The Batlord

Good God this series has bitchin' covers. Well **** finally hits the fan in this issue. I mean, ****'s been kinda hitting the fan the whole time, but now the big, bad symbiote showdown finally begins. It starts with the symbiote special forces squad, Mercury Team, infiltrating Doverton. At this point, Nieves separates from the group to do... something that will become more important in the last two issues.




Meanwhile, Cletus Kasady has found God. And by "found God", I mean he's put on a priest's outfit in the town church and is making each of the townspeople remove one of their teeth with a pair of pliers. It's about this time that you realize that he doesn't really have much of a plan. He's set up his little "country", but doesn't have any grand vision for what to do with it. He's just kind of doing the first thing that comes to his mind at any given time. I mean, is it just me, or does it sound like Carnage just pulled that out of his "Evil Acts to Perpetrate Upon the Hapless Townies" hat completely at random? I want that hat. I imagine given time he'd probably end up killing them all once he got bored in a week or a month or whatever. But until then we get treated to delightfully wanton cruelty such as this...




I suppose if you're one of those people who likes their plots to have some greater meaning, then you might not be so into this, but if you're a terrible person like me, who loves a bit of mindless sadism in his entertainment, especially if that sadism is aesthetically creative, then this is your cup of tea. I really want one of those hats.

And yeah, that's Captain America going, "Nnnnnnnyaahh!" while trying to break free of the symbiote's control in the middle ground of that panel. Kasady pretty much keeps the Avengers around all the time as bodyguards/unwilling witnesses whenever he's not making them play pool. Now Kasady gets his rocks off by telling "Captain Flag Face" of the wife and children who he's sent to kill their father. Speaking of...

Back at the resistance compound/private zoo, Spider-Man is awoken from sleeping in full costume to find the father in question driving his truck through the surrounding fence in order to get back to his family, who is waiting for him outside. Obviously this doesn't go as he planned, as his wife tearfully tells him that she has to kill him. Luckily, Spider-Man manages to save the day (natch), but Kasady takes remote control of the wife and children through the symbiote and they run back to the church, while Kasady gloats about how he will kill them with the wife's own voice. A bad, bad man.

Also luckily, the symbiote team has tracked Kasady down to the church, but are then confronted by the townspeople, now completely possessed by Carnage. The scene pretty much turns into Aliens meets Night of the Living Dead.




The battle outside distracts Kasady, just long enough for Captain America to momentarily break free from the symbiote's control, and just long enough to get a message to an unknown person...




Oh yeah, Flash Thompson is Venom now. It's a lot more awesome than it sounds. But yeah, this series rules. 'Nuff said.

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