It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Marvel Omnibus fans – time for the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot! This post explains every Carnage & Venom omnibus that does NOT exist – all of which will appear as options on the 2025 poll.
For the next two weeks, I’ll be covering Marvel’s entire publishing history by mapping missing omnibus volumes to fill in every gap in your Marvel oversize shelf! That’s all leading to the kickoff of the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot on Near Mint Condition on April 28, 2025.
This year we’re getting one of the most massive Venom omnibuses – both in physical size and in impact on filling the gaps in his oversize coverage. The Agent Venomnibus will collect the entire run of Agent Venom both in Earth and in space from 2011 to 2015! I have a few quibbles with some extra content it could have included (including the Klyntar origin from Guardians of the Galaxy (2013), but few people suspected that Marvel would push to fit Venom: Space Knight (2015) into this book and that’s exciting!
What does that mean for Venom’s coverage in omnibus? We’re just two books away from unbroken coverage from 1994 to 2021, and then we can continue with two more books to reach the present day! Meanwhile, in Carnage Omnibus news, it’s time for both a “Volume 0” to establish his origins and a Volume 2 to continue collecting his comics from 2017 to present.
If you’re not sure of what to vote for, stick around for a list of books vetted by a gang of the biggest mapping nerds on the internet with explanations from yours truly – keeper of the most-definitive guides to Marvel’s collected editions on the planet.
Or, if you don’t care about omnibuses, just use this post to learn about Marvel’s history and find some great comics to read!
This post would not be possible without the help of JM21, a major CK supporter for the past decade and of the very few folks on the internet whose maps I trust as much as my own! JM is also a supporter of the UK charity Men Walking & Talking, which helps to create safe space for men to discuss their mental health and wellness. If you love this post and have a bit of extra comics cash you can spare consider donating the CBLDF today!
This post covers the following speculated omnibus volumes:
- Venom Omnibus
- Venomnibus Vol. 4: Symbiote Companion (2008 – 2011) [includes Toxin and Anti-Venom material]
- Venom: Into the Venomverse by Costa & Bunn (2016 – 2018) [run between Space Knight & Cates]
- Venom by Ewing Vol. 1 (2021 & on) [with Ram V & Grønbekk]
- Venom War (2024) [event + all tie-ins]
- Carnage Omnibus
- Carnage: The Birth of Carnage (1992 – 2005)
- Carnage Vol. 2 (2017 – 2023)
Remember: These titles and mappings are a suggestion of how Marvel could assemble these books. They are meant to help you decide on your votes on the Tigereyes poll. Your vote on the poll is a vote in favor of Marvel creating a book with that title or covering that period, NOT an endorsement of a specific map. Maps are presented as a proof of concept and to help you build your personal reading list.
Want to check out all of the other voting options for the 2025 Tigereyes Poll? Check out my 2025 Tigereyes poll options overview page that explains the poll, how to vote, and every title that will appear – including links to all of the posts in this series.
Over-the-top comics posts like this one are made possible via the support of Patrons of Crushing Krisis. For less than the cost of a single comic issue a month you can fuel my in-depth comics coverage, plus gain access to dozens of exclusive collecting guides & reading orders – including all of the Crushing Comics Guide to Marvel Comics.
Carnage & Venom Omnibus Mapping: Venom in Omnibus
Thanks to Venom’s enduring popularity, we have impressive coverage of Venom’s history in omnibus. We have everything from his birth through the mid-00s. Then, thanks to his forthcoming Agent Venomnibus we have everything from 2011 to 2021! My Guide to Venom explains it all.
What’s left to collect? Not that much!
To read all of Venom in omnibus, right now you can read Spider-Man vs. Venom Omnibus followed by Venomnibus Vol. 1-3, which will take you to 2007 in reading about Eddie Brock. See Guide to Venom for details.
Venomnibus Vol. 4: Symbiote Companion (2008 – 2011) [includes Toxin and Anti-Venom material]
With Brock and the Venom symbiote separated at the end of Venomnibus Volume 3, and with a new symbiote on the loose, the threads of a Venom-centric book become a bit frayed! Mac Gargan takes on the Venom symbiote, but his story is told almost entirely via Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers collections; so what can we collect here?
Luckily, there’s still a significant amount of symbiote material in this period to gather into omnibus – including otherwise abandoned stories for Toxin and Anti-Venom!
A vote for this book is a vote to close the final gap in collecting Venom symbiote content between his birth in 1984 and the Agent Venom period that begins in 2011.
This would start with Eddie Brock content (Venom: Dark Origin (2008) #1-5), then pick up the abandoned Toxin (2005) #1-6, then move on to a core of issues of Mac Gargan with Venom Symbiote (Sinister Spider-Man (2009) #1-4 and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #648-650 (B-Stories)) and then return to following Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom in Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #568-573, Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! (2008) #2, Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom – New Ways to Live (2009) #1-3, material from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #663-664, excerpts from New Avengers (2010) Annual 1 & Avengers (2010) Annual 1, and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #668-673.
It could also include the Brock-focused story from Venom (2011) #15 & 17-21, a Carnage tale from Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man (1999) #13-14), and Symbiote-focused What If? issues from prior to 2011 as a bonus!
Here you would read the new Agent Venomnibus, which covers all of Flash Thompson’s time as Venom from 2011 to 2017 – see Guide to Venom.
Venom: Into the Venomverse by Costa & Bunn (2016 – 2018) [run between Space Knight & Cates]
Everyone remembers Donny Cates revitalizing Eddie Brock as Venom with his blockbuster 2018 run with Ryan Stegman that spawned Absolute Carnage and King in Black.
Folks forget that before we got there we had two years of bringing the Venom symbiote back to earth and expanding on Brian Bendis’s recent origin story of the Symbiote’s race, the Klyntar.
This would begin with Mike Costa’s run on Venom (2016), which put a new player in the symbiote suit. That title then had a delightful pivot as it hit Marvel Legacy and issue #150, which Costa continues to write.
At the same time, Cullen Bunn began expanding the existence of the Klyntar and their proliferation across space (and the multiverse), which is a critical plot point to help establish the Donny Cates run.
A vote for this book is a vote to close the final gap in ongoing Venom series to get from 1984 to 2021 in an unbroken run in a volume that gets Eddie Brock back into the Venom suit and expands the lore of the symbiotes.
This would collect Venom (2016) #1-6 & 150-165 and the “Venom Inc.” crossover (Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Alpha (2017) #1, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #792-793, & Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Omega (2018) #1) and the Poison-X crossover (X-Men Blue (2017) Annual 1 & #21-22 & 25-27), Edge of Venomverse (2017) #1-5, Venomverse (2017) #1-5, and Venomverse: War Stories (2017) #1, Venomized (2018) #1-5, Venom: First Host (2018) #1-5, a retcon story from Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #5, and optionally Amazing Spider-Man (1963 / 2015) #793-796 to establish the status of Anti-Venom prior to Cates’s run.
Venomnibus by Cates & Stegman fits here, as do the King in Black and Absolute Carnage omnibuses. See Guide to Venom for more details!
Venom by Ewing Vol. 1 (2021 & on) [with Ram V & Grønbekk]
While Al Ewing’s time on Venom is still ongoing with All-New Venom (2024), the entire first four years of his run has now wrapped up in an omnibus-sized volume.
It’s tricky to exactly map runs that are still ongoing. If Ewing only runs for 10 issues on All-New Venom (2024), that would obviously get added to this! But, since this run already weighs in at over 40 issues, I think it’s safe to say it could be an omnibus all on its own.
A vote for this book is a vote to collect the Eddie Brock focused portion of Al Ewing’s time on Venom in a single book.
This would collect Venom (2021) #1-35 & Annual 1 and the “Symbiosis Necrosis” crossover (Carnage (2023) #5-6), Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom (2021), Free Comic Book Day 2022: Spider-Man/Venom (2022), Free Comic Book Day 2023: Spider-Man/Venom (2023), Ms. Marvel & Venom (2022) #1, Venom War (2024) #1-5, and material from Extreme Venomverse (2023) #2.
That’s plenty of material for one book! But, it could also add non-Ewing material from this period including Extreme Venomverse (2023) #1-5, Free Comic Book Day 2021: Ultimate Universe/Spider-Man #1 (2024), and Venomverse Reborn (2024) #1-4. However, note that Death of the Venomverse (2023) #1-5 is actually an extension of a Carnage title and would be more suitable in a Carnage omnibus.
Venom War (2024) [event + all tie-ins]
Venom War was mostly a story to resolve the present and future plots of Venom (2021) into a single conflict, but it also spawned a massive line-wide set of tie-ins!
This would be a 40-issue omnibus, so there’s no way to combine it with the other 34 issues of Venom (2021) that would appear in an Al Ewing omnibus. Plus, the way Donny Cates’s run on Venom (2018) was collected sets a clear precedent on how to handle event stories that spin out from a main Venom run.
A vote for this book is a vote for a complete collection of the Venom War event!
This would collect Free Comic Book Day 2024: Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe #1, Black Widow: Venomous (2024) #1, Venom War (2024) #1-5, Venom (2021) #35-39, Venom War: Daredevil (2024) #1, Venom War: Deadpool (2024) #1-3, Venom War: Carnage (2024) #1-3, Venom War: Fantastic Four (2024) #1, Venom War: It’s Jeff! (2024) #1, Venom War: Lethal Protectors (2024) #1-3, Venom War: Spider-Man (2024) #1-4, Venom War: Venomous (2024) #1-3, Venom War: Wolverine (2024) #1-3, and Venom War: Zombiotes (2024) #1-3.
Carnage & Venom Omnibus Mapping: Venom in Omnibus
Carnage has just a single omnibus, but it’s a massive one with an incredible map! The Carnage Omnibus gathers together all of his many mini-series from 2004 to 2015 and then adds his complete (and completely spooky) 2015 All-New All-Different Marvel series from Gerry Conway. See Guide to Carnage for more information!
We’d need just two additional Carnage omnibuses to bookend that volume to create a complete reading order for Carnage from 1992 to present day!
Carnage: The Birth of Carnage (1992 – 2005)
We already know exactly what material this omnibus would contain – it’s the contents of three existing Carnage Epic Collections! They cover Carnage’s birth, the “Maximum Carnage” crossover, his extreme mid-90s material, and his relatively sparse additional appearances through the mid-00s when the next omnibus takes over.
A vote for this book is a vote to have a definitive “Volume 0” omnibus for Carnage as already definitively mapped by his trio of Epic Collections. It’s also a chance to read the “Maximum Carnage” crossover in the context of the Carnage stories that precede and follow it, which is not how it has been presenting in any other omnibus so far.
This would begin by collecting Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #361-363 & #378-380 and all of “Maximum Carnage” (Web of Spider-Man (1985) #101-103, Spider-Man (1990) #35-37, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #201-203, Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #1-2 (A-Stories), the first story from Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964) 28.
It would continue to collect Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #403 & 410, Venom: Carnage Unleashed (1995) #1-4, material from the “Planet of the Symbiotes” story (Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Super Special, Spider-Man (1990) Super Special, Venom (1995) Super Special, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) Super Special, and Web of Spider-Man (1985) Super Special) Carnage: Mind Bomb (1996) #1, Sensational Spider-Man (1996) #3, Spider-Man (1990) #67, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #233, Carnage: It’s A Wonderful Life (1996) #1, Venom: On Trial (1997) #2-3, Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #430-431, Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1999) #13, and Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #13-14, Toxin (2005) #1-6, X-Men/Spider-Man (2009) #3, and What If? (1989) #108.
However, it would likely omit Venom vs. Carnage (2004) #1-4 from those trades, which is in the existing Carnage omnibus.
The existing Carnage omnibus fits here, picking up exactly from the end of that book and featuring every significant appearance through 2017 – see Guide to Carnage.
Carnage Vol. 2 (2017 – 2023)
Carnage has been up to a lot since the end of his first ongoing series in 2017! Of course, some of that was Donny Cates’s Absolute Carnage event, which we wouldn’t recollect here.
Instead, this would mostly focus on material from after that event, as well as a pair of Carnage ongoing series that followed. IN fact, it’s so much material that it might not fit all into one omnibus!
A vote for this book is a vote to continue the trend set by the first volume – a complete, all-in-one Carnage omnibus that pull together his disparate material into an easy-to-enjoy tome.
It’s possible this would begin with a story from Free Comic Book Day (The Amazing Spider-Man) (2018), Amazing Spider-Man (2015 / 1963) #797-800, Red Goblin: Red Death (2019) #1, all of which reframe the Carnage symbiote’s involvement in Absolute Carnage – which would not be collected here in full.
Then, this would primarily collect Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage (2019) #1 (which isn’t in the Cates omnibus), Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage (2020) #1, King in Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage (2021) #1-3, the “Extreme Carnage” 2021 mini-event (Extreme Carnage (2021) Alpha, Scream, Phage, Lasher, Riot, Toxin, Agony, & Omega), Carnage Forever (2022) #1, Carnage (2022) #1-12 and the “Carnage Reigns” crossover (Carnage Reigns Alpha (2023) #1, Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #6, Carnage (2022) #13, Red Goblin (2023) #5, Carnage (2022) #14, Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #7, and Carnage Reigns Omega (2023) #1)), Web of Carnage (2023) #1, Death of the Venomverse (2023) #1-5, Carnage (2023) #1-8 and the “Symbiosis Necrosis” crossover (Venom (2021) #31-32).
That’s already a massive book that might break into a third volume! However, it could also optionally add Venom / Carnage Infinity Comic (2021) #1-4, Carnage: Black, White & Blood (2021) #1-4, What If…? Dark: Carnage (2023) #1, plus other Carnage symbiote stories from Scream: Curse of Carnage (2019) #1-6 and Cult of Carnage: Misery (2023) #1-5.
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