Marvel’s original serial killer symbiote is in the middle of a deadly battle against its first host.

After tracking down a now emaciated Cletus Kasady, the titular symbiote of Carnage #3 wastes no time in laying into its old host. When Cletus sets the room ablaze, Carnage laughs off the flames before swallowing him whole. Unfortunately for Carnage, this quickly leads to a violent bout of indigestion that Cletus very clearly planned from the start.

Written by TORUNN GRØNBEKK Art by PERE PÉREZ Colors by ERICK ARCINIEGA Letters by VC’s JOE SABINO Main cover art by PAULO SIQUEIRA and RACHELLE ROSENBERG Variant cover art by RYAN BROWN Marvel Masterpiece variant cover by GREG & TIM HILDEBRANDT

The serial killer Cletus Kasady made his first appearance as the cellmate of the then incarcerated Eddie Brock all the way back in the pages of 1990’s Amazing Spider-Man #344 by writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen. Only one issue later, the Venom symbiote would give birth to the Carnage symbiote while helping Eddie escape, leaving it to bond to Cletus and follow his lead by becoming a vicious, bloodthirsty killer in its own right.

In the years that followed, Carnage and Cletus starred as the villains of some of Marvel Comics’ most violent storylines, including writer Zeb Wells and artist Clayton Crain’s acclaimed miniseries Carnage U.S.A. Eventually, Carnage would become an indelible part of a sprawling conspiracy that began with a cult of Darkholders who worshiped the demonic Elder God Chthon and ended with an invasion of Earth carried out by the progenitor of all symbiotes, Knull, during the events of King in Black.

Since then, the Carnage symbiote and Cletus have had a falling out that saw the latter expelled from the Extrembiote Armor inhabited by a similarly symbiotic version of him. With its newfound freedom, Carnage embarked on a crusade of violence that saw it acquire numerous superpowers by slaying their original wielders. While this has allowed Carnage to shed its usual weaknesses, it also left a slew of bodies including those of Hydro-Man and The Spot in its wake, drawing attention from various heroes and antiheroes who made it their mission to stop the symbiote in its tracks.

Carnage #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics