Shriek

Background

Sandra/Frances was a young fat girl, whose mother was ashamed of, and whose parents abused her. That miserable childhood drove her to drugs. She became a groupie for a rock band, and a drug dealer. That was, until Cloak & Dagger dropped by during one of her deals. Being a disturbed woman to begin with, being exposed to Cloak's darkness didn't help. After that, we only know that she was captured and imprisoned in Ravencroft. According to her, she was doing some killing, when some cops blew her brains, and when gluing the pieces, the doctors missed some. I don't think we should take that version very seriously.

"Maximum Carnage"

As Carnage made his escape from Ravencroft Asylum while slaughtering every guard and patient, he heard cheers coming from behind reinforced doors. After he tore the door off the wall, Frances complained that he shouldn't have stopped the killing. She enjoyed the high pitched screams too much. They were immediately attracted to each other, and she wanted to join him. He was skeptical of sharing the glory but she assured him that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. As they escaped, she told him that she had been a mass murderer and had been captured by a guy that literally blew her mind. As they swung off, they thought they saw Spider-Man in an alleyway and dropped down to kill him. They had instead found Doppelganger, an evil duplicate from outer space that Carnage called "too hokey for words." Shriek said Doppelganger was cute in a sick and deranged way and when Carnage was going to kill the monster anyway, she hit them with a sonic blast. She told the shocked Carnage that every woman liked to keep some secrets and she still wanted to keep Doppel. Carnage reluctantly agreed, and left them alone to pay a visit to J. Jonah Jameson.

Spider-Man was quickly out patrolling for Carnage and was nearly hit by one of Shriek's blasts as he swung overhead. Spidey knew he was in trouble when he was dealing with just Doppelganger and Shriek, but he became even more intimidated when she mentioned she was with Carnage. He tapped her on the head just light enough to knock her out (he didn't want to be accused of hurting a woman) but his hesitation caused him to be kicked off of the rooftop by Doppelganger. Doppel took the unconscious Shriek away. (Ultimate Spider-Man #1)

At some point, she woke up as Doppelganger took her away and the monster became restless to finish off Spidey. She tried to convince it to go to the rendezvous point but it pushed her off of it as it swung and she cushioned herself with a sonic blast. She followed Doppelganger back to where they left Spider-Man. They found him with Cloak and Dagger at Holy Ghost Church and she tried to bury the heroes under the roof after hitting it with a sonic blast. Spider-Man had warned them of danger just in time for Cloak to teleport them away. Shriek then recognized who they were. She claimed that he had been a drug dealer when she met Cloak. The dark dimension void in his cloak drove her mad and he admitted that she looked familiar but many people had passed into the dark dimension. Shriek held her own against Cloak and Dagger while Spider-Man was occupied with Doppelganger. Carnage found them all and focused on Spider-Man, but the fight with Shriek and the others went in her direction. Dagger's light energy weakened with her fear, and her fear fed Shriek's sonic blasts. Dagger's defenses gave out and she was seemingly killed by Shriek's blast. The explosion seemed to have killed Spider-Man and Cloak as well, which didn't please Carnage. Doppelganger distracted Carnage long enough for her to escape her partner and he went after her. (Web of Spider-Man #101)

Carnage and Doppelganger caught up to her on a rooftop and he was still angry that she seemed to have killed Spider-Man. She didn't see why it mattered and he assured her that there was one leader in the band, and he was it. She liked his attitude and promised that she'd follow him anywhere. That reassured him, and they went on to kill an old couple driving through a park and a cop. They were enjoying the quality time together when Venom arrived, who was soon beaten by the trio. (Amazing Spider-Man #378)

Shriek led them to a warehouse that stored stage props for rock shows, a place she knew of as a former heavy metal groupie. Carnage was happy to call it a hideout, as heavy metal was all about chaos and chaos was his vision for the world. They didn't have long to enjoy their new home, as they were found by Demogoblin, who had been following them since Holy Ghost Church. He intended to kill them for the sinners that they were, and none of Shriek's blasts damaged him. Carnage's symbiote also didn't work against his hell-fire. Once Carnage realized that Demogoblin was out to kill as many people as possible, he convinced the demon to join them. She didn't trust the demon and neither did Carnage but they agreed that he'd make a useful ally. Cloak managed to find them and was eager to get revenge for Dagger's death. He was overwhelmed and about to be torn apart by Doppelganger when Venom, Spider-Man and Black Cat arrived to save him. The bad guys escaped when Demogoblin set the roof on fire and Shriek collapsed it onto the good guys. (Spider-Man #35)

The point of the team, or lack of it, caused a fight between Carnage and Demogoblin, making Shriek need to end it with another sonic blast. She reminded them that they share the things in life that they all love, pain and agony of others. She told Carnage to think of Demogoblin and Doppelganger as sons, people to be taught his wisdom. Their next family outing was to Fifth Avenue, where dozens of people were killed and a police helicopter was destroyed. She took them to a fancy restaurant that her bands took her too, but they didn't care for the steamed veggies and tofu, so they killed everyone in the restaurant. As they left, another creature began to follow them: Carrion (Malcolm McBride). (Spectacular Spider-Man #201)

Shriek and her crew attacked the night club called The Wake and fought Spider-Man, Venom, Black Cat, Michael Morbius, and Cloak. They escaped. (Web of Spider-Man #102)

Their next appearance was the New York Metropolitan Museum and took part in some destruction of the museum's antiquities. The NYPD engaged with them, but were quickly taken by surprise by Carrion. They moved on to Manhattan and the murder spree continued, with the group sparing no one. Carnage was about to kill a mother with kids when he was shot by Deathlok. He was blasted through an electrical sign by Shriek and the electricity shorted out the cyborg. (Amazing Spider-Man #379)

Carnage took his group to Brooklyn to see the ruins of St. Estes, the orphanage that he grew up in. He told them about the bullies that picked on him, and the beatings he took from the orphanage's managers. The good guys showed up with a sonic gun, stolen from the Fantastic Four, knowing that sonics are one of Carnage's few weaknesses. They had also recruited Firestar, whose control of fire was also dangerous to him. The gun was ineffective but Firestar weakened Carnage enough that he was barely able to stand. He managed to get a second wind. (Spider-Man #36)

The fight continued in Central Park and Shriek again faced off against Cloak. She showed him that her sound blasts did more than just destroy, they could amplify the emotions inside of a target. They could keep building until they were too much and would destroy a person's psyche. All of her power was thanks to her brief time in his dark dimension from years ago. He fled from her and she kept ranting about her abilities. She had become a psychic channel, where she could control and manipulate the emotions of others, or even transfer her emotions into ordinary people. Since she had been around someone as sick as Carnage, her emotions had been extra violent. She next turned her power onto Venom and despite his strength and singlemindedness, she managed to separate Brock from the symbiote. This left Brock completely defenseless and she and Carnage beat him unconscious. Carnage kept her from killing him, and told her they were taking him away to be tortured. (Spectacular Spider-Man #202)

They took him to the Statue of Liberty and chained Brock up inside the torch. They hung him over an open fire and Shriek used her abilities to amplify his pain. They both tortured him, with her sound blasts and Carnage cutting him. (Web of Spider-Man #103)

Shriek left Carnage alone with Brock and went back to the city, using her abilities to send average people into a murderous rage. Looting and blackouts started in Midtown and were spreading across the city. The remaining heroes, joined by Captain America and Iron Fist, engaged her and managed to stop her mind control. She was webbed to a light pole and left behind, but was found by Demogoblin and Doppelganger who freed her. It was a trap set by the heroes, who attacked the three of them as soon as they arrived. With her attention focused on the vigilantes, Shriek dropped her mind control and the people regained their sanity. A group confronted them, standing between the heroes and killers. She told the people that she hadn't even been trying to control them before, but now she was going to make a conscious effort. The mob was turned against the heroes. (Amazing Spider-Man #380)

She watched the vigilantes try to get past the mind controlled crowd without hurting them and scornfully said they were hoping that good would defeat evil. Carrion told her to not upset herself and she told him she wanted to be upset, because she had been abused as a young girl by her parents but had never been allowed to get upset. She tried to be good but her parents never stopped the abuse, ever. Meanwhile the heroes always tried to save everyone but they never tried to save her. She saw that the good guys were getting closer and reached out to push the crowd a little harder. They moved to a safer spot but close enough to see the chaos. She promised Doppelganger that he'd get to kill more people soon but not until Carnage got home. They continued to wait but got impatient and decided to go killing without him, just as he arrived. He beat her against the rooftop, furious that she would go out without his permission. Doppelganger tried to stop Carnage, who responded by stabbing the monster and kicking it off the side of the building. Again, she lost her focus regarding controlling the people and they all fled, leaving the heroes and killers alone. On top of that, Cloak returned with Dagger. (Spider-Man #37)

Dagger claimed that she had been transformed by Shriek's blast and nearly killed but it actually scattered her consciousness. Her remaining essence was absorbed into Cloak and their love for each other kept her alive, eventually letting her reform as one with the light. Shriek couldn't handle that "her kill" had been taken from her and went on a rampage to kill Dagger again. Carrion wanted to help his "mother," but was held back by Carnage who wanted to see how well Shriek could care for herself. Dagger defeated Shriek and forgave her leaving the killer stunned. Only for a moment, before she attacked Dagger again. The heroes seemed to flee...except for Spider-Man. He was hardly able to fight the four of them alone and spent the fight dodging their attacks. As he lay injured and exhausted in the street, Shriek turned her power on him, amplifying the fear, guilt and anger inside him. He was rescued by the others, who had built a machine that amplified positive emotion. Carrion and Demogoblin tried to flee the energy, and Shriek tried to embrace it. Carnage rejected the positive feelings and faked his death to escape, despite Shriek telling him it was their chance for redemption. Shriek was captured and taken back to Ravencroft. (Spectacular Spider-Man #203)

"Shriek, Rattle and Roll"

Frances nearly escaped from Ravencroft nearly a year after Maximum Carnage by manipulating the emotions of the guards around her. Her taunts and the guard's anger gave her just the emotional boost she needed to break free from her shackles and break out other inmates (Webber, Pyromania, Gale and Mayhem). Spider-Man and John Jameson rounded up the other inmates, but John had to turn back for more tranquilizer darts, leaving Spidey and Shriek. Amped up by the suffering of the people around her, Shriek was more than a match for Spider-Man, until John shot her from behind with a tranquilizer. Back in her cell, she ruminated on her enjoyment of Spider-Man's emotional agony. (Web of Spider-Man Annual #10)

"Shrieking"

While she was imprisoned in Ravencroft, Dr. Kafka was having a hard time convincing Malcolm McBride he wasn't insane, neither he was responsible for Carrion's actions. To show him what "insane" is, she took him to Shriek's cell. When Frances saw him, she broke out of the cell specifically built to resist her powers, and escaped with Malcolm. She tapped into him with her powers, and re-activated the Carrion virus. Carnage was in a coma by then, and Demogoblin had been killed while saving a kid from falling debris, so Malcolm was all Shriek had left, and she wasn't letting him go, no matter how much he asked for it.

Spider-Man, suffering after a betrayal by Harry Osborn, beat her savagely without saying one word. When she begged him to stop, he hesitated, and she KO'ed him with a sonic blast. After that, she realized that the darkness in Spider-Man's mind was growing, and that if she could work it right, she could make him replace Carnage as her sadistic 'husband'.

By this time, Carrion was already taking over Malcolm's mind, but Malcolm was still attached to his real mother. So, Frances took him to visit her, and while she was trying to persuade her that Malcolm was hers (Shriek's), Spidey arrives to save her (Beatrice McBride). A confused Carrion attacks Spider-Man, because not knowing who to love, he sure knew who to hate. Spider-Man bursts in anger at Carrion's ingratitude ("I turned the city upside down to find you, and this is what I get in return? I should let this virus devour you to death. Tell me Malcolm, why should I care?").

While Spidey vents his anger at Carrion, Frances smiles, realizing he's close to his fall. But Beatrice McBride stops him, appealing to his conscience. Now it's time for Shriek to get angry. Realizing Spidey could never be a "good" father to Carrion, she blasts him with a sonic burst. Then she tells Carrion to choose between her and his mother. He uses his power against himself in return. When Shriek sees that Beatrice is ready to die just to embrace her son before he dies, something triggers inside her. She absorbs the Carrion virus from his body and collapses, leaving Malcolm free of the Carrion curse. Spidey took her back to Ravencroft.

”Aftershocks”

While checking on Frances in her cell, John Jameson and Ashley Kafka commented on her changes since returning to the asylum. She saw the virus growing inside of her like a child. As they spoke, she was drawing baby dolls, rattles, and cribs on the walls of her cell with crayons. Later, the Jackal broke into her cell and beat her unconscious. She tried to defend herself but he extracted the virus from her, as part of his plan to decimate and rebuild humanity. (Spectacular Spider-Man #223)

"The Humanity Agenda"

She was released from her cell at Ravencroft by Spidercide, along with the Scorpion, Mister Hyde, Typhoid Mary, Chameleon, Mysterio and Swarm. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #4)

Scorpion had been beating on Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) when Shriek interrupted, telling him that his tail was useless. The true path to victory was through the mind. She tried to remind him of all of his fear and shame but he batted her aside. Spidercide informed him that he had given all of the patients a bit of his DNA to increase their hardiness. They seemed to have beaten him to death until Spidercide stepped in and battered them all away. As much as he hated it, Ben Reilly was part of him and he wouldn't let him die. Ravencroft security soon rounded the patients up. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #5)

"Reunited With Carnage"

Frances's therapy continued with Dr. Tanis Nieves after Dr. Kafka was terminated from her job at Ravencroft. The therapy had made a good deal of progress with her, as she was now uncomfortable being around the Carnage symbiote as they were being transferred to a biomedical research lab. Her empathy powers helped feed the emaciated alien, which had been left for dead in earth's orbit by Sentry. Naturally, the alien escaped, prompting the facility's security to try and take Frances to a secure location. They were stopped enroute by Doppelganger, who had also been found to be alive. The guards tried to kill it, but the old Shriek returned, killing the guards and telling Doppel that she forgot how much fun it was to do that sort of thing.

Shriek later found Dr. Nieves, who was still in shock after being bonded to the symbiote after Kasady escaped. She couldn't help rubbing it in her former doctors face that part of the symbiote was still alive in her mechanical arm. (The symbiote had been used as circuitry in a new line of artificial appendages.) She wanted to know why Nieves wasn't nurturing the creature, as the doctor has always encouraged Frances to be more caring and loving. Instead, Nieves cut off her own fake arm, which Shriek took and bonded with.

After she and Doppel escaped from the facility, she tried to help Carnage by using her sonic powers on Iron Man and Spidey. He told her to butt out and she amused herself by making the citizens around her go mad. A man's head was smashed against a wall, a woman strangled a dog and a mob of citizens attacked a bus full of school children. All the while, Frances taunted Dr. Nieves about how successful her therapy had been. Even the symbiote bonded to her was creeped out and turned to Dr. Nieves. Nieves resisted at first but knew she had to save the bus of kids. The alien bonded to her to become Scorn and Nieves put Frances in a coma. If she ever wakes up, she will be put on trial for the murders of the two security guards.

"Deadpool vs Carnage"

She eventually came out of the coma and joined Kasady on a nationwide killing spree. She saved him near Tulsa, Oklahoma, from the mercenary called Deadpool. (Deadpool vs Carnage #1)

Shriek stayed out of the following fight, only hitting Deadpool with another blast after he was weakening Carnage with a sonic device. She then helped Kasady escape after Deadpool tried blowing him up with grenades. She was again at Kasady's side as they left Chicago after another random murder. As they drove away in a convertible, they heard Deadpool's voice taunting them. He had left a radio transmitter in the backseat, so he could talk to them from the farm harvester that was carried on the flatbed ahead of them. He turned on the machine and tried to roll over the convertible, knocking out Shriek in the process. (Deadpool vs Carnage #2)

Carnage escaped with her, loading her unconscious body into a hijacked family's car. She came to after they arrived at a ghost town and Carnage had killed the family. She stayed behind while Carnage dealt with Mercury Team, their symbiotes and, Deadpool. (Deadpool vs Carnage #3) At the Carrington Psychiatric Institute, Carnage took the doctors and patients hostage. He wanted to know if what Deadpool said was right, that there was a higher force guiding him. The doctor that spoke up didn't last long, and Carnage was soon sniped at by Deadpool through a window. Shriek tried to defend herself against Deadpool and blasted what she thought was the symbiote enhanced dog, but was the disguised Deadpool. She thought she had killed Carnage and fled. Deadpool later caught up to her and disguised her as himself with the symbiotes, which caused Carnage to attack her. She survived but badly injured. (Deadpool vs Carnage #4)

"Lethal Protector"

Frances later got to meet an old friend of hers after being recruited by Kraven the Hunter. Kraven had been hunting human/dinosaur hybrids in the sewers under NYC and had fought their protector, Venom. They had fought to a stalemate but when they met again, Kraven had Shriek with him. Her sonic blast knocked him across the sewer chamber and knocked him into a wall. She hit him again, causing a collapse of the sewer ceiling and a building above ground to collapse. She and Kraven fled and he was angry that she had buried Venom, keeping him from collecting Brock's head as a trophy. She told him if he wanted a trophy, he should join little league. Annoyed, he told her to stay out of the way as he began his hunt of the dino-people. (Venom #157)

She didn't last long after Venom escaped and took them on again. She hit him with a sonic blast but he stood up to the pain, grabbed her by the throat and threw her into Kraven. The killers were knocked out and taken by the SWAT team. (Venom #158)

"Absolute Carnage"

"Venom War"

A battle between Eddie Brock and his son, Dylan, was instigated by Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror. A new symbiote invasion overtook New York, including a new species called "zombiotes." The Wild Pack and Silver Sable were called in to acquire an unknown item from the Life Foundation to end the chaos. They procured a metal tank with unknown contents but were ambushed by zombiotes as they made their way through the city. The tank broke open, revealing Shriek. When she was accused of being dead, she said that the Life Foundation regrew more than just symbiotes and wanted to use her as a safety measure against them. When Silver Sable said to come with them to stay alive, Shriek reminded her that she'd been carried around like luggage. She blasted their symbiotes but was quickly beaten by Lasher, who credited her defeat to being crazy and not a professional. (Venom War: Lethal Protectors #2)

Image Gallery

Appearances

Cover Date	Appearance Information
May 1993	App: Spider-Man Unlimited #1 (Story 1)
	"Max Carnage begins"
Jun 1993	App: Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #101
Jun 1993	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #378
Jun 1993	App: Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #35
Jun 1993	App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #201
Jul 1993	App: Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #102
Jul 1993	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #379
Jul 1993	App: Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #36
Jul 1993	App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #202
Aug 1993	App: Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #103
Aug 1993	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #380
Aug 1993	App: Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #37
Aug 1993	App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #203
	"Penultimate Max Carnage; Shriek captured"
Jun 1994	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #390
	"Shrieking begins"
Jul 1994	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #391
Aug 1994	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #392
Sep 1994	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #393
	"Shrieking ends; Shriek absorbs the Carrion virus"
Oct 1994	App: Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #117 (Story 1)
	"Cameo"
Apr 1995	App: Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #223 (Story 1)
	"Jackal removes the Carrion virus from her"
Jul 1995	App: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #403
	"Cameo"

Thanks To

 The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

 Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.