Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- FBI
- Special Agent Claire Dixon
- Eddie Brock
- Agent Clemens
- Agent Hanks
- Agent Wilkes (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Agent Skeates (Mentioned) (Deceased)
- Unnamed agents
- U.S. Air Force
- Man-Wolf (Colonel John Jameson) (Apparent death)
Supporting Characters:
- Grey Ridge Investments
- Manny Calderon (Apparent death)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- God (Yahweh) (Invoked)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (Mentioned)
- Taliban (Mentioned)
- NATO (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Man-Wolves
- Symbiotes
- Werewolves (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- West Virginia
- Grey Ridge Mine
- Vertical Access Tunnel
- Drift Eighteen
- Drift Twelve
- Chthonic Temple (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Grey Ridge Mine
- Brooklyn, New York (Mentioned)
- West Virginia
- Vietnam (Mentioned)
- Afghanistan (Mentioned)
- United States of America
- Moon (Mentioned)
- Hell (Invoked)
Items:
- Godstone (Apparent destruction)
- Carnage Symbiote
- Miniaturized Sonic Cannons
- Toxin Symbiote (Mentioned)
- Venom Symbiote (Mentioned)
- Symbiote Inhibitor (Mentioned)
Events and Eras:
- Vietnam War (Mentioned)
Synopsis for 1st story
As they descend into the mine, Eddie Brock asks Claire Dixon and Manuela Calderon how far down the missing agents, Colonel Jameson, and Cletus Kasady are. Dixon responds that they could be anywhere, to Brock's consternation, and when Manuela asks what's wrong he states that he has mild claustrophobia. Hearing screams coming from deeper in the mine, Eddie grins in anticipation.
Elsewhere, Colonel John Jameson has transformed into Man-Wolf, terrifying Agent Hanks. Carnage calls Man-Wolf a werewolf, only to be corrected by Jameson's alter-ego. Sneering that either way Jameson is a furry, Carnage and Man-Wolf begin to fight. Aboveground, Barry Gleason kills two FBI agents as they argue over what occurred before descending into the mine himself. In Drift Twelve, Manuela tells Dixon about Brock's claustrophobia only to be informed that he was trying to trick her into unleashing the Toxin symbiote. Dixon elaborates that Brock had once stated that the Venom symbiote had turned him into a monster and forced him to commit murders, but that he had later jumped at the chance to be infected by the Toxin symbiote, calling his testimony into question. When Manuela states that Dixon doesn't trust Brock, Dixon remarks that it's Toxin she doesn't trust, stating that her grandfather returned from the Vietnam War with PTSD and a heroin addiction. She explains to Manuela that the if the suppressant device is deactivated, they have 48 hours to reactivate it before the symbiote takes over Brock completely and that unleashing Toxin is an absolute last resort. When Manuela calls her judgement into question, Dixon tells her how Jameson once came into possession of the Godstone. They come across Agent Hanks, who informs them that the other agents are dead before suffering a mental breakdown.
As this conversation occurs, the brawl between Carnage and Man-Wolf breaks through a mine shaft and they fall into a large cavern. Reverted to human form, Cletus and Jameson take a moment to survey their surroundings before transforming back into Carnage and Man-Wolf. Surveying the battle from above, Brock asks how Jameson could be unaware he's a werewolf, and Dixon responds that Spider-Man removed the Godstone years ago, but that its power rewrote Jameson's genetic material. The FBI only found out that he retained its power a few months ago, when when he disappeared in Afghanistan and was later discovered to have massacred a Taliban training camp. In the cavern below, Carnage targets a glowing spot at the base of Man-Wolf's throat and tears out a replica of the Godstone, sneering that over his various battles he picked up that if something glows its important. He crushes the Godstone, causing Jameson to revert to human form and topple into a pit. Dixon prepares to unleash Toxin, but Gleason arrives and shoots the suppression device's controller out of her hands. Manuela dives after it, but falls after it into the pit. Brock angrily opens fire with his sonic cannon, causing another cave-in. As the dust settles, Gleason approaches Carnage and leads him to a large door, proclaiming himself the man who will show Carnage his destiny.
Solicit Synopsis
• Trapped down in a mineshaft with Carnage, the situation for the FBI’s symbiote squad gets HAIRY when John Jameson loses his cool.
• You won’t want to miss th—AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!Trivia
- This issue's Marvel '92 variant cover pays homage to the Maximum Carnage event that run in the Spider-Man comic lines in 1993.