Hunted vs Absolute Carnage

[your_name_here]

Best Spidey-Verse event out of the two? Both took place in 2019.
Which villain got the better showing? Which had the best story?
Are any (or both) possibly going to be modern classics?

[Celgress]

I preferred Absolute Carnage as it felt both bigger (stakes) and more original to me. Plus, I love me some symbiotes, especially Carnage & Venom.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Best Spidey-Verse event out of the two? Both took place in 2019.
Which villain got the better showing? Which had the best story?
Are any (or both) possibly going to be modern classics?

I think HUNTED was on the whole more consistent and engaging from a writing perspective.

Absolute Carnage started out with an amazing first issue but nothing matched it after that. Spencer's Absolute Carnage tie-in issues for ASM#30 and #31 featuring Kindred's cryptic expository clip-show of Norman flashbacks was way better than Cates' later issues.

HUNTED made it clear that the stakes are centered on Peter in a particular location (Domed Central Park) and aside from sequences with MJ, the story didn't move out of that small chosen scale.

Whereas Absolute Carnage involved a huge swathe of the Marvel Universe and yet the story remained small and localized and had no wide consequences and shake-ups.

Likewise Cates introduced a few big stuff in terms of Peter, i.e. Cletus knowing Peter's identity as well as Peter seemingly unmasking to Little Normie Osborn but none of that carried through and in any case, it seems that some of it, at least in the case of Normie was a mistake on Cates' and his editor's part since he thought the kid knew his identity. So there's a level of incompetence in that execution that is missing from HUNTED. I think Cates' writing is largely hit-and-miss, he's still finding his voice and while he has a good style and is improving, his characterization is wonky, and tone is inconsistent. So in Absolute Carnage, The Maker comes off very well, and you can tell that Cates' eventually has a big event with that guy in mind, and he's the endgame boss for Brock. I also think Cates' does Spider-Man well in the story.

HUNTED though is of a piece, consistent, moody, and dark. It's about Peter and the rogues, and it's a good story and showcase of that. Got great Arcade stuff, great Vulture stuff, a classic issue with Gibbon, and Kraven's second send-off is good.

Ultimately both Absolute Carnage and HUNTED are homages and cover-versions of earlier stories and events. Maximum Carnage is a bad story while Kraven's Last Hunt is a masterpiece. So Absolute Carnage is better than its inspiration owing to the low stakes that involves, while HUNTED as good as it is, cannot be as good as KLH.

[Jekyll]

Absolute Carnage, hands down. It was fun and didn’t over stay it’s welcome. Hunted was dull and went on for way to long.

[Chubistian]

HUNTED get the win. I just didn't find much enjoyement in Absolute Carnage after it's first issue. I find symbiotes to be utterly boring and this was no exception