Entertainment Earth

11/07/2014

Axis: Carnage #1


Title: Axis: Carnage
Issue Number: 1
Writer: Rick Spears
Art: German Peralta
Editor: Axel Alonso
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99 (US)

During the events portrayed in Axis, the evil Red Skull had stolen the brain, and with it the psychic powers of, the dead Prof. X. To stop him Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom, and the Scarlet Witch cast an inversion spell, which affected some of the superheroes and supervillains of the world. Including, in this case the Spider-Man foe and bloodthirty psychopath known as Carnage. He is, of course, the symbiote-infused alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady.

At the start of this first issue, our "hero" is swinging through the streets of NYC having to deal with his new and conflicting "feelings", something he has never had to deal with before. As such, he is driven by the need to be heroic. But, as a kill crazed maniac, that is easier said than done. For example, he hacks two men he thinks are threatening a woman. When, he discovers that one of them is her pimp and that she is a hooker, he punches her out. In the meantime, another psychotic villain, the Sin Eater, is killing people. This supervillain feeds off the sins of others, after he kills them "to save them". The mix and meeting of these two makes for a nice added bit of irony.

The writing by Spears is fast and fun. As a villain like Carnage is basically interested only in killing he isn't the most profound of characters, but that works to the book's advantage. His having to deal with feelings and trying to figure what is the "right thing" to do is darkly funny. There also a healthy amount of graphic violence, which is complemented perfectly by the realistic style of Perlata. I simply love the art in this book!

I don't know if this is a permanent title or just a mini-series, but it's off to a great start. Not sure how they can keep up the fun and not let this fall into mindless and repetitive drivel, but for right now this is a recommended horror, supervillain title. And, if you are a Carnage fan, like I am, then I give it my highest recommendation to you!

***1/2 out of ****
 

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