As you may have noticed, many of my recent posts have dealt with a comic book series that featured Symbiotes. The book that is a must-read to be able to really follow the story is "Absolute Carnage" #1. Donny Cates begins the story by setting up the premise in three chapters. In order to do this, the Marvel fan would be happy to know that the issue is larger than the usual one. Of course, the price also reflects this but the story is more than worth the 7.99 US dollars. Ryan Stegman's, JP Mayer's and Frank Martin's visuals truly reflect what it must be like to become a host for a Symbiote.
There have been many Eddie Brock / Venom stories before this one, but in the current scenario Brock and Venom are no longer one. Or so Brock believes! Before The War of the Realms was a reality, Venom was playing games with the memory bank of Mr. Brock. He also has a son named Dylan. Brock lets Dylan believe that his father is actually his older brother.
Symbiotes were actually created by Knull, who is looked upon as their god (I used a lowercase "g" on purpose for my own personal beliefs). Before anything was created, the story tells that it was Knull who ruled over The Abyss. Eventually, the Symbiotes rose up against their leader. When a Symbiote leaves its host, something is always left behind with that living organism. This piece of something is known as The Codex. Carnage's host is Cletus Kasady, whose reputation before being infected was that of being the baddest serial killer on the planet.
While in New York City with his son (or should I say younger brother), Brock realizes that he is being framed for murders that took place at Ryker's Island. With his face being plastered all over the news, Brock runs from the cops to a train station where Venom bonds once again with Brock right before the arrival of Carnage. This leads our reluctant host to be taken to Spider-Man for assistance. While grabbing some coffee, another news report breaks on the tv screen about a massive gravesite that was found in Northern New Jersey. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross was one of the many bodies buried there. It appears that previous hosts for Symbiotes are finding themselves dead, forcing Brock to panic.
This makes Spider-Man pick up his Godson Normie, who was infected at one time with a Carnage Symbiote by his Grandfather Norman Osborn, and bring him to Rex Strickland's Safe House where Reed Richards has been working on a machine that can remove codices from their hosts. They decide, along with Brock and Dylan, that they need a test subject to try the procedure on before risking any harm to Normie. This leads them to the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane. With the assistance (and some interference) of John Jameson, they attempt to transfer Norman Osborn (who acted as The Red Goblin when he was infected) for the purpose of experimentation. However, while everyone's thinking that Carnage is lowering the population, they eventually come to the realization that he is actually growing an army!
