Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

VENOM versus SPIDER-MAN

Maximum Carnage, Part Five: Over The Line! (Marvel)
Where: Spectacular Spider-Man #201 When: June 1993 Why: JM DeMatteis How: Sal Buscema

The Story So Far...
Cletus Kasady has re-bonded with the Carnage symbiote and escaped the Ravencroft maximum security facility in a violent slaughter that spills into New York City! There he finds an adopted family of killers to take the massacre city-wide: Shriek, Doppelganger, and the Demogoblin!

After failing to stop them alone: Venom sought to rekindle a desperate alliance with his old enemy, Spider-Man -- but not even a team-up with Black Cat and the vengeful Cloak could stop the destruction! Now the heroes are fighting just to survive as a Manhattan Warehouse burns around them!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Venom 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Spider-Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-Man 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Spider-Man 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Draw 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Venom 2 (Projectiles)
Total: Spider-Man 29 (Metahuman)

The fallout from Chapter Four has left our heroes worse for wear, and at each other's throats, as Maximum Carnage continues!

Carnage and his adopted family of demented killers have been left to continue unabated after triggering a dramatic warehouse explosion -- and that's enough to strain the unlikely alliance between Venom and Spider-Man!

Die hard fight fans might want to skip ahead to coverage of Chapter Six, because this isn't really a battle on the same level as their classic clash in Amazing Spider-Man #347, or even the more obscure Spider-Man Family #2.

Venom has been drastically weakened by the symbiote's vulnerability to fire, and Spidey's mind is on rescuing Black Cat from the burning warehouse wreckage.

For a self-professed "Lethal Protector" like Eddie Brock it's difficult to accept that Spider-Man would choose rescuing an ally over stopping the murder spree that could continue at the hands of Carnage and his crew.

Venom's skewed sense of justice has pitted him against various heroes and would-be allies over the years, such as Ghost Rider, Iron Man, and even DC's Superman. With an old enemy like Peter Parker an alliance is extra dicey, and his sense of responsibility for the creation of Carnage makes it all the more personal!

History: Spider-Man (1-0-1)

The Tape: Spider-Man Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...

The alien symbiote drips from Eddie Brock's body like a thick ooze as he struggles to crawl through the broken beams & boarding of an unknown rock band's burning storage warehouse.

The massive fire drastically weakens the living costume that supplies Venom with his powers, but still he furiously compels Spider-Man to leave the inferno and resume pursuit of Carnage and his cadre of killers.

Spidey feels confident enough to leave Venom to fend for himself, while he goes deeper into the wreckage to rescue Black Cat from certain immolation!

Brock crawls his way out of the burning building, desperately attempting not to save his own life but those of countless others who might be killed by Carnage.

The crawl becomes a stumble as Brock rises to his feet - only to collapse back down into near unconsciousness as the building behind him explodes!

With Black Cat safely under his arm, Spider-Man soon arrives upon Eddie Brock: face down and motionless with tar-like strips strewn across his body.

They slowly begin to thicken as the symbiote revivifies and Venom regains his strength.

Spidey gently helps a rattled Black Cat to the ground, while Venom rises to his feet, suddenly enveloped in his customary black costume. He asks about Spider-Man's success stopping Carnage -- and doesn't like the answer he gets.

Incensed by Spider-Man's refusal to leave Black Cat to "roast" -- Venom lunges at his temporary ally with talon-like claws narrowly missing his injured ribs!

They question each other's sanity and ethics, with Spider-Man deeming a decision to leave either of his allies to die tantamount to murder. It's a prospect that inspires violent ideas for reprisal in the dual minds of Venom.

Black Cat enters the fray to cool things down: "You're really a piece of work, Brock! You get mad at the spider for saving me -- then waste time trying to bash his head in, while those maniacs get farther and farther away!"

The wake-up call steers Venom's rage towards the Cat, but what bruises his ego most is that she's absolutely right. The real enemy is Carnage.

The Hammer...

The tension is ratcheting up, but I think it's fair to say this wasn't much of a fight. Venom threw the only actual punch, and the rest is verbal sparring and philosophical differences. A non-starter ended by everyone getting back on the same page -- kinda...

You might've expected Black Cat to be the hero who calls it quits after a building collapsed on her, but it's actually Spider-Man who decides the alliance isn't working out for him. He simply cannot reconcile with the cutthroat tactics Venom demands -- and Black Cat is agreeing with.

After berating her former squeeze for treating her like a lowly damsel needing rescue; Cat further chides him for choosing her life over the countless lives Carnage could already be taking elsewhere in the city.

It's a moral split that actually sees an irate Black Cat following Venom back into battle, despite a violent history together, and his total willingness to throw her life away.

The duo will reconvene with Cloak on Fifth Avenue, where arriving mere minutes after reports of Carnage's rampage will mean more lives lost to the senseless slaughter.

So far every chapter of Maximum Carnage has featured one or more big battles, but Part Five sadly scales back the serious superhero smackdown right as master of action Sal Buscema joins the party! What we're left with is a couple of short skirmishes and near misses, but there was no way I was going to skip this issue!

Spectacular Spider-Man #201 ignites the fire of the crossover by following up the explosive previous chapter with a heavy sense of consequence and drama.

The issue might see heroes and villains returning to their respective corners, but there's no shortage of action and excitement. In fact, this always struck me as one of the most impactful issues of the Maximum Carnage crossover.

It seemed like Venom and Black Cat were going to tip the scales back in favour of the good guys, but all they really did was accumulate more injuries.

The issue announces its drama with the very first page: A surprisingly cinematic opening, despite its use of a traditional 9 panel grid.

On either side of Page 1 is a column of three panels, each showing an intense close-up of a roaring inferno. They're interspersed with discrete narration boxes for creator credits. Buscema's inks generate a sense of violent animation, given blistering heat by colorist Bob Sharen's use of vivid yellows, orange, and white.

Down the centre of the page are three claustrophobic mugshots: our heroes -- each showing distinct signs of distress!

If the cliffhanger of Black Cat's torn glove poking out of warehouse wreckage got your mind racing at the end of the previous issue -- her wide-eyed grimace, face pouring with sweat, makes the danger all the more personal, and kicks the drama up a whole extra level right on Buscema's first page!

Below the cat is Venom: mouth agape, with symbiote bleeding away to reveal Eddie Brock's barely open right eye. The salivating, bulging monster responsible for so much terror in previous Spider-Man stories is gone -- reduced to a pathetic mortal barely able to act. The situation is real bad for the good guys.

Something about the destruction of that warehouse, and seeing our heroes in such a vulnerable and battered state was arresting. Spidey is already nursing busted ribs from Chapter One, which were aggravated in Chapter Two. That was also the battle that appeared to claim the life of Dagger, which we learn has left Cloak experiencing bouts of dizziness and weakness.

There's an obvious physical toll mounting throughout each issue, but the mental strain is showing, too. That will continue to permeate the story as the heroes endure further punishment, and New York City itself becomes engulfed in violent madness as Carnage's killing spree inspires a wave of likeminded acts.

When I was doing my best to cobble the event together from newsstands back in 1993 -- this was the issue that convinced me it was a story unlike most from Marvel. I didn't have the frame of reference back then, but it strikes me that the format is similar to the saga structures more common in Shonen Jump manga. There's a late era Dragon Ball Z vibe to the weight of temporary defeat, inter-personal drama, and city-wide destruction the heroes will later discover.

We love blockbuster superhero fights on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, but to put it all into perspective, it helps to take stock of the little battles, as well. Today's skirmish provides context for future installments, while also reminding us that the classic Venom/Spidey rivalry doesn't always erupt into a fight to the death.

If you crave a more substantial struggle -- we've got you covered! You can find well over 600 featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number by diving in to the Secret Archive! Or follow links throughout this post to uncover key issues and specific topics relevant to your interests.

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Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#2 (--) Spider-Man
#16 (--) Venom (Symbiote)
#50 (--) Venom (Eddie Brock)
#136 (+2) Black Cat [+1 assist]