History ComicBook / MaximumCarnage

* CListFodder: The huge cast features quite a few obscure names, though only a few die. Doppelganger tops the list. He was a throwaway mook created for the ''Infinity War'' crossover, but he stayed around due to his interesting visuals and got folded into Carnage's crazy serial killer family.

* UnexplainedRecovery: The Carnage symbiote was believed destroyed, but reemerges after hiding in its host's bloodstream. Similarly, it is seemingly annihilated several times during the story, but always bounces back. In a more traditional example, [[spoiler: Dagger is killed by Shriek early on, but comes back toward the end]], with an explanation that seems dubious even by comic book standards.

* WhatTheHellHero: Weird example, where the Black Cat berates Spider-Man for taking time to address lesser crimes and emergencies instead of single-mindedly pursuing Carnage, including one instances where she yells at him for ''saving her life''. In practice, all she was really saying is that Spider-Man should try to take on a bunch of villains he clearly wasn't qualified to fight. Venom also encourages Spidey to pursue Carnage rather than help him (Spider-Man, amusingly, chooses to do neither).

Carnage recruits C-list villains Shriek, Doppelganger, Carrion, and Demogoblin, while Spidey teams up with (deep breath) Comicbook/{{Venom}}, [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Firestar]], Black Cat, Comicbook/CloakAndDagger, [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]], Deathlok, Nightwatch, ComicBook/{{Morbius}}, and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.

* WomenInRefrigerators: Played straight or subverted, depending on your point of view. [[spoiler: On the one hand, Dagger gets better, so perhaps a subversion, but then again, DeathIsCheap, so maybe the resurrection doesn't undermine the trope, since such things are so common they're almost a given.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maximum_carnage_title.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Paint the town red!]]

At its best, the story is a [[TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] [[{{Deconstruction}} self-critique]], forcing Spidey to face an implacable killer who -- as the prologue establishes -- is irredeemably evil and [[FromASingleCell can no longer be stripped of his alien symbiont]]. Coincidentally, it also served as a push for Venom, who butts heads with Peter over whether to bring Carnage in [[ARealManIsAKiller dead or alive]], and the villain consequently [[{{Padding}} eludes their grasp several times]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many fans interpreted the story as an attempt to push Spider-Man in this direction. As a counterpoint, author J.M. [=DeMatteis=] insists that the purpose of the event was completely the opposite and that they were trying to tell a story about old-fashioned SilverAge morality butting heads with the violent 90s nihilism, with the story ultimately vindicating the former. Despite some blatantly {{Anvilicious}} moralizing, few interpreted it as such.

The event was poorly received and, in hindsight, marked the beginning of a [[DorkAge downward spiral]] in quality in the ''Spider-Man'' books over the next several years. In fact, the whole thing might have faded into obscurity if it hadn't been unexpectedly adapted into a surprisingly popular beat 'em up game for the SegaGenesis and SuperNES, published by Creator/{{LJN|Toys}}. The game allowed players to control either Spider-Man or Venom, and featured the rest of the hero cast as summonable power-ups. A surprising amount of attention was paid to accurately recreating the comic, including levels modeled after scenes from individual issues, and villains' vulnerabilities or resistances to certain attacks.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Venom is one of the ultimate exemplars of this trope, a "reformed" villain who shows almost no heroic qualities and can be considered a hero only by contrast with the Complete Monsters he fights. Morbius follows this formula to a tee as well. Though Deathlok's origins are in the 70s, by this point he's morphed into a textbook RobLiefeld design, right down to the shoulder pads, and Nightwatch is typical of the many shadowy mystery men who populated hero comics at that time. Cloak goes off the deep end for most of this tale as well, but perhaps in his case it's a JustifiedTrope, given that he's [[spoiler: coping with extreme grief and survivor guilt]] and that he comes to his senses by the end.

When demi-alien supervillain ComicBook/{{Carnage}} escapes from incarceration and gathers a cadre of similarly murderous superpowered followers, the motley crew go on rampage through New York City, sparking mass rioting and mob violence. Spider-Man teams up with a voluminous number of guest stars (including one-time foe Venom) to stem the tide of violence and recapture Carnage.

The event was poorly received and, in hindsight, marked the beginning of a [[DorkAge downward spiral]] in quality in the ''Spider-Man'' books over the next several years. In fact, the whole thing might have faded into obscurity if it hadn't been unexpectedly adapted into a surprisingly popular beat 'em up game for the SegaGenesis and SuperNES, published by {{LJN|Toys}}. The game allowed players to control either Spider-Man or Venom, and featured the rest of the hero cast as summonable power-ups. A surprising amount of attention was paid to accurately recreating the comic, including levels modeled after scenes from individual issues, and villains' vulnerabilities or resistances to certain attacks.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Spider-Man, Captain America, and Firestar are good, Carnage and all are bad. Very bad. Period. Some BlackAndGrayMorality creeps in, since several of Spidey's allies are former villains and anti-heroes who come to loggerheads with him over their more violent methods (it was the [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks 90s after all]]), but the creators insist the story was really intended as a TakeThat against such material.

* OldShame: A lot of people involved didn't like the story. [[http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/2008/03/part-11.html In fact, many people involved referred to it as]] "[[CreatorBacklash Maximum]] [[WriterRevolt Garbage]]".

When demi-alien supervillain Carnage escapes from incarceration and gathers a cadre of similarly murderous superpowered followers, the motley crew go on rampage through New York City, sparking mass rioting and mob violence. Spider-Man teams up with a voluminous number of guest stars (including one-time foe Venom) to stem the tide of violence and recapture Carnage.

* [[GoKartingWithBowser Making A Sidekick With Venom]]: Spider-Man. He repeated this once more in another arc, ''Seperation Anxiety''.

** EvilerThanThou [[EvilCounterpart Counterpart]]: Carnage, who Spider-Man calls a "twisted" version of Venom (who is already pretty twisted himself). Also, Demogoblin is supposed to be an ''even more'' evil version of the Hobgoblin, though the latter does not appear in this story.

* CareBearStare: How the heroes win. Yes, really.

* AbnormalAmmo: The sonic gun fires, well, sonic rays, and the heroes' secret weapon harms the bad guys by (wait for it) shooting ''positive emotions'' at them. Apparently, Demogoblin had a similar idea much earlier, because in Part 3, he blasts Spidey with a pumpkin grenade that covers him in ''sadness'' (or something. It's really not clear what the hell is going on here).

The event was poorly received and, in hindsight, marked the beginning of a [[DorkAge downward spiral]] in quality in the ''Spider-Man'' books over the next several years. In fact, the whole thing might have faded into obscurity if it hadn't been unexpectedly adapted into a surprisingly popular beat 'em up game for the SegaGenesis and SuperNES, Which was published by {{LJN|Toys}}. The game allowed players to control either Spider-Man or Venom, and featured the rest of the hero cast as summonable power-ups. A surprising amount of attention was paid to accurately recreating the comic, including levels modeled after scenes from individual issues, and villains' vulnerabilities or resistances to certain attacks.

'''''Maximum Carnage''''' was a 14-part comic book crossover event in 1993. The story spanned every ComicBook/{{SpiderMan}} title released that summer, three issues apiece of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''Web of Spider-Man'', and ''Spider-Man'', plus two new ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' issues that bookended the story.

'''''Maximum Carnage''''' was a 14-part comic book crossover event in 1993. The story spanned every {{Spider-Man}} title released that summer, three issues apiece of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''Web of Spider-Man'', and ''Spider-Man'', plus two new ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' issues that bookended the story.

Carnage recruits C-list villains Shriek, Doppelganger, Carrion, and Demogoblin, while Spidey teams up with (deep breath) Comicbook/{{Venom}}, [[NewWarriors Firestar]], Black Cat, Comicbook/CloakAndDagger, [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]], Deathlok, Nightwatch, ComicBook/{{Morbius}}, and CaptainAmerica.

At its best, the story is a SilverAge [[{{Deconstruction}} self-critique]], forcing Spidey to face an implacable killer who -- as the prologue establishes -- is irredeemably evil and [[FromASingleCell can no longer be stripped of his alien symbiont]]. Coincidentally, it also served as a push for Venom, who butts heads with Peter over whether to bring Carnage in [[ARealManIsAKiller dead or alive]], and the villain consequently [[{{Padding}} eludes their grasp several times]].

The event was poorly received and, in hindsight, marked the beginning of a [[DorkAge downward spiral]] in quality in the Spider-Man books over the next several years. In fact, the whole thing might have faded into obscurity if it hadn't been unexpectedly adapted into a surprisingly popular beat 'em up game for the SegaGenesis and SuperNES, Which was published by {{LJN|Toys}}. The game allowed players to control either Spider-Man or Venom, and featured the rest of the hero cast as summonable power-ups. A surprising amount of attention was paid to accurately recreating the comic, including levels modeled after scenes from individual issues, and villains' vulnerabilities or resistances to certain attacks.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Spider-Man, Captain America, and Firestar are good, Carnage and all are bad. Very bad. Period. Some BlackAndGrayMorality creeps in, since several of Spidey's allies are former villains and anti-heroes who come to loggerheads with him over their more violent methods (it was the [[DarkAge 90s after all]]), but the creators insist the story was really intended as a TakeThat against such material.

* TheCavalry: 2/3rds into the story, the villains have captured Venom and are long gone, leaving the battered heroes defeated. As Spider-Man tries to get back up, he suddenly sees an outstretched hand.

* CListFodder: The huge cast features quite a few obscure names, though only a few die.
** Doppelganger tops the list. He was a throwaway mook created for the ''Infinity War'' crossover, but he stayed around due to his interesting visuals and got folded into Carnage's crazy serial killer family.

The series provides examples of:

''Maximum Carnage'' was a 14-part comic book crossover event in 1993. The story spanned every {{Spider-Man}} title released that summer, three issues apiece of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''Web of Spider-Man'', and ''Spider-Man'', plus two new ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' issues that bookended the story.

* SupermanStaysOutOfGotham: Carnage's gang is wreaking all sorts of havoc, the {{Avengers}} (save Captain America, who shows up towards the end), the ComicBook/XMen or other major heroes are conveniently not around. The ComicBook/FantasticFour are also no-shows, but their absence serves a minor plot-point: Spidey having to break into their headquarters to get their sonic weapon.

Carnage recruits C-list villains Shriek, Doppelganger, Carrion, and Demogoblin, while Spidey teams up with (deep breath) Comicbook/{{Venom}}, [[NewWarriors Firestar]], Black Cat, Comicbook/CloakAndDagger, [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]], Deathlok, Nightwatch, {{Morbius}}, and CaptainAmerica.