CARNAGE #3 Review

CARNAGE #3

Carnage Part Three

Writer: Zeb Wells

Artist: Clayton Crain

Cover Artist: Clayton Crain

Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Warning – SPOILERS below may cause people to go on a mass murdering spree

The Plot
Dr. Tanis Nieves is remembering her past while trying to fight off the Carnage symbiote as it seeks to bond with her. Back where the second issue left off, She-Carnage (that’s what I’ll be calling her for this review) has already taken care of all the security officers in the room as it engages the “product crew” (so I’ve named from the previous review). Elsewhere in an unknown room in the facility, two doctors are examining the body of Doppelganger before the security alarm is heard, the two of them leaving the body behind as they know the bio-outbreak alarm means they’re in some real crap.

Outside, Spidey and Iron Man follow the product crew’s location until Royal Blue is thrown out of the building. The two heroes see She-Carnage and of course Spidey flips out about that being Cletus Kasady AKA Carnage though Royal Blue tells him Cletus is dead and that’s Tanis Nieves. Inside the research and development lab room, two security officers grab Shriek and throw her to the floor since she is resisting to go with them without Dr. Nieves. Back with Doppelganger’s body, you see his fingers wrap around the railing of the table he’s on. Back outside, She-Carnage is beating the crap out of the product crew though Spidey notices that the symbiote hasn’t bonded with Tanis Nieves since it isn’t verbalizing and isn’t showing any sign of human cogitation, just brute instinct. When Iron Man engages She-Carnage, the creature just smacks him aside. Spidey tries to talk some sense into the good doctor but She-Carnage leaps over him, sprouts some wings from her hands and flies away.

As Shriek is being forced down the hallway, the security officers see Doppelganger crawling on the wall and start shooting him. After Doppelganger dodges and grabs one of the men, the other officer throws Doppelganger off of him and the two of them start beating the creature with their batons. After trying to tell the two of them to stop attacking him, Shriek blasts the two with a sonic blast from her hands, killing them and saving Doppelganger. Elsewhere, as She-Carnage is in the city being chased by Spidey, Iron Man and the product crew, Tanis is continuing to fight off the voice of the Carnage symbiote. Once She-Carnage escapes into the sewers, Iron Man tracks the symbiote’s movements heading towards Times Square. Royal Blue and Burnt Orange figure out that she’s heading towards Michael Hall’s location at his building.

Once getting the message from them at Hall Industries, Michael Hall goes to a panic room and waits there as She-Carnage lurks in the shadows outside. Once Iron Man breaks through Hall’s wall with Spidey and the product crew behind, he tells Hall he needs to get to safety. By their baffle he tells them that She-Carnage isn’t after him since he’s not what the symbiote wants. As She-Carnage kills the guards by a security cell inside the building and starts tearing the cell door, Hall tells everyone that “He shouldn’t have survived… low orbit for over a year. The creature almost starved to death…”

Once She-Carnage breaks the cell open, the symbiote abandons Tanis Nieves and enters the cell, coming face to face with a man who is using prosthetic limbs from the waist down… Cletus Kasady.

The Good
Clayton Crain continues to do a pretty good job on his artwork. Nothing has really changed about his different textures and looks from armors, to Spidey’s costume, to even the Carnage symbiote itself. I also like how he does a great job with his colors when it comes to light and dark areas of the issue. Again, it’s pretty good.

I liked diving deeper into the mind of Dr. Tanis Nieves at the beginning of the issue. I know some people aren’t interested in her but for me, Zeb Wells continues to give me interest in the character. And unlike the usual, “Symbiote + (Insert name here) = symbiote bonded 100%”, math we get you actually see Tanis fighting against the symbiote’s voice and everything it says. Even when the thoughts are dark, she fights for control of not just herself but also her sanity.

Spidey’s bantering continues to be humorous at one part. I found myself kind of smirking after reading it.

And finally what Carnage fans have wanted for a while now, Cletus Kasady is back. I didn’t actually think he’d make a comeback honestly but it’s nice to see him let alone what looks like he’s about to rejoin with the symbiote.

The Bad
First off I want to ask: When can the Carnage symbiote bloody fly in the air?! Instantly when I saw that I thought of the 2009 movie “Splice” and “WTF” was also what I was thinking. At least it didn’t end with someone getting raped… and if you don’t understand that, go watch Splice though you’ll be thinking the same thing I did. You have been told.

I know this is a comic and all, but the whole idea of pushing around a woman or even in a way hurting one, even a person like Shriek, doesn’t exactly sit well with me. When was the last time where security guards actually did their job by escorting a prisoner or patient WITHOUT causing pain to them?

Obviously when Spidey was shouting at Royal Blue about them bringing back Cletus Kasady I thought, “Dude, look in a mirror and compare yourself to She-Carnage’s figure. Unless Cletus suddenly had the idea of wanting to become a woman while being torn apart by the Sentry, that ain’t him!” Well I mean since Cletus is missing half his body, he’s half a man technically… damn that’s weird to say.

So I still ask the question like I did in the other review: How could the symbiote survive reentering the atmosphere, and not just the symbiote, but Cletus Kasady as well? How could he survive in space for over a year? Let’s be honest, I think science–

Donovan Grant: “SCIENCE!”

Thank you Donovan, as I was saying, I think science is being ignored here. Outside of the symbiote which looked pretty dead last issue, Cletus has no powers; to top that he was even ripped in half. I’m not saying I’m not happy to see Cletus back but come on, let’s be realistic here. If he eats something, how does he digest it into “waste”? Wait, that’s another question for another day.

The product crew… I could say something but I’d feel like I would be repeating myself.

Magic Eight Ball
Welcome to the very first “Magic Eight Ball” segment of my review! I thought since everyone else was starting their own thing, I’d dig up something of my own and plus since I used it in my first review and thought it was humorous in a way, I’d use it here. Here I’ll use a “Magic Eight Ball” AKA my thoughts and a CGI Magic Eight Ball and write down what I think might happen in the following issue or possibly later on. Don’t take this too seriously folks; this is for fun as well. So here goes! Magic Eight Ball, will we see Cletus Kasady as Carnage again? *SHAKE* *SHAKE* *SHAKE*

Answer: Maybe

Will we see a Maximum Carnage reunion? *SHAKE* *SHAKE* *SHAKE*

Answer: Yes

Will… will Wolverine be making an appearance? *SHAKE* *SHAKE* *SHAKE*

Answer: My sources say no

*PHEW*

Favorite Spidey Line
-As Spidey tells Iron Man that he’ll try to talk some sense into She-Carnage, she screams right at him-
Spider-Man: “On the other hand… I’m basically in my underwear and you’re wearing a tank…”
Iron Man: “Say no more.”
Spider-Man: “AVENGERS (wearing armor) ASSEMBLE!”

Rating
The writing is alright, the artwork is still pretty good and I do like seeing Cletus back though it seems that he never died in the first place. Let the bloodshed commence… in another two months! 3.5 out of 5 webheads