The Batlord

Well, after Deadpool vs. Carnage I've been on a Carnage kick. Heard good things about this and the sequel mini-series, and the covers were the last straw. From tongue-in-cheek we go to the other end of the spectrum to horror. I haven't read Carnage's old comic appearances, but looking at covers and single pages I got the feeling that he was generally used without much subtlety or class for the kind of exploitation-masquerading-as-gritty-maturity that plagued the nineties. A fun villain, but without the awesomeness of the symbiote just a poor man's Joker. Luckily with Carnage they definitely go a long way to doing him some justice.

The basic premise of this story is that an unscrupulous business man, named Michael Hall, has captured Carnage, who was presumed dead in space, and is now using the symbiote to produce symbiote-infused cybernetics that respond to thought, for use in everything from medical prosthetics to weaponry. As I'm sure you might guess, this ends well for all the parties involved.

Spider-Man and Iron Man are the heroes of the story, but they really play more of a supporting role here. The real protagonist is a psychiatrist named Tanis Nieves (apparently "Tanis" is a woman's name), who is treating Carnage's old Maximum Carnage girlfriend, Shriek. Nieves becomes involved when the company keeping Carnage captive has Shriek moved from her care to a secret facility in order to use her ability to produce negative emotions in those around her to power the symbiote, as it feeds off of these negative emotions. As I'm sure you might guess, this ends well for all the parties involved.

Dr. Nieves attempts to stop the armored car transporting her patient, but only succeeds in getting her arm shot off by one of the Iron Man-lite enforcers working for Hall Industries during a riot caused by Shriek. Hall Industries gives her one of their nifty little cyborg arms, and she ends up being taken to their facility as Shriek's doctor.




Long story short, the symbiote takes control of Nieves' arm and uses her to help it escape before bonding with her. And so proceeds a series of bitchin' fights that, as I'm sure you might guess, end with the final return of Cletus Kasady.

The best thing about this series is definitely the horror movie atmosphere. The art is a big part of this. You see a lot of this kind of art style that tries to look painted these days, which can be cool, but often just looks awkward. No matter how well it's done, it always takes away at least some of the visceral quality of an action scene, and if done poorly it can really take the life out of a comic. Done well though, while still making a panel look a bit static, it adds a unique sense of drama. I was a bit dubious when I saw the first page, as I've seen this done brilliantly (Thor: God of Thunder), and I've also seen this done horribly (new Uncanny X-Men), but for the most part I was very impressed. Use of dark and muted colors really add an eerie quality as well, as you can see...




The funny thing about this comic though, is that this dark vibe isn't so much about Carnage, as it is about the psychological horror of the symbiote itself. Cletus Kasady doesn't even appear until the end of issue #3. Which is also when the quality takes a slight dip. As cool as the fight scenes are, a redneck giddy about murder kind of ruins the more subtle tone of the earlier issues. Subtlety being relative of course. I'm being a tad unfair though, as the climax has some truly epic action sequences, and Nieves and Shriek's final confrontation is plenty emotional. But this series is definitely at its best when exploring the mind of the symbiote through its attempt to control Dr. Nieves.




They certainly keep the creep factor pretty high for a while. And Dr. Nieves is definitely being set up to possibly play some kind of a part in the greater Marvel universe, as, while she eventually loses the Carnage symbiote, it leaves behind a little bundle of joy in Tanis' cybernetic arm. A bit of a spoiler I suppose, but it's important for the next Carnage mini-series, so I kind of have to mention it.

Another thing I like about this series is that, while there is plenty of violence, the gore is kept to a minimum, which makes the truly horrifying moments all the more effective. I don't have the heart to spoil the coolest moment in the comic, but suffice it to say that Carnage uses his control of Hall Industries' cybernetic weaponry to make some rather unique kills. And even then, the art is too blurry to really make out what's going on, so your imagination has/gets to fill in the blanks.

I highly recommend Carnage. Violence with a brain. And it's made even better since the follow-up series is just as good, if not better. Get's you this mag, dudes.


Oh, and I don't have anywhere else to put this, but it's just too cool to leave out.

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