Carnage #1

The new Carnage mini series marks two monumental events. First, it is the return of a popular villain, who has not been seen in the Spider-Man universe in quite some time. Second, and probably the more important event is that it is the return of Clayton Crain, the first full length issue he has drawn since the end of the last X-Force series; a very welcomed return from long time fans.

The story begins following three story lines, that of Spider-Man, that of Iron Man/Tony Stark and that of a mysterious Six Armed Spider-Man esque figure that may seem familiar to some hardcore Spidy fans. As the story progresses, all three characters are brought together and the action ensues.

The art of Clayton Crain is flawless. It is pretty cool to see him working on a Spider-Man universe comic again, since early in his comic career was his work on Venom vs. Carnage, it was interesting to see the contrast between the two series and how much he has advanced since then.

There was a negative aspect of the issue. This issue was used primarily to set up for the second issue and that it held no other purpose except to introduce the characters and accomplish this task. I felt as though author Zeb Wells could have condensed what happened in this issue down to one-half of its length and could have touched upon what will happen in the next issue. The reason why this holds such a negative effect on the issue is because this mini-series is going to be a bi-monthly series and I feel as though the fact that there wasn’t a lot of ground covered in the book was not the best route to take. The only aspect that will keep the reader coming back aside from Crain’s art is the cliffhanger at the end of the issue, which is no less than impressive.

It will be interesting to see where this creative team takes this five-issue mini-series and how they keep the readers coming on this bi-monthly book. I am worried that the series will end up being rushed in the end, but until the series gets to that point there is no way to really tell. The series has the potential to go either way, and it will be interesting to see where it goes.

7 out of 10