Carrion (comics)
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Carrion is a
supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...
appearing in
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
.


Publication history

The Miles Warren clone version of Carrion first appeared in ''
The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...
'' #25 and was created by
Bill Mantlo William Timothy Mantlo (born November 9, 1951) is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: '' Micronauts'' and '' R ...
,
Jim Mooney James Noel Mooney (August 13, 1919 – March 30, 2008) was an Americans, American comics artist best known for his long tenure at DC Comics and as the signature artist of Supergirl, as well as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, both ...
, and
Frank Springer Frank Springer (December 6, 1929 – April 2, 2009) was an American comics artist best known for Marvel Comics' '' Dazzler'' and '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. As well, in collaboration with writer Michael O'Donoghue, Springer created one ...
. Carrion emerged as part of a storyline that was a sequel to the original
Clone Saga The "Clone Saga" is an extended comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics, revolving around the superhero Spider-Man and clones of him, as well as of other characters. The second and best-known story arc of this name ran from October 1994 ...
and as a result he has one of the most complicated histories of any Spider-Man villain. According to
Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...
, in Mantlo's original plans for this story, Carrion would have been revealed as the Peter Parker clone. That the real Spider-Man had also dumped the then-deceased
Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the first and best-known incarnation of the Green Goblin is Norman Osborn, ...
's gear in the same furnace explained the Goblin-esque look of Carrion. However,
Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...
, then writer of
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...
book, had some second thoughts about it. He decided he didn't want a second Spider-Man running around so Bill was asked to change the planned revelation of his extended story, even though the first chapter had already been published. The character's history has been
retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...
several times as successive writers changed the status of the various clones, the plans and motivations of Professor Miles Warren and other aspects from the stories. Often these changes took place in stories which did not directly involve Carrion, resulting in further stories trying to tie up gaps. No fewer than three separate incarnations have been encountered. William Allen first appeared in ''Spider-Man: Dead Man's Hand'' #1 (April 1997), created by
Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfo ...
and Dan Lawlis. McBride was created by
Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...
and
Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...
in ''
The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...
'' #149 (April 1989).


Fictional character biography


Miles Warren clone

The original Carrion first appeared seeking to destroy Spider-Man, somehow knowing that his secret identity was Peter Parker. He unsuccessfully approached the Maggia with a plan to kill Spider-Man. He attacked Peter Parker, blaming him for the death of
Gwen Stacy Gwendolyne Maxine "Gwen" Stacy is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man (Peter Parker). A college student and the daughter of George Stacy, Georg ...
. Carrion sought to destroy Parker/Spider-Man several times before capturing Spider-Man and revealing to him that he was a decayed clone of Professor Miles Warren, also known as the Jackal. Warren had created the clone and left it in a capsule to mature to full development; however Warren had then (seemingly) died and the clone was left developing in the capsule with artificially accelerated age. Something went wrong and the clone's body became like a living corpse. As Warren's clone, Carrion blamed Spider-Man for the deaths of both Warren and Gwen Stacy and sought to bring him to justice with the help of a malleable student named Randy Vale. Carrion captured Peter Parker and prepared to kill him with a giant "Spider-Amoeba" created by cloning cells from Parker. However, Parker freed himself and became Spider-Man. In the subsequent fight a fire consumed the laboratory whilst the amoeba latched onto Carrion. The Spider-Amoeba suffocated Carrion, smothering him to death, and then unable to escape it perished in the fire.


Malcolm McBride

Many years later, Spider-Man learned from the
High Evolutionary The High Evolutionary (Herbert Edgar Wyndham) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is depicted as a scientist who seeks to evolve different life forms such as the New Men. The High Evolutionary ...
that Warren had not achieved cloning but had instead created a genetic virus that could transform existing human beings into what seemed to be genetic duplicates of other people. This left Spider-Man wondering "What about Carrion?" Peter Parker searched Miles Warren's old lab and found a journal that seemingly answered many questions, though many years later the Evolutionary would cast further doubt on this. Parker was followed by his university research student rival Malcolm McBride who discovered a test tube containing a strange substance. When examining it, McBride discovered it was an advanced genetic creation that when exposed to air grew rapidly and consumed him, turning him into a second incarnation of Carrion, complete with all the knowledge and powers that the original had displayed. The new Carrion attacked Spider-Man, picking up his predecessor's cause. Initially, Carrion believed himself to be another clone of Warren but slowly found McBride's memories and personality trying to reassert itself. Carrion would fight against Spider-Man on several occasions. Carrion joined forces with the
Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, appearing in English folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his '' A Midsummer Nigh ...
against Spider-Man and sacrificed himself to save the mother of Malcolm McBride. Carrion turned up alive again, and teamed up with Carnage, Doppelganger,
Demogoblin Demogoblin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Demogoblin first appeared as Demogoblin in ''Web of Spider-Man'' #86 (March 1992), and had previously appeared as an unnamed d ...
and Shriek on the killing spree ''
Maximum Carnage "Maximum Carnage" is a 14-part comic book crossover published in Marvel Comics' ''Spider-Man'' family of titles in 1993. It featured Spider-Man, Venom, and a host of other superheroes teaming up to face Venom's murderous offspring Carnage and h ...
'' across
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The mentally unstable Shriek started looking upon Carrion and the others as her and Carnage's "sons". The villains were defeated and confined to the Ravencroft mental institution. Later Shriek escaped and freed Carrion. She tried to dominate Carrion even further and encouraged him to destroy all aspects of McBride's life. However, when they confronted Spider-Man in the McBride household, McBride's mother was able to reach her son's true identity. Mrs. McBride and Shriek fought over who was the true mother. Malcolm/Carrion was driven to despair by this and tried to turn the Carrion virus upon himself. In a moment of compassion, Shriek cured him of the virus. Malcolm McBride returned to Ravencroft. Later the mysterious Judas Traveller invaded Ravencroft and briefly transformed McBride back into Carrion during an encounter with Spider-Man. However in the end McBride was transformed back by Traveller and all his memories of Peter Parker as Spider-Man were wiped. Subsequently, it was revealed that many of the powers displayed by Traveller were illusions, so it remains unclear what happened.


William Allen

Following the death of the Jackal his corpse was examined by agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...
Dr. William Allen ignored safety protocols and in the process was infected by a new, stronger version of the Carrion virus, transforming him into the third incarnation of the villain. The most deadly Carrion of all, he exhibited the further ability to use a "zombie plague" to control the minds of others, but also found that both Warren and Allen's minds fought for control of the body. As Carrion sought to infect the city with the Red Dust plague, Spider-Man confronted the High Evolutionary, who confirmed that he had deliberately sought to distort Warren's achievements by faking the journals and evidence to make it seem that Warren had never achieved true cloning. Spider-Man discovered Warren's old notes which were used to generate a cure, whilst he confronted Carrion. The latter now revealed that the original Carrion had indeed been a clone of Warren, created to incubate a virus to destroy mankind, but that it had been released too early and failed in its mission. Spider-Man subdued the new Carrion, who was taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The High Evolutionary provided data from Warren's journals that could potentially cure him. However, no cure was discovered for William, so he has been kept in stasis in a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. Carrion was at some point incarcerated in Negative Zone Prison Alpha. When
Blastaar Blastaar (, ) (also known as the Living Bomb-Burst and Blasstaar) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #62 (May 1967). ...
and his forces invade the facility in search of its portal to Earth,
Star-Lord Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in '' Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 1976). The son of human Mered ...
forces Carrion to help him send a telepathic distress signal to
Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate a ...
and the other
Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Comic book teams 1969 team The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...
. Carrion later appears as a member of the
Shadow Council The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army The A.I. Army is a fictional organization appearing i ...
's incarnation of the
Masters of Evil The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years. Publication ...
.


Sentient virus

A new version of Carrion, engineered by the Jackal, ran rampant through New York, jumping from one host body to the next (taking control of them in the interim). After being pursued across the city by
Superior Spider-Man Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...
(
Doctor Octopus Doctor Octopus (Dr. Otto Octavius), also known as Doc Ock for short, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in ''The Amazin ...
' mind in Peter Parker's body), the Carrion virus took hold of Hyperion's body. After a brief battle with the
Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...
, the Carrion virus was thought to have been destroyed by Superior Spider-Man. However, it was able to regenerate itself and returned to its creator. The Carrion virus joined the Jackal and a clone of Miles Warren in their battle against Superior Spider-Man and
Scarlet Spider The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several fictional Character (arts), characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom are genetic clones of Peter Parker, the sup ...
. During the fight, it attempted to take control of Scarlet Spider's mind, but was stymied by the "Other" within him. During the '' Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy'' storyline, Kaine and Spider-Woman of Earth-65 rescue Spider-Man from
Jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...
. Afterwards, Kaine reveals to Spider-Man that he and Spider-Woman of Earth-65 came to this world to assist Spider-Man because they saw that apparently Spider-Man allying with the Jackal's offer on other worlds results in a global disaster in the form of the Carrion Virus. Doctor Octopus pulls a switch which activates the Carrion Virus in all of the clones and causes them to start rapidly decaying. Spider-Woman of Earth-65 escapes with Kaine as the Carrion Virus starts spreading which causes Anna to also be affected. Spider-Man tries to appeal to Ben, but Jackal ignores him and takes over J. Jonah's broadcast to tell the world that they will all die and be reborn. Spider-Man hacks into the Webware Emergency System from Parker Industries and switches it to evoke from every Parker Industries device on the planet, which sends out a large signal that stops some of the other victims from decaying.


Powers and abilities

The creature called Carrion is created when a genetic replicator virus derived from the mutated DNA of Professor
Miles Warren Sir Frederick Miles Warren (10 May 1929 – 9 August 2022) was a New Zealand architect. He apprenticed under Cecil Wood before studying architecture at the University of Auckland, eventually working at the London County Council where he was ...
comes into contact with a human being. The original Carrion had superhuman strength and durability, and could reduce the density of his body to become virtually intangible. He could disintegrate organic matter to ash just by touching it. He also had the powers of telepathy, self-levitation, and telekinesis of organic matter. Carrion also developed a chemical substance called Red Dust which can either render a victim unconscious, or act as a corrosive acid that can burn through flesh, metal, and other substances. Carrion has access to the scientific equipment used by Miles Warren in his "cloning" experiments. Malcolm McBride, as Carrion, apparently had access to the same set of powers as the original, but had not yet taken the time to explore and hone his powers to the extent of his predecessor. He had not yet demonstrated the ability to become intangible or use telekinesis, and merely has a sense of intuition bordering on telepathy. The sentient Carrion virus is able to infect and control victims without altering their bodies, allowing it to hide within them. If allowed to remain in one body long enough, it will be permanently bonded to it. The virus is resilient enough to reform itself after near-destruction. It can assume a bodily form of its own, one which resembles the previous Carrions. In this form, it can create a vapor that, when breathed in, allows him to control minds.


Other versions


''Spider-Man: Heroes & Villains''

Malcom McBride appears in ''Spider-Man: Heroes & Villains''.''Spider-Man: Heroes & Villains Collection'' #40. Marvel Comics.


In other media

* The Malcolm McBride incarnation of Carrion appears in '' Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage'' as an associate of Carnage. * Two original incarnations of Carrion, Stanley Carter and his uncle Emory Carter, appear in the novel ''Spider-Man: Requiem'', by
Jeff Mariotte Jeff Mariotte (born September 7, 1955) is an American author who lives in Arizona. As well as his own original work, he is best known for writing novels and comic books based on licensed properties. Biography Mariotte was born in Park Forest, ...
.


References


External links


Miles Warren Clone
at Marvel Universe Wiki
Carrion on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki




* * {{Spider-Man Characters created by Bill Mantlo Characters created by Gerry Conway Characters created by Roger Stern Characters created by Sal Buscema Clone characters in comics Comics characters introduced in 1978 Comics characters introduced in 1989 Comics characters introduced in 1997 Fictional characters from New York City Fictional characters who can turn intangible Fictional viruses Male characters in comics Marvel Comics psychics Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male supervillains Marvel Comics spies Marvel Comics supervillains Marvel Comics telekinetics Marvel Comics telepaths S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Spider-Man characters