Marvel Absolute Carnage Omnibus

Having been a massive Carnage fan most of my life, this Absolute Carnage event naturally caught my eye. It's the BIGGEST Carnage story ever conceived, and it threatens the entire Marvel Universe! We're talking a company-wide crossover that's easily on the scale of stuff like Civil War, Secret Invasion, Sin, Axis, Secret War etc...this DWARFS everything else Cletus Kasady has ever done before.Following on directly from Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's stellar run on the recent Venom series, Carnage is back again. But he's truly more terrifying, more powerful and deadlier than he's ever been. And what makes him even more so is that he's not preaching chaos or dishing out random slaughter THIS time. He's targeting EVERYONE in the Marvel Universe who has ever worn or come into contact with a symbiote. Spider-Man, Venom, Deadpool, Norman Osborn, The Avengers...even those DECEASED! And he's doing it all to awaken the God of All Symbiotes and unleash Hell on Earth!But does this make for the greatest Carnage story ever told? YES! Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman are at the top of their game here. With the main Absolute Carnage story being an epic, high-stakes affair that has major consequences for all involved. The creative team have the perfect handle on Carnage, Venom & Spider-Man, as well as paying such respect to the history of all the characters. There have been so many classic Carnage stories throughout the years, but I don't think Carnage has ever felt as sinister and unstoppable as he does here.Because this is the Omnibus Edition, all of the tie-in stories are included in this MASSIVE HARDBACK. Admittedly, some of these stories are rather inconsequential (i.e. Weapon-Plus, Seperation Anxiety, Avengers and Captain Marvel), but stuff like the Venom, Spider-Man, Scream, Miles Morales, Deadpool and Lethal Protectors do provide more context on the scale of the event and extra stakes/excitement to the crossover and the players. One-shot stories like Symbiote Spider-Man and Immortal Hulk are also deep character-driven stories which make for fascinating reading.Unfortunately though, all the stories collected in this Omnibus are NOT in chronological order, so you will have a hard time flicking back & forth this book to find out what order's best to read the entire story in. However, this Omnibus Edition is a thing of beauty, with a beautiful dust jacket, short stories, alternate covers, Ravencroft Behavioural Assessments for Norman Osborn, Cletus Kasady, Shriek & Eddie Brock, and a reprint of a Daily Bugle Editorial from the Maximum Carnage days.Although this Omnibus Edition is somewhat flawed, the Absolute Carnage event is simply a must-have for all Spider-Man, Venom & Carnage fans. I'd go so far as to say it's one of the greatest Marvel Events in a long, long time. Paint the entire UNIVERSE red!

Arriving moderately damaged aside i have to say this is a pretty good read if disjointed, the main story, consists of 5 issues bear in mind, is great, the tie ins are hit and miss but all in all a great read and for the money definitely worth a buy Carnage like Venom, Spawn and a handful of charaters books keep their value as will this, build quality (damage aside) is really well done, great book, I'd actually give it 3.5 but went with four.

Sadly all corners got bit bent and dust jacket is a mess... so thats 0/5 for delivery. Sad to get OOP book in such a shape.About the content inside. No spoilers. 4/5Main story is good. Was fun to read. The way everything ties together and that we get to see other hero POV in all of this is great. Some underrated stuff. In the end you get to see another side of Eddie and Venom and its amazing.

Great Omnibus, well packaged, my son was absolutely delighted when he opened it - a massive Carnage fan!

Personally, I really liked the main story event. Absolute carnage 1-5. Def worth the read. Although this whole event is one big set up for the next upcoming event. So dont go into this expecting a complete story. But it is rather good regardless. The venom issues are also good and worth reading.But...The crossover mini series and one shots? I wouldnt call them bad, but if you didnt read then, you wouldnt be missing much. The only one that I kinda liked was "lethal protectors". That includes alot from the "maximum carnage" storyline from years ago. So that was kinda cool. It was basically the reunion of most of the heroes that fought carnage together during maximum carnage. It even had Carnage's old team going him again and becoming his chief enforcers. But beyond that one? Most can be skipped.The omnibus is played out in order of series. So nothing is in chronological order. So you are jumping all over the place storywise. I will never understand why they do this. Put it in as the issues were released. That's how it was meant to be read in the first place, but that's just me.So my verdict? The absolute carnage series is awesome and worth reading. The absolute carnage omnibus itself? Buy it if you are a completionist, but otherwise? It's really not worth it. Buy the absolute carnage and venom trades and you would be golden. The omnibus itself looks nice and looks good on a shelf, but story content wise, it's just not worth the extra money.I rated the omnibus 3 stars. But the mini series itself? On it's own? I would give 5 stars.