AXIS #8: Explosive Carnage

If you have been paying attention to the current Marvel event, AXIS, then you would know it has been filled with ups and downs of characters and inversions of villains you would have never expected to see turn face. Carnage recently became one of these new "heroes" and his witty comments and actions have lead him down the path of what most of us Venomaniacs love to see as a new form of the Lethal Protector. The vibe that Cletus gives puts us back into the '90s nostalgia that the limited series with Eddie running around in San Francisco made us grow to love. In my opinion, I hope they keep this inversion for Cletus for a while and we could possibly see a Venom and Carnage team up once again, or even better: a Toxin and Carnage team up.

Page from Axis #8

After considering the events in AXIS #8, I have become worried about the future of our friendly neighborhood Carnage-man. In the comic, Carnage sacrifices his life for Peter Parker—who saw this coming?—by smothering a bomb that would have caused much harm and devastation. It looks like it is the end of Cletus after the panel as Spider-Man only makes one or two comments about the incident. On the cover of the upcoming AXIS #9, we see Carnage once again which leads me to believe he somehow survived the blast. With his new, stronger healing powers, it feels as though Carnage would be one hard foe to take out. After surviving being ripped in half and thrown into space and returning, to becoming lobotomized, and even dying, the symbiote keeps re-emerging and bringing Cletus back to life.

One can only hope that this isn't the end for our symbiotic maniac. The death of Cletus would go on to hurt a lot of our fans, but with the switching of characters as of late with Wolverine, Captain America, and Thor, it wouldn't be a surprise to see a dramatic change of character in a symbiote as well.

Check out AXIS #9 next Wednesday to find out the fate of the friendly neighborhood Carnage-man.

The Amazing Carnage-Man Part 2: Rise of Sin-Eater

Looks like it’s that time once again to cover what our friendly neighborhood Carnage-Man has been up to recently in Marvel’s most recent event, AXIS. First I'll cover Carnage’s cameo appearance in AXIS #4. A second-rate Doctor Octopus villain named the Squid and his gang are robbing a bank and holding a family hostage. Carnage bursts in and oddly enough shows restraint in not killing anyone. Sadly, a calamari joke is never made. Spider-Man shows up to the scene and is horrified in thinking about what must be happening inside if Kasady is in there, but what Spidey finds are the villains subdued, the family safe and sound, and a note that reads: “From Your Friendly Neighborhood Carnage!”

This was probably one of the few instances in which Spidey was completely surprised after everything that he'd been through after returning from the dead following Doc Ock's reign as the Superior Spider-Man. In the rest of the main AXIS book, Carnage is mentioned by Spider-Man in issue #5, and he appears with the rest of the inverted villains at the end of issue #6 as Cletus reaches down into his inner hillbilly to deliver the line: “I’m a good’un now, son. Y’all can count on it.”

Finally, we see Carnage make a brief appearance in Nova #24. Nova had successfully driven off Kluh (don’t ask) and Cletus stops by to congratulate Nova and wants to know if he can be of any help. Sam asks Carnage: “Are you one of those other Spider-Men that’s running around?” I’m surprised Nova hasn’t heard of Carnage before, but the jab that Carnage or any other symbiote aren’t involved in Spider-Verse hurts even more. Cletus leaves just as soon as he arrives and vows to “help” Nova later on back at his run-down apartment while looking over his old kill list. Carnage is set to appear in Nova #26 and #27, so this interaction was meant to serve as setup, but so far from the solicitations we aren't able to figure out if Carnage will be free of his inversion or not.

Now that I’ve covered the minor appearances, let’s take a look at the main attraction, AXIS: Carnage #2. The last issue left off with Carnage “rescuing” a news anchor named Alice (who had her hair dyed on the issue cover from blonde) from the Sin-Eater so that she can help him become a hero. I have to applaud the opening pages as they give a rundown of Cletus’ origin as a young orphan boy and how it also manages to keep it somewhat vague as Cletus has a tendency to “remember things wrong sometimes.” This opening scene reminds me of one particular moment from Venom: Dark Origin where Eddie is deciding whether or not to accept the symbiote and the symbiote shows Eddie visions that meld the symbiote into past memories of his own.

This issue is just as crazy as the first in terms of how Cletus goes about protecting people while also trying to listen to Alice’s advice and avoiding getting her hair wet in the process. There’s even a moment where you can’t help but feel bad for Cletus as he knows he’s killed a lot of people but is honestly trying to make up for it, besides the fact that he’s only acting this way due to a magic spell. If I had to give one minor complaint about this issue, it would have to be Emil Gregg’s cameo. Gregg was the man that believed he was the Sin-Eater and revealed this information to Eddie Brock—which would later play into him becoming Venom—but Gregg was shown to be shot and “seemingly” killed in the mini-series Venom: Sinner Takes All. After his cameo appearance in this issue, it’s a pretty moot point and can easily be brushed off.

Even Carnage knows how to catch falling women, c'mon, Spidey.

What are your thoughts on Carnage's part in the AXIS event? How do you like his treatment in his solo tie-in book? Let us know in the comments section below and make sure to follow A Dose of Venom every Friday for new content, as well as The Venom Site for all of your symbiote news, reviews, and point-of-views.

The Amazing Carnage-Man Part 1

Ever since the red symbiotic psychopath returned from his extended vacation in space, Carnage has been pretty busy in the comic world with multiple miniseries and appearances. The most recent event we find Cletus Kasady being tangled up in is AXIS. Marvel has gotten a lot of flak from fans with their overuse of huge events like this as of late, but since Carnage is involved, I felt pretty obligated to check it out, so let's discuss what Kasady and his symbiote pal have gotten themselves into now. Carnage makes his first appearance at the end of AXIS #2 with Magneto and his team of baddies (and Deadpool), but Magneto #11 elaborates on just what the heck Cletus is doing playing team-up. Right off the heels of Deadpool vs. Carnage, Magneto finds Carnage sulking about how chaos is nothing but lies, but Magneto convinces him to join his team of villains to defeat Red Skull because what would be more random for Carnage than becoming a hero?

The action picks up in AXIS #3 with Cletus joining villains like Jack O' Lantern, Hobgoblin, and Absorbing Man in an attempt to take down Red Onslaught and two giant, adamantium Sentinels that are programmed to target heroes, giving the team an edge. There's some funny banter between the villains who at a second's notice would be at each other's necks if it weren't for the colossal Nazi clone with the brain of a telepathic mutant trying to take over the world. All seems to be going well until Doctor Doom and Scarlet Witch cast a spell that is intended to bring Xavier's consciousness over Red Skull's with the spell covering all of Genosha. And that is how we get to Carnage's most recent miniseries, AXIS: Carnage. The interior art is done by Germán Peralta and Rain Beredo, and the story is written by Rick Spears who (I remember from an interview) had stated that he does not like writing serial killers, so I thought of him being a writer for a Carnage book of all things an odd choice, but that was before I had known how brilliant and hilarious the book would be.

Sometime after the spell is cast on Genosha, Carnage and Deadpool give a disturbing, out-of-character friendly greeting to each other in Deadpool #36 before Carnage returns to New York for the miniseries' first issue. Without wanting to give away too much of the story's plot, Cletus has been affected by the spell and is now forced to be a hero, but focuses his homicidal urges to serving justice—something very reminiscent of Venom in Venom: Lethal Protector. The premise alone is a funny concept that breathes new life into a character that many people consider a painful relic of the '90s or a one-trick killer pony with no character depth, granted these are some traits that I and a multitude of others like about the character, but I'm not here to judge. The story also introduces an all new Sin-Eater—the villain that indirectly created Venom—who has a much more literal and spooky side to him now. All in all, AXIS: Carnage #1 is a gory, fun, and entertaining read that Carnage fans are sure to enjoy, but even if you aren't a Carnage fan, this issue might win you over to “Carnage-Man.” Be sure to join me next time where I catch you up on all the carnage going on in AXIS and AXIS: Carnage #2!



What were your thoughts of the inverted Carnage? Would you mind seeing him being a hero for a while longer after AXIS? Let us know in the comments section below, and keep following A Dose of Venom for new doses every Friday!

The Best of Symbiote Action Figures

First off, Happy Halloween! Remember: cosplay does not equal consent! Comic books and toys seem to naturally go hand-in-hand, so for today's dose of Venom, I'll be reviewing the best of all symbiote action figures in symbiote toy history. Now, my criteria of what constitutes the "best" action figure—range of posability, scale to other figures, accessories, and the sculpt's accuracy of likeness—may differ from your own, but by the end of this review I'm sure most of you will agree with more than one of my choices from your own experience. In this review, I'll explore the best action figures based on select symbiote characters, including Venom (Eddie Brock), Agent Venom (Flash Thompson), and Carnage (Cletus Kasady), as well as note a couple honorable mentions.

Let's start with the newest of our three subjects: Agent Venom. So far, there have only been two action figures released for this character, and both hit the ball out of the park in relation to my criteria. The newest of the figures was recently released as a Walgreens exclusive in the Marvel Legends Infinite line of figures from Hasbro, and features one unique accessory that sets it apart from its predecessor: a detachable back piece with four gun-wielding symbiote tendrils (only three can actually wield weapons, though).

However, the prize goes to the first Disney Store exclusive Agent Venom action figure from the Marvel Select line, produced by Diamond Select Toys and sculpted by symbiote fan-favorite Jean St. Jean (this won't be the last you hear about him in this review). Though the figure lacks the range of articulation and a minor paint detail as opposed to the Marvel Legends one, I feel the Marvel Select Agent Venom has the most comic book accurate look and a solid sculpt. Aside from those highlights, it's also to-scale with the rest of the Marvel Select line, which is a big plus.

Next up is the classic Venom. Venom has had just about as many action figures as he had comic book miniseries, if not more! One cannot dismiss his immense popularity, after all. Most Venom action figures have their own unique toy gimmicks, but the clear winner of the best Venom action figure is the one with comic-inspired accessories in place of gimmicks. Sculpted once again by Jean St. Jean and produced by Diamond Select Toys, the Marvel Select Venom figure is the all-around best symbiote action figure of all. It's also the first figure with which Diamond Select decided to shake things up and replace the standard of giving all of its Marvel Select figures complementary sculpted base stands with oodles of accessories to customize the base figure with.

This figure comes with three different head sculpts—including a Venom head with the classic Tod McFarlane-esqe smile, the open-mouthed Venom head with a removable tongue, and an Eddie Brock transformation head based on a famous Mark Bagley sketch—as well as three interchangeable pairs of hands, and a detachable back piece with an extra pair of articulated arms, miniature Venom heads, and miniature arms you can attach to the base figure's forearms to replicate his nightmarish likeness from Venom: The Madness. These accessories and the figure's perfect comic book likeness makes it the Venom figure to buy.

Finally we come to Carnage. A steady fan-favorite and rising star once again in the comics, the symbiotic serial killer has also had a fair history of action figures much like his less murderous father. His most recent release from the Marvel Legends Infinite line (he's called "Spawn of Symbiotes" on the packaging) takes the cake thus far simply because of the Legends level of articulation and the sculpt's accuracy of likeness to his initial appearances as drawn by Bagley, his artistic co-creator.

Few of the figure's predecessors can compare to the Marvel Legends Carnage. Despite its stellar features, its paint job is moderate at best; the red base color is too plasticky and toyetic, and the black slime lines end at the figure's wrists and various protruding tendrils. (I gave my figure a simple custom paint job to extend the black squiggles.) However, this figure's reign of supremacy will be cut short come Spring 2015 when Diamond Select Toys releases its new Marvel Select Carnage figure (they previously released a Marvel Select Ultimate Carnage figure based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic version). Much like Marvel Select Venom, this figure will be sculpted by Jean St. Jean and will come with various accessories and a Bagley-inspired likeness that puts the Marvel Legends figure to shame.

Now, let's not leave out a few honorable mentions. These figures either had few to no competitors or are just my personal favorites. The Marvel Select Anti-Venom is the only proper Anti-Venom action figure on the global market (there was an Australian released figure that was a base Venom figure repainted as Anti-Venom, but it's rare). Again, it was sculpted by Jean St. Jean and features an exact comic book likeness to his first appearance in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man.  Lastly is the Marvel Legends Icons Venom, which is a whopping 12" tall and was my favorite Venom figure prior to the Marvel Select version. This figure was basically a scaled-up, slightly resculpted Amazing Spider-Man Venom figure minus the practically useless jaw action and the Symbiote Blast arm cannon.



So what's the take-away lesson from this review? Trust in Jean St. Jean and the Marvel Select line. You can't go wrong with the quality of Diamond Select's figures (barring the earlier Ultimate Venom and Carnage figures, which I don't own and can't vouch for, sadly), but considering their collectibility and the exorbitance of their after-market values, they might not be the most affordable to attain if you didn't already jump on getting them upon release. If you like Carnage and want the upcoming Marvel Select figure, don't hesitate to preorder this bad boy at sites like Big Bad Toy Store or Dork Side Toys because he'll be gone fast.

Follow A Dose of Venom for new content every Friday and The Venom Site for all of your symbiote news, reviews, and point-of-views!

Video Game Spotlight on Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Welcome back to A Dose of Venom's Video Game Spotlight segment. Today, we shall explore one of my all-time favorite Spider-Man and symbiote video games, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Xbox 360 edition). Developed by Treyarch and Shaba Games and published by Activision in 2008 for almost every platform available back then, this game was perhaps one of the most exciting for symbiote fans because half of the game's campaign revolved around a city-wide symbiote invasion and players could switch between Spidey's classic red-and-blue costume and his powerful black symbiote costume freely.

Now, I loved this game when I first played it, and still love it even to this day. I know it has some mechanical issues (especially with wall crawling and targeting enemies) and people have their gripes with the voice acting, but I felt it was a solid game with a fun story at the time. There is a morality system to the gameplay as well that pretty much started the morality trend later seen in other Spider-Man games (including the recent The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game adaptation, though that one had a comparatively dumbed down version). The morality system allows players to make one of two decisions during select cutscenes—depicted as "Red Suit" (good) or "Black Suit" (evil) decisions—which would ultimately decide which of the four ending cutscenes the player would experience in the campaign's conclusion. The morality decisions are set up as instances in which either Peter Parker or the symbiote was in control of his actions.

Wait, where did Spidey get the symbiote suit from, though? He gains his alternate suit shortly after the introductory level in which the game throws the player in media res during the symbiote invasion as Parker's narrative (voiced by Mike Vaughn) explains how everything began with a fight against Venom (Eddie Brock, voiced by Keith Szarabajka). During their fight, Venom's symbiote tries to bond with Spidey again, but the process is interrupted and Spidey escapes with a fragment of the symbiote. From then on, players can switch between the red and black suits, each of which possesses unique abilities and stats. The red suit is super agile and fast and executes web-oriented attacks while the black suit is all about power and symbiote-oriented attacks.

Both of Spider-Man's costumes are beautiful, neo-classic representations of their comic book counterparts, and the symbiote costume has a black base color with an indigo sheen. The ability to switch between costumes at any time really helped to sell the game to me, and I definitely felt the power of the symbiote suit whenever I used it (which was much more often than the red suit).

Venom is pretty cool in this game, as he's most definitely the classic Brock version—he even calls his symbiote "the other." You can't get much more Venom than that! The character design is passable, even if the spider symbols on his chest and back aren't that great and his white hand patches are missing. The little detail of Brock's mouth at the back of Venom's throat as seen in the video below made up for it, though, and was a very interesting take on how Brock integrated with the symbiote.


The first half of the campaign is pretty much inconsequential to Venomaniacs, as Venom only ever shows up once in a while as the mystery behind how Spidey came to possess the symbiote suit thickens. Players battle a host of classic villains, including the Vulture, Rhino, and Electro, as well as work with a team of heroic and villainous characters, including Mary Jane Watson, Luke Cage, Black Cat, Wolverine, Moon Knight (another favorite character of mine, and done very well in this game), Black Widow, the Tinkerer, and the Kingpin. Players are able to summon some of the superheroes and villains during combat for assists, as well. All of it, though, is setup for the third and most exciting act: the symbiote invasion of New York City!

The Venom symbiote takes control of Brock as it learns how to replicate itself on a massive scale, and New York is quickly overrun by its own citizens possessed by symbiotes. Spider-Man and his heroic friends work with Black Widow and S.H.I.E.L.D. to help evacuate uninfected citizens to quarantine zones, but their nightmares become realized when their allies and enemies are taken over as well. Players get to battle symbiotic versions of Black Cat (who receives a special second symbiotic form for those playing with a darker morality), Wolverine, Vulture, and Electro, each of whom have pretty bad-ass character designs. There was even a symbiotic Moon Knight planned, but he didn't make it into the game outside of concept art featured in the end credits. Of course, let's not forget the awesome character designs for all of the symbiote minions—of which there were many variations—and the endgame boss: a giant multi-headed Venom.

(Start the video at 8:50 for the symbiote Wolverine fight.)

Depending on players' morality choices made throughout the game, two of the four endings left the game open for a sequel as Spidey becomes completely overtaken by the symbiote and takes command of the symbiote hordes. There was a sequel planned, as evidenced by the release of some concept art that even included Carnage, but the game never panned out due to a lukewarm reception of the first one and the production of the more successful Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Despite its flaws and glitches, though, I personally believe the game possesses a high replayability rate, and I occasionally dust off the disc for another fond go-around.

If you're looking for an open-world Spider-Man video game with plenty of symbiotic action for your buck, you can't go wrong with Web of Shadows. It's a definite must-buy for the avid Venomaniac game collector. What did you think about the game? Who had the coolest symbiote costume? What more would you have liked to see in this game? Let us know in the comments section below, and, as always, check back in at A Dose of Venom every Friday for a new article!

Video Game Spotlight on Disney Infinity: Marvel Superheroes

Welcome to another Video Game Spotlight on A Dose of Venom! Today we shall be exploring everything symbiotic in Disney Infinity.

Last year, Disney released their answer to Activision's Skylanders, which took advantage of collectible figures that connect and play with a video game. Disney Infinity would be the name of Disney's latest cash cow published by Disney Interactive Studios and developed by Avalanche Software. It revolves around the sandbox game mode called the "Toy Box" where players can use hundreds of items to create their own world and make their own games.

The game comes with a base that connects to your video game console and has two circular and one hexagonal pad. You place your purchased figures on the circular pads, which makes them "magically" appear on the screen with the option to place other items called "power discs" underneath the figure that grant your character additional weapons or power boosts. You place "play set pieces" and other hexagonal shaped power discs onto the hexagonal pad, which can spawn vehicles and animals or change the ground and sky of your Toy Box. The play sets allow select characters to play a story mode that takes place in a giant hub world where you can complete missions and unlock more toys for your Toy Box. Disney Infinity became vastly successful and with Disney's purchase of Marvel back in 2009, it was only a matter of time until Marvel characters came to the game.

Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, or Disney Infinity 2.0, released last week and adds a ton of new content while still allowing you to use all of your 1.0 characters and power discs. Marvel figures from The Avengers movie, the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, and The Guardians of the Galaxy movie were released that also came with a new skill tree mechanic where as you level you earn points to increase your character's abilities. New power discs centered on these franchises—some change a character's costume and others allow you to team up with characters like the Winter Soldier and the movie version of Ant-Man. Also unveiled were three new play set pieces for each of the three represented Marvel franchises. Additionally, a new game mode called "INteriors" allows players to create their own house by adding rooms, changing the rooms' themes, and decorating with a various items from both Disney and Marvel.

Right from the first glance, you can tell that the Venom figure is not modeled after his Ultimate Spider-Man TV incarnation, which is odd seeing how he's the only Spider-Man figure that does this. In-game, he has a "Venom sense," a super jump, super strength, web shooting, web swinging, wall climbing, and a super move which all together make him a very versatile character. Matt Lanter, who voices Venom, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson in the TV show, provides Venom's vocals, but it's like nothing we have heard Lanter do in the show. This Venom is fully in sync with his symbiote, and Lanter does an excellent job at conveying a dark and cunning symbiote despite one or two corny lines. As for the host of Venom, the detail never directly mentioned, but with all of these changes from the show's interpretation and Venom occasionally stating, "I'll save Peter Parker's downfall for another day!" I am lead to believe this Venom is or takes inspiration from the Eddie Brock version—but again, it's anyone's guess as to who it really is.

The Ultimate Spider-Man playset also has its fair share of symbiotes and unlockable toys. The story starts off as Green Goblin and Mysterio clone the Venom symbiote and spread the clones throughout New York in an attempt to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. The symbiote enemies come in a few different forms such as a swarm that can attach itself to NPCs to become full symbiotes and the large symbiotes that can spawn more symbiote swarms. Throughout the story, you'll be tasked with often boring and repetitive missions of defeating enemies and protecting scientists, but there are the occasional fun missions like traveling in the sewers and using a sonic weapon to take care of symbiotic growth and enemies. Unlockable toys and INterior decorations include a Venom portrait, a Venom rug with the classic symbol, a container that holds a symbiote, a huge chair shaped like Venom's head, and a tiny character called a "costume" dressed up as Venom. The best symbiote-related item in my opionin would be the "Alien Symbiote" power disc that allows Spider-Man to become the classic Symbiote Spider-Man.

Overall, Disney Infinity may not be for most because it does require a hefty amount of spending if you want to get the full experience and the play sets do not put up much of a challenge for experienced gamers, but it can be rather enjoyable in the Toy Box and for designing an INterior. For any symbiote fan, the Venom figure is a must-have in my opinion for around $13, and you can even download Disney Infinity 2.0 for FREE on their official site if you just want to use the web code the figure comes with and play around with the Toy Box. There's infinite possibilities (sorry).

Have you played the game and received the full symbiote experience? What do you think about the Venom figure design? Let us know in the comments section below, and check back on A Dose of Venom every Friday for new content!