Overlooked Gems: “The Mortal Past”

Today we will be taking a look at The Mortal Past in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vol. 1 Annual #28 by David Micheline and Steven Butler from 1993.

In response to the immense popularity of the symbiote-weilding psychopath known as Venom/Eddie Brock, the even crazier Carnage/Cletus Kasady was created.

Despite initially being a huge hit with the readership, opinions on Carnage as a character have soured somewhat over the years. While a lot of fans still view him as one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous and psychotic foes, many others tend to write him off as a one-note murderer with little to no depth.

Personally, I do like Carnage as a character, but I will openly admit that he doesn’t exactly have the best stories (at least where Spidey is concerned).

While his first arc in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN vol. 1 #361-363 was a lot of fun (in my humble opinion anyway), most of his later appearances in the titles were less than satisfactory to say the least.

Maximum Carnage was an overblown, repetitive slog that was stretched out to 14 issues despite having very little story to justify such a length.

Planet of the Symbiotes was an unbelievably boring mess that turned into a really, really bad cartoon by the end when the writer decided to turn Carnage into a literal giant by absorbing a bunch of other symbiotes (which he can suddenly do apparently with no explanation).

And who could forget (no matter how much many of us may want to) Carnage Cosmic where Kasady’s symbiote overtakes the Silver Surfer and goes on a rampage with his body?

The biggest problem with Carnage is that Marvel seems to constantly be trying to make large-scale, epic extravaganzas with him which doesn’t really work for the character. When you get down to it, Cletus Kasady is pretty simple; he is a serial killer who only takes pleasure in murdering others. That sort of characterization lends itself much better to smaller, more contained tales rather than blockbuster sized events…which is exactly what the Overlooked Gem at hand is.

Our tale begins with the lovable lunatic himself, Cletus Kasady, confined to high tech restraints while being transferred to a maximum security prison facility.

Thankfully, nothing ever goes wrong during big super villain prison transfers in comic books…oh wait.

As the crimson-clad killer begins shredding his way through the convoy, who should show up? Not Iron Man thankfully.

Carnage isn’t about to surrender though.

Spidey is none too pleased by this outcome as one might imagine.

The ensuing explosion allows Carnage to make his grand (?) escape.

We then cut to a Mr. Billy Bentine, who is having a rather lousy night.

But as we comic fans are keenly aware of, things can always get worse.

As Spidey ponders what exactly to do next, Carnage makes a rather unexpected revelation.

Say what?! Why would Kasady target the only friend he has probably ever had? What did Billy do to him? Will the web-slinger be able to find them in time? Well sit down and I’ll tell you the whole thing…after you read it for yourself of course.

Now this is the type of story that works perfectly for a character like Carnage: short and sweet. Instead of trying to be bigger than necessary, David Micheline crafts a contained tale with plenty of action and intrigue to go around. We also get a good glimpse into Kasady’s mind and see just how twisted and cruel he truly is. In his mind, nobody is off limits. Family, lover, friend, acquaintance of any kind doesn’t matter to him; you’re still just a potential victim of his.

Surprisingly, the character of Billy Bentine is also a highlight of the annual. Instead of being a forgettable plot device, Micheline gives him a surprising amount of depth and sympathy; making him one of the more memorable one-off characters in Spider-Man history. Without spoiling the details, Bentine’s history with Kasady is actually rather touching and makes for an unexpectedly interesting dynamic between the two.

You can track down the individual issue or look for the Spider-Man’s Greatest Villains TPB.

Stories like these are proof that Carnage can be used effectively in the right hands and should serve as a blueprint on how to use the character in the future. Instead of big, tedious events or crossovers, how about some contained, focused one-shots every now and then? Just a thought, Marvel.