30 years ago in 1993, the now classic Spider-Man epic 'Maximum Carnage' pitted the Friendly Neighborhood Wall-Crawler against one of his most deadly foes ever, Cletus Kasady, AKA Carnage.
Now, on the milestone anniversary of that story, Marvel Comics is bringing Carnage back into Spidey's web for another bloodthirsty battle - but this time, he's facing off with Peter Parker's protege, Miles Morales.
Told across seven chapters in the current Carnage ongoing title as well as the recently relaunched Miles Morales: Spider-Man, the story is titled Carnage Reigns. The story kicks off with a Carnage Reigns Alpha one-shot co-written by Red Goblin writer Alex Paknadel, who also takes over as guest writer of the Carnage ongoing series for the crossover, and ongoing Miles Morales writer Cody Ziglar, with art from Julius Ohta.
Regular Miles Morales artist Federico Vicentini and Carnage's ongoing artist Francesco Manna will then draw the bulk of the story, which will also tie into an issue of Paknadel and artist Jan Bazaldua's Red Goblin title. It'll then wrap up in a Carnage Reigns Omega one-shot from the Carnage Reigns Alpha creative team.
"Cletus Kasady is back and badder than ever," reads Marvel's official announcement of Carnage Reigns. "With his soul trapped within the Extrembiote Armor created by Tony Stark during King in Black, Cletus has the means to level an untold amount of chaos and, well, carnage on New York City and the entire Marvel Universe."
"But like any good Tony Stark invention, the Extremis coursing through Cletus’ symbiotic veins needs POWER, and that means Cletus is HUNGRY," it continues. "Good thing Brooklyn’s very own Spider-Man is there to stand in his way! If he survives their first encounter, that is."
Carnage Reigns Alpha #1 kicks off the story on May 3, followed by chapter two in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #6 on May 17, and chapter three in Carnage #13 on May 31 - and of course, the whole thing ties into Marvel's Summer of Symbiotes event.
Does Carnage deserve a place among the best Spider-Man villains of all time?
