Warning! Spoilers ahead for Extreme Carnage: Phage #1
In the latest issue of Marvel's Extreme Carnage, Flash Thompson's Agent Venom had his first battle with the sinister symbiote and it ended in a horrible disaster. Serving as the alpha codex for all of the original Venom's offspring, Carnage has returned with a dark new power to corrupt and infect all of the Life Foundation symbiotes. While Carnage started with Scream, her host Andi Benton was forced to use her hellfire powers to free herself while burning Scream in the process. Now, Carnage has moved on to the next Life Foundation symbiote: Phage.
In Extreme Carnage: Phage #1 from writer Steve Orlando and artist Gerardo Sandoval, Carnage succeeded in corrupting Phage, taking him to Alchemax where their Guardsmen had captured and locked Andi up in their facility. However, Phage doesn't burn so easily, and he wanted payback for what Andi did to Scream. Naturally, the two began to brawl. Agent Venom soon arrived on the scene, having been tasked by Iron Man to monitor and take care of any new symbiote threats that arise during such a tumultuous time after the devastation caused by Marvel's recent King in Black event.
However, things soon took a turn for the worse. Andi was determined to keep fighting due to Carnage having murdered her aunt, not to mention what happened with Scream. While Agent Venom tried to keep Phage's focus on him, it was to no avail and before Flash Thompson could do anything, Andi Benton was impaled by one of Phage's sharp claws by the issue's end. Apparently, the hive Carnage is attempting to build with the Life Foundation symbiotes needs blood, and he chose Andi to be the victim that would provide it.
Sadly, this does not bode well for Agent Venom's future success in his war against Carnage. With one symbiote seemingly burned away to almost nothing, another having been infected by Carnage's influence, and now a host seemingly murdered, all of the wins belong to Carnage. Not only that, but Carnage has successfully replaced Senator Krane, the leader of the Friends of Humanity anti-alien movement. More symbiote violence means more press and power for Carnage, which he might even leverage for a shot at becoming President Carnage. Clearly, Agent Venom has to find some way of getting the upper hand, and he needs to do it sooner rather than later.
There are now three Life Foundation symbiotes left: Agony, Lasher, and Riot. If Carnage manages to infect all three of them, there's no telling what he'll be capable of or whom he might be able to influence as Krane. It seems as though Agent Venom's best bet would be to try and locate one of the symbiotes first while also keeping them away from any of Krane's campaign messages, as they seem to be the trigger that starts his irresistible call as the alpha codex. Here's hoping Agent Venom will soon be able to turn the tide in this new symbiote war against Carnage and his new power.