DOPPELGANGER, SHRIEK & CARNAGE versus SPIDER-MAN, CLOAK & DAGGER
Darklight: Maximum Carnage, Part 2 (Marvel)
Where: Web of Spider-Man #101 When: June 1993
Why: Terry Kavanagh How: Alex Saviuk
The Story So Far...
Incarceration in the Ravencroft Institute's maximum security facility proved a temporary stay when serial killer Cletus Kasady was reunited with his alien symbiote.
Carnage's escape from Ravencroft was a total bloodbath, but not everyone who crossed his path that day was part of the massacre. He found a kindred spirit in the villainess Shriek, forging a homicidal relationship that soon became a family with the adoption of the six-armed, razor-fanged Doppelganger!
News of the escape prompts Spider-Man to take to the New York City skyline, but a chance encounter with Shriek & Doppelganger leaves the web-slinger worse for wear at the bottom of a building! Rescued by Cloak & Dagger, the web-slinger has much needed back-up as the villains close-in for Round 2!
Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Carnage 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Spider-Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Spider-Man 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Carnage 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Cloak 7 (Intangible)
Fighting: Doppelganger 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Shriek 5 (Lasers)
Total: Spider-Man 29 (Metahuman)
The sides may be even at three-on-three, but the differences separating today's two forces makes this a match-up with many sides to consider!
Our Tape rates Spider-Man the strongest player thanks to his versatile skill set of strength, speed, agility, and intellect. However, he's already done this dance with Doppelganger & Shriek, and come off second-best in Spider-Man Unlimited #1! That means Spidey's coming in with a loss and some busted ribs!
Cloak & Dagger are guardian angels in Spidey's time of need. Old friends to the wallcrawler, they're Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen: Teen runaways who were experimented on by Maggia scientists and gained incredible powers!
Cloak became a conduit for the Darkforce, creating an endless black void within the folds of his cloak. Those caught in its abyss will be drained of life and driven to terror or madness. This dark hunger can also be sated by the equal opposite Lightforce wielded by Dagger! The former dancer can channel her light into daggers for projectiles, purifying, or illumination.
We saw Cloak test his power against Thanos during a moment of hope in Infinity Gauntlet #4. We'll also learn of his history with Shriek through the course of this battle, which drove her insane. Spider-Man, Cloak & Dagger should be able to match the sonic shockwaves and savagery of Shriek & Doppelganger, but the late arriving third part of their trio could cause some problems!
Cletus Kasady is a homicidal maniac who happened to share a cell with Eddie Brock and received the seed of his alien symbiote's offspring. The resulting bond was Carnage: a deadly red counterpart to Venom with a penchant for forming sharp constructs with his suit, such as axes and spear-like tendrils!
Carnage shares a similar super-human strength to Venom, with a more agile frame. This, combined with his taste for serial killing, has made him a deadly enough villain to force Venom and Spider-Man to put their own issues aside. A necessity that will eventually bring Carnage down in Spider-Man Ulimited #2.
Carnage has the same vulnerability to intense sound and heat as Venom, which could make Dagger a difference maker in this battle. Shriek's sonic powers are a risk to Carnage as well, but without an unforeseen incident, her attack range can provide an invaluable defense. Let's jump in and see what happened.
The Tape: Spider-Man, Cloak & Dagger Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)
What Went Down...
Stars fill the Holy Ghost Church as the pain of two fractured ribs being reset ripples through Spider-Man's body. Cloak and Dagger tend to the webhead's injuries, but it's only a temporary measure. It'll have to do. Suddenly a blaring signal replaces the pain as Spider-Man's senses detect incoming danger!
Spidey springs to his feet, narrowly avoiding a stream of razor-barbed webbing as his Doppelganger smashes through the church window!
The web-slinger gives his allies a quick crash course in his evil duplicate's M.O. before the church is struck with a massive wave of sound! Beams topple around all four occupants as the roof partially collapses and Shriek arrives!
Doppelganger purrs as his surrogate mother strokes his head and plots the demise of the heroes -- but they aren't buried beneath the rubble as she thinks! Cloak was able to teleport them away at the last second thanks to another tip-off from friendly neighbourhood spider-senses!
Doppelganger grapples with Spidey, while Cloak reacquaints himself with the familiar one-time downtown drug dealer Shriek. She thanks him for introducing her to madness by unleashing her sonic powers against his great ebon void!
Dagger does her best to shackles the wild Doppelganger as he slams Spider-Man hard into the ground with his extra limbs, but Cloak's cries draw her attention! The eerie expanse of his cape magnifies Shriek's masterfully fired sonic blasts like an agony-inducing echo chamber!
Spidey takes care of himself, webbing up Doppelganger's slashing talons before socking him in the mouth with a stiff left jab! Meanwhile, Dagger draws Shriek's attention with a spray of light shots. Only one is on target, but Shriek's sound blasting hands absorb the blow. She re-directs her blast at Dagger!
The battle between light and sound stands at an effective stalemate. Cloak uses the opportunity to attack Doppelganger from behind, snaring him in the living folds of fabric that are his impressive namesake as Spidey hits an uppercut!
The momentary advantage pales as the church doors fly open and a nameless gangster's limp body announces the arrival of Carnage!
Jagged streams of alien symbiote extend from his hands in an effort to pull his sick "family" out of harm's way. Dagger persists in her attempts to fire light shards at Shriek, provoking a savage response from Doppelganger, who protectively fires razor-webbing at her. Cloak steps in to effortlessly absorb it.
Spider-Man attempts to pacify the situation by webbing Shriek's hands and her mouth, but it's for naught. Sonic waves blast the web away, while Carnage goes on the offensive once again, sending ever growing tendrils from his fingers to chase the scrambling wall-crawler!
Carnage sends his pointed fingers over Spider-Man and into the church wall, trapping him against the church wall like a helpless bug in a cage!
Meanwhile, Shriek attacks the ground beneath Dagger's feet, and Doppelganger spews more razor-webbing at Cloak! The situation looks dire for the heroes, but Spider-Man leans into the situation -- plunging directly at Carnage with his fist extended! A devastating missile dive that stuns the symbiote!
Dagger intervenes to cut through Doppelganger's webbing, while Cloak again descends upon Shriek and engulfs her in his cape!
The trap is temporary. Shriek scrambles clear of the fabric-bound abyss, citing her past trip through insanity as a means to walk through it. Cloak never the less puts his impressive folds between the villains and Dagger again, while his soulmate burns away razor-webbing coiled around her ankle. The defense leaves Cloak vulnerable to another devastating blast of sonic energy!
Things soon turn sour for Spider-Man, too. He wails away with unrelenting left and right punches to the downed Carnage's face, but the living costume that covers his body soon comes to the fore. A huge, jagged prong launches from Carnage's torso -- smashing through Spider-Man's injured ribs!
With pain rippling through his body, Spider-Man desperately uses a flying kick to the face to try to put some distance between he and Carnage.
Distance is no barrier for Shriek, whose efforts to finish Cloak are only stopped by Dagger standing in her way. Light shields absorb the powerful stream of targeted sonic energy, but Shriek's madness only fuels her growing power! She aims to repay Cloak for driving her insane. As Dagger begins to weaken, Cloak is too weak to come to her aide. Inevitably, a killing blow is struck!
Dagger screams as unfiltered sonic blasts rip through her body! Spider-Man attempts to shield Cloak as the heroine explodes in a dazzling column of light!
The explosion of light is enough to knock Shriek and the heroes mutually off their feet, but Carnage still stands!
Unsympathetic, he slaps his would-be bride for daring to finish-off his nemesis Spider-Man. Forgiveness comes as soon as anger. The pair collect Doppelganger and make their exit through the roof to spread more murder across New York.
In the rubble of the church, Spider-Man slowly comes to. Cloak is already up, searching for Dagger when Spider-Man illuminates the devastating truth: Dagger is dead.
The Hammer...
There's good news, and there's bad news...
The good news is: Dagger isn't really dead! She was merely rattled so severely her body dissipated into pure particles of light. She'll pull herself together just in time to make a triumphant return towards the end of Maximum Carnage. Yay!
The bad news is: It doesn't much matter for the heroes in Part 2!
Shriek, Carnage, and Doppelganger gave the good guys a whooping that will keep 'em hurting throughout most of the 14-part crossover. A hurtin' that actually began with Part 1, in Spider-Man Unlimited #1, where Doppelganger kicked Spidey clean off a rooftop, and into a gang-infested alley!
For Cloak: the real pain is psychological. His anguish over Dagger's apparent death made Part 2 one of the most resonant for me over the intervening years. A lot of characters will come and go throughout this saga, but I would speculate none of them is as convincingly affected by events as Cloak (and Dagger).
At some point I hope to double-back to the start of the issue to highlight Cloak & Dagger's big entrance, as well. It's a pretty straight forward fight with the gang descending on injured Spidey, but it participates in a nice pair of bookends that make Web of Spider-Man #101 a memorable Cloak & Dagger read.
Artist Alex Saviuk deserves credit for getting the emotional core across with his pencils. Cloak howling his partner's name is a lasting image from the time. Right up there with the first time Wolverine popped his bone claws in Wolverine #75. There are quite a few iconic images in this issue. Some of them are included above, and you might remember a couple from the popular 16-bit video game.
Because Maximum Carnage was a crossover with the various Spider-Man titles of the time, there were several artists involved. Guys like Mark Bagley, Ron Lim, and the inimitable Sal Buscema contributed some very memorable scenes. Because of their varying legacies I think Saviuk is actually a little underrated.
I'm tempted to say an early issue like this is more essential than reading the entirety of the Maximum Carnage saga. I'm aware that some of that might be downplaying the spectacle of it all, and come from the luxury of having lived with the story without examining its finer details in quite a while.
I have to admit to absorbing a little bit of the culture cringe that built up around Venom and Carnage, too. Their function can become base and uninspired, but I was certainly all-in when Maximum Carnage hit shelves back in 1993!
This was actually one of the first crossover events I made any real effort to acquire in its entirety as it was released. This was a time when comic purchases were made on a whim, grabbed from whatever assortment a nearby newsagent was carrying while out and about. Trips to the comic store proper were more infrequent, and with no real purpose, making assembling significant numbers of issues from a single run something of a feat of divining.
The lure of a Spider-Man event on stands was an easy sell. It was already a front runner for a casual pickup. The eventual accumulation of unusual allies proved an effective novelty worth pursuing.
Black Cat and Venom had history as friends & foes of Spidey, but it wasn't often you'd see the likes of Captain America, Morbius, Deathlok, and Iron Fist working together. It had a similar appeal to Acts of Vengeance a few years earlier, with a more pointed story like the similarly grim mini-crossover of Spirits of Venom.
I guess it was a renewed period for oddball crossovers at Marvel. That same year they would further challenge the notion of rigid divides with the cult series Secret Defenders. Slapdash team-ups can be a lot of fun, but go to that well too many times and it all starts to feel a little bit meaningless. Maximum Carnage walked a fine line of natural storytelling and weird mash-ups.
If you want to dive in and experience the entire story for yourself you can pick up the collected Amazing Spider-Man Epic: Maximum Carnage! By shopping using the Amazon link provided [embedded right] you'll help the site achieve symbiosis with Amazon's support program at no extra cost to you!
You can also track through more featured fights from the story by following relevant links throughout this post, or by diving into the Secret Archive! There you'll find a complete index of all past and present battles ordered by publisher, series, and issue.
You can also follow Secret Wars on Infinite Earths on Twitter and Facebook to get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day. Be sure to like and share your favourite face-offs!
Winners: Shriek, Carnage & Doppelganger
#176 (+286) Shriek
#105 (+99) Doppelganger
#380 (+269) Carnage (Cletus Kasady)
#2 (--) Spider-Man
#902 (-285) Dagger
#930 (-24) Cloak
Strength: Batman 3 (Athlete)
