5 Coolest Moments From… Rise of the Midnight Sons

Ah, Marvel Comics in the early 90’s. What a time to be alive!

In 1990 Marvel struck gold almost accidentally with the revamp of Ghost Rider into the version most people are familiar with today (at least visually). About two years later when the speculator market was humming along and everyone was going to be filthy rich forever, they decided to go one further: revamp the majority of the horror comics from the 1970’s. So we got updated versions of Morbius, the Living Vampire, Blade, Frank Drake and Hannibal King, and even the original (well, at least original flaming head version) Ghost Rider himself, Johhny Blaze, joined in on the action.

The line was (re)launched starting in the pages of Ghost Rider, and spinning out to launch a number of new titles for the line. Each title had varying degrees of success, lasting from anywhere from 16 to nearly 40 issues.

So, behold, Marvel horror comics that were not mature-rated but still featured plenty of messed up stuff, all with just the right amount of 90’s angst, gritted teeth, and smoking in situations in which it’s not only nearly impossible practically, but not worth the trouble, such as: while riding motorcycles, while arguing with a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle, while fleeing the police, while battling demons, etc, etc! It’s great!

While some of the threads that make it a crossover are pretty thin at times, things come together in the end and Marvel had a new toy box for their creators to get weird in! So, without further ado, here are the 5 coolest moments from RISE OF THE MIDNIGHT SONS.

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Favorite Stories: Maximum Carnage Part 3

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Well, look who it is! Back for more, eh? If you’re reading this then I’m SURE you’ve already read parts 1 and 2. Why else would you be here? The smell?

As we round home on our story Carnage and his gang of freaks have kidnapped Venom and have really handed our heroes their asses. Captain America has just arrived, and Iron Fist has rescued Deathlok from the precarious situation Carnage left him in. Will the additions of these heroes turn the tide? Can Spider-Man and Venom get on the same page for once and save the day? Let’s find out!

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Favorite Stories: Maximum Carnage Part 2

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Back for more, huh? Just couldn’t turn down another taste of that sweet 90’s Spider-Man goodness that tastes great going down and then gives you horrible heartburn and you wonder why you keep eating it and then you do it again anyway, could you?

We rejoin our heroes and anti-heroes at a low point. Spider-Man has split from Venom and the Black Cat (who are joined by Cloak, who is still grieving the loss of his partner, Dagger) in their quest to stop Carnage and his maniacs, who seem stronger than ever. They are no closer to stopping them than they were when they started and the casualties are piling up. We’ll cover parts 6-9 here, which is the second rotation through the main Spider-Man titles.

You can read part 1 here and part 3 here.

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Favorite Stories: Maximum Carnage Part 1

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Released: 1993
Took Place In: Spider-Man Unlimited 1-2, Amazing Spider-Man 378-380, Spectacular Spider-Man 201-203, Spider-Man 35-37, Web of Spider-Man 101-103
Written By: Tom DeFalco (Spider-Man Unlimited), David Michelinie (Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man), Terry Kavanagh (Web of Spider-Man, Spider-Man), J.M. DeMatteis (Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man)
Art By: Ron Lim (Spider-Man Unlimited), Mark Bagley (Amazing Spider-Man), Sal Buscema (Spectacular Spider-Man), Tom Lyle (Spider-Man), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man)
Characters Involved: Spider-Man, Venom, Carnage, Black Cat, Cloak, Dagger, Firestar, Iron Fist, Deathlok, Captain America, Morbius, Nightwatch, Demogoblin, Doppelganger, Carrion, Shriek

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