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Venom: Miniseries
Venom: Carnage Unleashed
Venom stars in tales of violence and vengeance! When the video game "Carnage Unleashed" becomes a hit, it provides the psychopathic Cletus Kasady with the opportunity to gain his freedom -and renew his sadistic reign of terror on the streets! The only way to stop a bad symbiote? A good(ish) symbiote! Blood will flow as Venom takes on Carnage! Then, when killer vigilante Sin-Eater strikes, Eddie Brock's ex-wife is caught in the crossfire. To survive, must she become the bride of Venom? Plus, Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider must stand by Eddie's side when an alien invasion threatens to turn Earth into the Planet of the Symbiotes!
Collecting Venom: Carnage Unleashed #1-4, Venom: Sinner Takes All #1-5; and material from Amazing Spider-Man Super Special, Spider-Man Super Special, Venom Super Special, Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special and Web of Spider-Man Super Special.
Collecting Venom: Carnage Unleashed #1-4, Venom: Sinner Takes All #1-5; and material from Amazing Spider-Man Super Special, Spider-Man Super Special, Venom Super Special, Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special and Web of Spider-Man Super Special.
413 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1996
About the author
Larry Hama
1,649 books124 followersLarry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 24, 2019
Definitely could have done without the Jury Duty stuff at the end but other than that this was a fantastic graphic novel!
July 18, 2018
Venom: Carnage Unleashed is not my favorite Venom graphic novel, but it has some damn good stories in it, but it also has one really bad one. Luckily, the worst of it comes right at the beginning, leaving the rest of the collection with the better stories to enjoy. Don't be scared off by the poor start to this one, for the latter stories are some of the better Venom stories around and should be read by anyone looking for the best of this great character.
The aptly named Venom: Carnage Unleashed starts off with – what else? – Carnage Unleashed...and it's bad! I wish they titled this graphic novel something else because headlining such a bad Venom story does nothing but get people's hopes high only to be viciously let down by the crap that transpires immediately thereafter. So Venom has been a rather odd comic series so far; it is safe to say that his stories can get pretty weird even by comic book standards. But Carnage Unleashed is just plain dumb. Carnage has a video game released in his honor (because people definitely do that) and Cletus Kasady wants in on the madness. He manages to...upload himself into the video game with his symbiote...Makes no sense, but that's not why this limited series sucks. Rather, it is because it advertises a fight between Venom and Carnage that never materializes the way it is portrayed on the cover. They only start fighting in the fourth issue out of four, so three issues were wasted setting up this terrible plot. Once they do fight, it is as bland an affair as they come, hardly worth the price of admission. Not to mention, the writing is abysmal this time around. I don't claim that Venom comics were ever written all that great to begin with, but this is a new low for the series. The dialogue is unnatural and riddled with nonexistent “cool radical '90s slang” to appease the tubular dudes reading this comic back when everything required some degree of extremeness, but all it manages to do is make it feel very dated and read like a drag. So much for an epic Venom-Carnage fight. Skip this one if you only have a moderate interest in Venom because reading this might make you think twice about ever reading another issue. For a far superior fight between these two characters, look up Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage.
Next up is Sinner Takes All, and this is one of the best standalone Venom stories since Separation Anxiety. This limited series marks the return of Sin-Eater, the villain that can be traced back to Eddie Brock's earliest days as a journalist, far before he ever became the villainous Venom. It was his story on the Sin-Eater that caused Brock to lose his job (for which he nonsensically blamed Spider-Man, but that is beside the point), so things get personal for Venom when he attempts to bring this new Sin-Eater to justice. Sinner Takes All is a vast improvement in every arena where Carnage Unleashed failed. For one, its action is great – better than the pathetic Carnage fight previously thrown at us – and it showcases Venom getting put through the ringer by this worthy adversary. I also really like how Venom feels like a real hero this time around due to how seriously he takes his role as a protector, whereas in other comics he came off as wanting to be good but easily let his dark side get the best of him, thus negating that shift from anti-hero to full-blown hero. There is also a very interesting twist involving Ann Weying, Eddie Brock's ex-wife who has not made an appearance in a long time. Overall, this was a great read, but I suggest reading Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff beforehand in order to feel the full weight of the Sin-Eater's return for Venom.
The third story included in this collection is Planet of the Symbiotes, easily the best story of the bunch. I was surprised that this story was included because it is slated to get its own graphic novel release later this year, but I'm glad I got to read it early in this form. I won't divulge too much in this review about why I loved this Venom story so much (I did a separate review for the storyline under the Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes listing on Goodreads), but I will say that it saved the entire graphic novel from being average.
To conclude this graphic novel, a couple of supplemental stories were added in that were originally printed along with Sinner Takes All and Planet of the Symbiotes limited series. Rather than having these independent narratives break the flow of those aforementioned story arcs, they were removed from those sections and instead placed as their own stories in the back of the book. I prefer the compartmentalization of these stories because they work better as their own sections as opposed to mini tangents dispersed throughout several issues in other storylines. Anyways, the first story is very short and touches upon the symbiote costume back when it was attached to Spider-Man. All this story shows is that the symbiote had a mind of its own and used Spider-Man's body as a vessel through which it satiated its desire to fight. The unaware Spider-Man also comes across Jean DeWolff in this story, expanding upon their relationship as fellow crime-fighters. Not a necessary inclusion, but not a waste of paper either.
The other supplemental story reintroduces the Jury, who are Venom antagonists from way back in Venom: Lethal Protector. They have changed since their last encounter with Venom, and this mini story shows the process by which one becomes a member of this elite group. We follow a newly inducted Jury member who actually shares a past with Venom, but not a good one. Her husband, a guard at the Vault prison, was killed when he released the prisoners as part of his escape. Ever since, she had been waiting for her chance to join the group that was founded specifically to take down that symbiotic madman. The process to join the Jury is arduous and tests the limits of its members to ensure their fullest dedication to their cause. Though Venom is not present in this story, I liked seeing the continuity of other Venom stories expanded upon in greater detail; it adds to the Venom mythos and builds his own personal universe outside of the one he shares with Spider-Man. To get the most out of this particular story, read Venom: Lethal Protector and Venom: Deathtrap, The Vault.
Venom: Carnage Unleashed bats three out of four, and that's pretty good, especially considering that two of those three are top-of-the-line Venom outings. I wish this graphic novel was titled after Sinner Takes All, a far more deserving story arc for the headliner than the pitifully misleading Carnage Unleashed. Ignoring the one dark spot in this collection, the stories this graphic novel has to offer are in keeping with the high quality of the previous entries in the Venom line of comics and is worth picking up.
The aptly named Venom: Carnage Unleashed starts off with – what else? – Carnage Unleashed...and it's bad! I wish they titled this graphic novel something else because headlining such a bad Venom story does nothing but get people's hopes high only to be viciously let down by the crap that transpires immediately thereafter. So Venom has been a rather odd comic series so far; it is safe to say that his stories can get pretty weird even by comic book standards. But Carnage Unleashed is just plain dumb. Carnage has a video game released in his honor (because people definitely do that) and Cletus Kasady wants in on the madness. He manages to...upload himself into the video game with his symbiote...Makes no sense, but that's not why this limited series sucks. Rather, it is because it advertises a fight between Venom and Carnage that never materializes the way it is portrayed on the cover. They only start fighting in the fourth issue out of four, so three issues were wasted setting up this terrible plot. Once they do fight, it is as bland an affair as they come, hardly worth the price of admission. Not to mention, the writing is abysmal this time around. I don't claim that Venom comics were ever written all that great to begin with, but this is a new low for the series. The dialogue is unnatural and riddled with nonexistent “cool radical '90s slang” to appease the tubular dudes reading this comic back when everything required some degree of extremeness, but all it manages to do is make it feel very dated and read like a drag. So much for an epic Venom-Carnage fight. Skip this one if you only have a moderate interest in Venom because reading this might make you think twice about ever reading another issue. For a far superior fight between these two characters, look up Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage.
Next up is Sinner Takes All, and this is one of the best standalone Venom stories since Separation Anxiety. This limited series marks the return of Sin-Eater, the villain that can be traced back to Eddie Brock's earliest days as a journalist, far before he ever became the villainous Venom. It was his story on the Sin-Eater that caused Brock to lose his job (for which he nonsensically blamed Spider-Man, but that is beside the point), so things get personal for Venom when he attempts to bring this new Sin-Eater to justice. Sinner Takes All is a vast improvement in every arena where Carnage Unleashed failed. For one, its action is great – better than the pathetic Carnage fight previously thrown at us – and it showcases Venom getting put through the ringer by this worthy adversary. I also really like how Venom feels like a real hero this time around due to how seriously he takes his role as a protector, whereas in other comics he came off as wanting to be good but easily let his dark side get the best of him, thus negating that shift from anti-hero to full-blown hero. There is also a very interesting twist involving Ann Weying, Eddie Brock's ex-wife who has not made an appearance in a long time. Overall, this was a great read, but I suggest reading Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff beforehand in order to feel the full weight of the Sin-Eater's return for Venom.
The third story included in this collection is Planet of the Symbiotes, easily the best story of the bunch. I was surprised that this story was included because it is slated to get its own graphic novel release later this year, but I'm glad I got to read it early in this form. I won't divulge too much in this review about why I loved this Venom story so much (I did a separate review for the storyline under the Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes listing on Goodreads), but I will say that it saved the entire graphic novel from being average.
To conclude this graphic novel, a couple of supplemental stories were added in that were originally printed along with Sinner Takes All and Planet of the Symbiotes limited series. Rather than having these independent narratives break the flow of those aforementioned story arcs, they were removed from those sections and instead placed as their own stories in the back of the book. I prefer the compartmentalization of these stories because they work better as their own sections as opposed to mini tangents dispersed throughout several issues in other storylines. Anyways, the first story is very short and touches upon the symbiote costume back when it was attached to Spider-Man. All this story shows is that the symbiote had a mind of its own and used Spider-Man's body as a vessel through which it satiated its desire to fight. The unaware Spider-Man also comes across Jean DeWolff in this story, expanding upon their relationship as fellow crime-fighters. Not a necessary inclusion, but not a waste of paper either.
The other supplemental story reintroduces the Jury, who are Venom antagonists from way back in Venom: Lethal Protector. They have changed since their last encounter with Venom, and this mini story shows the process by which one becomes a member of this elite group. We follow a newly inducted Jury member who actually shares a past with Venom, but not a good one. Her husband, a guard at the Vault prison, was killed when he released the prisoners as part of his escape. Ever since, she had been waiting for her chance to join the group that was founded specifically to take down that symbiotic madman. The process to join the Jury is arduous and tests the limits of its members to ensure their fullest dedication to their cause. Though Venom is not present in this story, I liked seeing the continuity of other Venom stories expanded upon in greater detail; it adds to the Venom mythos and builds his own personal universe outside of the one he shares with Spider-Man. To get the most out of this particular story, read Venom: Lethal Protector and Venom: Deathtrap, The Vault.
Venom: Carnage Unleashed bats three out of four, and that's pretty good, especially considering that two of those three are top-of-the-line Venom outings. I wish this graphic novel was titled after Sinner Takes All, a far more deserving story arc for the headliner than the pitifully misleading Carnage Unleashed. Ignoring the one dark spot in this collection, the stories this graphic novel has to offer are in keeping with the high quality of the previous entries in the Venom line of comics and is worth picking up.
June 6, 2020
Read this as part of a self-punishing history catch-up before reading Absolute Carnage. Kinda pointless little pocket of 90’s schlock here.
Oh fer fucks sake, Carnage can “extrude itself as a molecular filament and travel along communication cables” - not only remotely attacking someone on the other end of an IP address-based communication, but also to show up as a face on the screen of the computer through which its tendrils is strangling the remote victim? While talking to the victim?
Seriously, second life wasn’t even a thing in 1995, and it’d still be an impressive feat for Carnage to implement a layer three routing protocol and trace the packets not only from Kletus’s screen in his prison cell to the remote server, but also implement a dynamic analysis toolkit that discovers the user identity in the current two-way communication stream and finds which remote IP address they’re connecting from. That’s some Swordfish-level hacking skill there, yo
What Larry Hama has in spades tho is an impressive exaggeration of everyone’s vocabulary. Is he always this needlessly abusive of $10 words? It’s a nice change from monosyllables.
He also does a bang-up job of the talking-to-oneself trope - as in, character talking out loud to themselves as the least-credible exposition dump.
The final laugh-out-loud moments from Hama were the finale fight, when both Venom and Carnage claimed they (connected to two computers and some kind of central server) were going to fight it out on the Ethernet! Lost all storytelling dramatic momentum there, numbnuts.
All in all, the whole story was just a bog-standard wind-up to a tedious tete-a-tete, and the only reason I didn’t rate it lower was the mercifully short fight scene and the thesaurus masturbation out of two low-lifes
Oh fer fucks sake, Carnage can “extrude itself as a molecular filament and travel along communication cables” - not only remotely attacking someone on the other end of an IP address-based communication, but also to show up as a face on the screen of the computer through which its tendrils is strangling the remote victim? While talking to the victim?
Seriously, second life wasn’t even a thing in 1995, and it’d still be an impressive feat for Carnage to implement a layer three routing protocol and trace the packets not only from Kletus’s screen in his prison cell to the remote server, but also implement a dynamic analysis toolkit that discovers the user identity in the current two-way communication stream and finds which remote IP address they’re connecting from. That’s some Swordfish-level hacking skill there, yo
What Larry Hama has in spades tho is an impressive exaggeration of everyone’s vocabulary. Is he always this needlessly abusive of $10 words? It’s a nice change from monosyllables.
He also does a bang-up job of the talking-to-oneself trope - as in, character talking out loud to themselves as the least-credible exposition dump.
The final laugh-out-loud moments from Hama were the finale fight, when both Venom and Carnage claimed they (connected to two computers and some kind of central server) were going to fight it out on the Ethernet! Lost all storytelling dramatic momentum there, numbnuts.
All in all, the whole story was just a bog-standard wind-up to a tedious tete-a-tete, and the only reason I didn’t rate it lower was the mercifully short fight scene and the thesaurus masturbation out of two low-lifes
August 1, 2022
Probably 3.5.
Carnage story is okay but very dated with all the computer stuff, but in 95 it was probably on the money. The mention of modems and beeps and whirrs took me right back.
Sinner Takes All: someone new takes up the mantle of the SinEater. So many deaths in this although few are at Eddie’s hand. I’m surprised there are any cops left in NY. There’s a non Venom comic in these issues too, The Jury. It’s a four part story, I wasn’t really invested in it and I didn’t like any of the characters. The only thing of note in these is that they appear to kill The Tarantula.
A one shot ‘Symbiosis’ completes this arc with a random scientist trying to steal the other to heal himself.
Planet of the Symbiotes: I read in Spider-Man.
Carnage story is okay but very dated with all the computer stuff, but in 95 it was probably on the money. The mention of modems and beeps and whirrs took me right back.
Sinner Takes All: someone new takes up the mantle of the SinEater. So many deaths in this although few are at Eddie’s hand. I’m surprised there are any cops left in NY. There’s a non Venom comic in these issues too, The Jury. It’s a four part story, I wasn’t really invested in it and I didn’t like any of the characters. The only thing of note in these is that they appear to kill The Tarantula.
A one shot ‘Symbiosis’ completes this arc with a random scientist trying to steal the other to heal himself.
Planet of the Symbiotes: I read in Spider-Man.
December 3, 2018
Whew! This book is so 90s it hurts. It's not all bad, but the writing style and art are definitely different from what I am used to from more recent comics. Carnage Unleashed has a bunch of different Venom stories in it, many of which also feature Carnage. I remember watching the Spider-Man cartoon that came out around the same time as these stories were being published. It was one of my favorites and introduced me to the symbiotes. There is a bit of nostalgia for me reading this book even though it was the first time I picked up this particular set of stories.
One thing that these tales do very well is explore the relationship between Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote. It's clear that they have goals that are odds with each other and it is interesting to see how well they work together when their goals align. Despite some relationship issues, Brock/Venom seem to have things pretty well together compared to Carnage! Most of this book actually seems like it would be pretty friendly to readers that don't know much or anything about these characters. There are a couple stories, particularly near the end of the collection, that had characters that I knew nothing about. I was still able to enjoy reading them though.
I touched a little on the art. It is very much a product of its time. It doesn't really compare to the look of comics from the 80s or more recently. The coloring is well done. This is such a large collection that it's worth checking out. There are some nice high points (even those had a few moments that made me cringe by how rooted in the times they are) that outweighed the lower ones for me.
One thing that these tales do very well is explore the relationship between Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote. It's clear that they have goals that are odds with each other and it is interesting to see how well they work together when their goals align. Despite some relationship issues, Brock/Venom seem to have things pretty well together compared to Carnage! Most of this book actually seems like it would be pretty friendly to readers that don't know much or anything about these characters. There are a couple stories, particularly near the end of the collection, that had characters that I knew nothing about. I was still able to enjoy reading them though.
I touched a little on the art. It is very much a product of its time. It doesn't really compare to the look of comics from the 80s or more recently. The coloring is well done. This is such a large collection that it's worth checking out. There are some nice high points (even those had a few moments that made me cringe by how rooted in the times they are) that outweighed the lower ones for me.
October 16, 2019
TL;DR: Planet of the Symbionts is surprisingly robust and justifies this collection; it skews my rating. The rest isn't just skippable but outright bad, excepting Wolfman's oneshot.
Venom: Carnage Unleashed
This, in my scattershot reading, is my first encounter with Carnage, and I'm disappointed by the combo of flat psychopathy and undermining bad humor; he's not memorable and has no chemistry with Venom. The plot here hasn't aged well, and what was probably cutting-edge technobabble has become precisely dated and innately hilarious. Venom isn't bad here, but everything else is. 1/5
Venom: Sinner Takes All
Bad meat on halfway-decent bones. The symbiont melding with another, its influence on personality, the themes of gender and consent, and the repercussions of Venom's actions and reputation all have potential. But Sin Eater is an uninteresting antagonist who's more of a callback than a thematic compliment, the repercussions frequently have ridiculous forms, and taking on gendered issues while drawing women like this is a lost cause. 1.5/5
Venom: Symbiote
A one-shot means the bulk of the issue is given to plot, but the outsider-view of the symbiont/symbiosis is fascinating--dark and strange, and I wish we got more of it. 3/5
Venom: Planet of the Symbionts
This is unexpectedly good. The diversity of artists is disorientating and highlights how uniquely but universally bad comics look. Otherwise, this is middling-to-strong. It's overambitious but mostly succeeds, and while I don't love every element of the worldbuilding I appreciate how substantial it is; the cast is overburnened by tie-ins but inoffensive and sometimes even charming, and Venom's underlying character arc is phenomenal, an intimate struggle with communication and ongoing themes of violence. I only wish the Other, and the symbionts in general, were better drawn--it would benefit so much of this. 3.5/5
Venom: Things Undreamt of...
The idea of the Other acting alone/entirely taking over a body is interesting, but this provides resolution for a character I've never encountered. Better for completionists; for me, pointless. 1/5
The Jury in: Trial Run
Thematically this is on the mark, as ruminations on violence and the superhero/supervillian overlap compliment Venom's character. The arc itself isn't surprising or complex, but it's decent. But ultimately, who cares? The Jury isn't sufficiently interesting to justify a spin-off of a spin-off, or whatever degree of remove this is. 2/5
Venom: Carnage Unleashed
This, in my scattershot reading, is my first encounter with Carnage, and I'm disappointed by the combo of flat psychopathy and undermining bad humor; he's not memorable and has no chemistry with Venom. The plot here hasn't aged well, and what was probably cutting-edge technobabble has become precisely dated and innately hilarious. Venom isn't bad here, but everything else is. 1/5
Venom: Sinner Takes All
Bad meat on halfway-decent bones. The symbiont melding with another, its influence on personality, the themes of gender and consent, and the repercussions of Venom's actions and reputation all have potential. But Sin Eater is an uninteresting antagonist who's more of a callback than a thematic compliment, the repercussions frequently have ridiculous forms, and taking on gendered issues while drawing women like this is a lost cause. 1.5/5
Venom: Symbiote
A one-shot means the bulk of the issue is given to plot, but the outsider-view of the symbiont/symbiosis is fascinating--dark and strange, and I wish we got more of it. 3/5
Venom: Planet of the Symbionts
This is unexpectedly good. The diversity of artists is disorientating and highlights how uniquely but universally bad comics look. Otherwise, this is middling-to-strong. It's overambitious but mostly succeeds, and while I don't love every element of the worldbuilding I appreciate how substantial it is; the cast is overburnened by tie-ins but inoffensive and sometimes even charming, and Venom's underlying character arc is phenomenal, an intimate struggle with communication and ongoing themes of violence. I only wish the Other, and the symbionts in general, were better drawn--it would benefit so much of this. 3.5/5
Venom: Things Undreamt of...
The idea of the Other acting alone/entirely taking over a body is interesting, but this provides resolution for a character I've never encountered. Better for completionists; for me, pointless. 1/5
The Jury in: Trial Run
Thematically this is on the mark, as ruminations on violence and the superhero/supervillian overlap compliment Venom's character. The arc itself isn't surprising or complex, but it's decent. But ultimately, who cares? The Jury isn't sufficiently interesting to justify a spin-off of a spin-off, or whatever degree of remove this is. 2/5
February 12, 2022
A goofy uneven collection of several story arcs.
The first, carnage unleashed, is so hilariously 90s edge and tech illiteracy that it works. Carnage somehow can travel through a video game a company called “extreme violence” has made, and it’s as strange as it sounds. Quite violent for this type of stuff too, but you can tell the artists had to hold back at points.
The next, sinner takes all, is a weird one essentially about venom tracking down a mass murderer who is killing seemingly corrupt people. It’s contrived and goofy and extremely edgy and works because of it
Planet of the symbioses and less awesome than it would seem; venoms symbionts race takes over earth but we never get a good sense of global threat and carnage is little more than a deus ex machina in it.
The last one is about a team called the jury recruiting a new member. I’ve never even heard of this, and the story is rather bland and predictable. This is like a western power rangers pilot and it’s kind of just there
The first, carnage unleashed, is so hilariously 90s edge and tech illiteracy that it works. Carnage somehow can travel through a video game a company called “extreme violence” has made, and it’s as strange as it sounds. Quite violent for this type of stuff too, but you can tell the artists had to hold back at points.
The next, sinner takes all, is a weird one essentially about venom tracking down a mass murderer who is killing seemingly corrupt people. It’s contrived and goofy and extremely edgy and works because of it
Planet of the symbioses and less awesome than it would seem; venoms symbionts race takes over earth but we never get a good sense of global threat and carnage is little more than a deus ex machina in it.
The last one is about a team called the jury recruiting a new member. I’ve never even heard of this, and the story is rather bland and predictable. This is like a western power rangers pilot and it’s kind of just there
December 27, 2020
I wasn't expecting much from this book since it was originally released in that peak 90's period when Venom as an anti-hero was a concept that Marvel was seriously trying to hard sell to Spider-Man fans. And let's face it - the writing of that period was less than award-winning and this was an eagerness to release more and more content without thinking about the overall level of quality.
This book covers two very weird stories - Carnage Unleashed, where a video game based on the crimes of Carnage is released, and this somehow leads to him using his symbiote to attack people across the internet. And of course, it falls to Venom to try to stop him instead of like any other heroes. And then there's Sinner Takes All, where Venom ends up needing to save his ex-wife from some of the rather tangential fallout from Carnage Unleashed.
I want to say that I liked this book more than I expected, but that wasn't the case. At least I didn't dislike it more than I expected. So that helps.
This book covers two very weird stories - Carnage Unleashed, where a video game based on the crimes of Carnage is released, and this somehow leads to him using his symbiote to attack people across the internet. And of course, it falls to Venom to try to stop him instead of like any other heroes. And then there's Sinner Takes All, where Venom ends up needing to save his ex-wife from some of the rather tangential fallout from Carnage Unleashed.
I want to say that I liked this book more than I expected, but that wasn't the case. At least I didn't dislike it more than I expected. So that helps.
November 16, 2019
I read this on Comixology. I thought I had just bought the Carnage Unleashed story. I'm glad it was more, but I wasn't quite prepared. I expected a 4 issue story and got 4 times that. When you buy a physical book, that doesn't happen.
Carnage Unleashed, Sinner Takes All, and Planet of the Symbiotes were all great. Planet of the Symbiotes was my favorite, watching Eddie reject Venom and then embrace him.
I did not enjoy Jury Duty and this story only had a mention of Venom so there wasn't really any reason to include it. I kept waiting for Venom to show up, but that never happened.
Carnage Unleashed, Sinner Takes All, and Planet of the Symbiotes were all great. Planet of the Symbiotes was my favorite, watching Eddie reject Venom and then embrace him.
I did not enjoy Jury Duty and this story only had a mention of Venom so there wasn't really any reason to include it. I kept waiting for Venom to show up, but that never happened.
October 22, 2021
Two stories in one, one pretty shitty one pretty fun.
Carnage unleashed kind of sucks, I reviewed it in my Omnibus review of Venom. It's basically Carnage getting out of prison and murdering people because he wants to promote his new video game. Pretty shitty. The second story is Venom dealing with Sin Eater copy cat, a much more interesting story with some cool moments of Brock trying to be his own man and not use the venom symbiote. Also we get to see a more mature Brock for once too.
Overall, second story is a lot of fun. First story is pretty shitty. So a 3 out of 5.
Carnage unleashed kind of sucks, I reviewed it in my Omnibus review of Venom. It's basically Carnage getting out of prison and murdering people because he wants to promote his new video game. Pretty shitty. The second story is Venom dealing with Sin Eater copy cat, a much more interesting story with some cool moments of Brock trying to be his own man and not use the venom symbiote. Also we get to see a more mature Brock for once too.
Overall, second story is a lot of fun. First story is pretty shitty. So a 3 out of 5.
June 13, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this collection.
Carnage Unleashed (the first 4 issues in this collection) was a solid 2
Sinner Takes All (the next 5) was a 3
But the Planet of the Symbiotes (which is the last 5 issues) was a solid 4
There are also some bonus issues at the end of the Jury (which was ok, but I kept hoping Venom would show up and he isn't in those at all).
Carnage Unleashed (the first 4 issues in this collection) was a solid 2
Sinner Takes All (the next 5) was a 3
But the Planet of the Symbiotes (which is the last 5 issues) was a solid 4
There are also some bonus issues at the end of the Jury (which was ok, but I kept hoping Venom would show up and he isn't in those at all).
December 22, 2022
I enjoyed the Carnage Unleashed story precisely for how campy it was. This is 1995 attempting to do "the internet" and so it's something else.
I also dug the Planet of the Symbiotes for a closer look at Eddie.
I could take or leave Sinner-Take-All, and my version came with some really odd, tacked-on thing about the Jury that like, didn't belong here at all.
I also dug the Planet of the Symbiotes for a closer look at Eddie.
I could take or leave Sinner-Take-All, and my version came with some really odd, tacked-on thing about the Jury that like, didn't belong here at all.
December 4, 2018
I enjoyed the Venom v. Carnage GNs, but the Spiderman ones were just okay, and the last GN about The Jury was meh. Could've done w/out it. But, the parts w/ Venom I thoroughly enjoyed! Great art and decent story!
February 12, 2023
This book efing ROCKED!
Love me some tasty spidey-verse action and this book delivers on all fronts. Venom Spidey and Ben all work together to wail on the invasion! Gripping from start to the end! Pick up your copy today! 👍
Love me some tasty spidey-verse action and this book delivers on all fronts. Venom Spidey and Ben all work together to wail on the invasion! Gripping from start to the end! Pick up your copy today! 👍
July 11, 2020
Venom must battle Carnage, with the help of Spiderman, and another symbiote. This is a bloody family reunion.
November 30, 2020
This story is so...dumb? Yeah, dumb.
September 5, 2023
‼️ Carnage Unleashed #1-4, Venom: Sinner Takes All #1-5 + 600 páginas de no se qué cosa pero me la trague entera
pd amo a ben reilly 🩶
pd amo a ben reilly 🩶
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