In this latest issue of Carnage from Alex Paknadel and Fran Galán, Cletus Kasady hits the big time in a very literal way as “Carnage Reigns” continues! This issue takes a bit of a breather at the top before treating us to another spectacular throwdown with the Cape Killers and Miles Morales.
Although neither the main Carnage Symbiote nor Jonathan Shayde factor into this issue in any major way, it is interesting to note how similar Cletus’ trajectory is to his former “partner.” As Carnage has made it his mission to grow stronger and ascend to universe-killing godhood, so has Cletus taken to upgrading his Extrembiote to a more horrifying form. As such, the first chunk of this issue plays something of a middle chapter within all the chaos, with Cletus licking his wounds before setting out with Kenneth to claim an even greater power.
Speaking of Kenneth, this may be the character’s most tragic hour. Upon finally getting the power he’s been after, he also realizes it’s not exactly his. In a truly unsettling bit of narration, the readers then get to see Kenneth’s individuality stripped away and replaced with the whims of his wicked master. Galán brings this transformation home by supplying us with some wild body horror. Kenneth looks positively petrified as his new armor takes over and becomes an extension of Kasady. He’s become the puppet he was always doomed to be.
The action sequence that takes up the bulk of this issue — Carnage and Kenneth vs. Miles and the Cape Killers — is a blast and a half, and Fran Galán is clearly having a lot of fun showing why each of these villains were enlisted for this mission. We get hands sliced off, electrical explosions, high-flying acrobatics, and more. It’s a lot of dynamic action crammed into a few short pages, but it feels like it raises the stakes in a fun way, reminding us that Carnage definitely isn’t going down easily. It also nicely introduces the players from the overall crossover in a fairly organic way, keeping this from feeling like a distracting tie-in issue.
The issue also continues to flesh out the developing respect between Scorpion and Spider-Man, with Galán providing some lovely facial expressions and body language during the quiet moments. At this rate, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Mac popping up in Miles’ solo book.
Overall, while this arc has occasionally felt a bit like a detour in the overall grand Carnage plan, this issue was a great deal of fun. “Carnage Reigns” is finally leading into something bigger and wilder than I could have expected, and I’m excited to see where this creative team takes Cletus and Kenneth next — and how Miles can possibly turn the tide after this issue’s wild ending!
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