sie genau sind, wird man hier nicht. Es geht eher darum zu zeigen, wie sie als Kollektiv miteinander verbunden sind und wie sich das auf ihre Wirte auswirkt. Doch selbst das war ziemlich spannend, zumal ja nun der politische Kampf gegen sie erfolgte.

Dieser Kampf war stellenweise sehr schnell und dann auch leicht unübersichtlich. Die Story selbst gefiel mir jedoch, denn neben Kämpfen bot sie auch emotionale Schicksale und interessante Wendungen und Verwandlungen. Sie hätte aus meiner Sicht aber ruhig noch ein wenig extremer sein können. Bei der Optik war ich hin- und hergerissen, denn diese schwankte stets zwischen krakelig und sauber gezeichnet. Gerade manche Gesichter wirkten dadurch unnötig verzerrt.

Fazit:

So extreme war „Extreme Carnage“ garnicht. Tatsächlich bekam man hier eine recht leichte Handlung, bei welcher es vorallem um das kollektive Wesen der Symbionten ging. Das war auch spannend, aber einen einheitlicheren und weniger krakeligen Stil, hätte der doch recht schnellen Story gutgetan.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you like symbiotes?

We had a massive symbiote saga in the 'King In Black' crossover. We had Venomized heroes. There's also been the Venomverse. That's just the Venom-centric stories. Dig deeper and we get stories that go even farther back. We've had (so far): Maximum Carnage, Absolute Carnage, and now Extreme Carnage...

This collection follows the events of 'King In Black'. Carnage has been killed...again. Elsewhere, a weird siren call has gone out to what remains of the symbiotes on Earth. The recently resurrected Flash Thompson (aka Agent Anti-Venom), the Life Foundation symbiotes, and even Carnage's offspring, Toxin feel the push. Don't remember the Life Foundation symbiotes? Yea, not many people do. They're symbiotes that were forcibly made from Venom and bonded with people to become 'super soldiers'. Didn't work out well.
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This feels like a 'clean up' story. There's SO many dangly plots in the symbiote story that you got to get something out there to do the dirty work.

Bonus: Hell marks come in handy. Thanks Mephisto!
Bonus Bonus:shout out to Doppelganger. Rarely seen since the Maximum Carnage days