Spider-Man by Michelinie & Bagley Omnibus #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThis omnibus gathers the creative peak of one of the most consequential writer-artist pairings in Spider-Man's history, collecting the full 14-part 'Maximum Carnage' crossover — a 1993 publishing experiment that spread across every Spider-Man title simultaneously and helped establish the cross-title event as a standard Marvel storytelling format. It also houses the complete 'Venom: Lethal Protector' miniseries, the first solo vehicle for Eddie Brock and the narrative pivot that permanently repositioned Venom from outright villain to anti-hero, a characterization that directly shaped the 2018 Sony film. The volume also captures Michelinie's handling of the 'Return of Peter's Parents' arc, a major 1990s continuity development that questioned the foundations of Peter Parker's biography, and includes a Spider-Man/Hulk two-parter that became a minor piece of Marvel inter-title continuity history when Peter David later retconned it as a dream in 'Incredible Hulk' #413. Together, these storylines make this omnibus a dense record of how Marvel's Spider-Man line operated — creatively and editorially — at the height of the early-1990s boom.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
David Michelinie had been writing 'Amazing Spider-Man' since 1987, making his run second in length only to Stan Lee's, while Mark Bagley joined the title after winning the 1986 Marvel Tryout Contest and replacing Erik Larsen beginning with issue #351. The material collected in this omnibus represents the final, most ambitious stretch of their collaboration — shepherded by Spider-Man group editor Danny Fingeroth — encompassing the line-wide 'Maximum Carnage' event (conceived by Fingeroth and influenced by the concurrent industry climate of 'Knightfall' and the 'Death of Superman'), the 'Lethal Protector' miniseries (which Bagley and Michelinie co-penciled and scripted before Ron Lim took over art duties for issues #4–6), and the concluding chapters of Michelinie's run; he departed 'Amazing Spider-Man' only eight issues after 'Maximum Carnage' concluded.
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- Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #376–393 and Annuals #27–28; Web of Spider-Man (1985) #101–103 and #112; Spider-Man (1990) #35–37 and #45; Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #201–203 and #211; Amazing Spider-Man Ashcan Edition #1; Venom: Lethal Protector (1993) #1–6; and material from Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #1–2. Total page count: approximately 1,112–1,128 pages. Published July 8, 2025.
- Contains the complete 'Maximum Carnage' 14-part crossover (1993), which ran across Amazing Spider-Man #378–380, Web of Spider-Man #101–103, Spider-Man #35–37, Spectacular Spider-Man #201–203, and Spider-Man Unlimited #1–2 — one of the earliest and most ambitious single-narrative crossovers to span every title in a Marvel character's publishing line simultaneously.
- Includes the complete Venom: Lethal Protector #1–6 (February–July 1993): the first solo series for Eddie Brock/Venom, written by David Michelinie and penciled primarily by Mark Bagley (with Ron Lim on issues #4–6). This series formally marked Venom's transition from villain to anti-hero — the same characterization that served as the primary source material for the 2018 Sony/Marvel 'Venom' film directed by Ruben Fleischer.
- The two-part Spider-Man/Hulk story in Amazing Spider-Man #381–382 (written by Michelinie, penciled by Bagley, inked by Randy Emberlin and Al Milgrom) features Bruce Banner/Hulk as an antagonist infected by a gamma virus, with Spider-Man ultimately appealing to Banner's conscience to break the virus's hold. The events were later retconned as Doc Samson's dream in Incredible Hulk #413 by Peter David, who objected to the story's handling of Hulk's continuity.
- In Amazing Spider-Man #386, the Hulk and Bruce Banner are referenced in connection to the ruins of a prior battle, tying the post-Maximum Carnage issues back to the Hulk crossover storyline.
- The 'Return of Peter Parker's Parents' arc (covering Amazing Spider-Man #383–388 and surrounding tie-ins) depicts the apparent resurrection of Richard and Mary Parker — a major status-quo shake-up for the Parker family — with Aunt May's suspicions about their authenticity serving as a key subplot threading through much of the omnibus.
- Mark Bagley penciled Amazing Spider-Man from 1991 to 1996; his visual interpretation of Spider-Man and Venom became so definitive that it was licensed extensively for merchandise, video games, and promotional materials throughout the era.
- The omnibus is available in two cover variants: a standard 'Hulk Cover' featuring new Mark Bagley art of Spider-Man and the Hulk, and a direct-market-exclusive 'Enemies Cover' also by Bagley. Both editions share identical interior contents.
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