The Good
Can Declan Shalvey always draw Carnage? Please? His take on the character is a bit lean but incredibly raw. He's every bit as creepy as he should be as symbiotic tendrils flail all over his body and extra emphasis is placed on those disturbingly sharp pearly whites. Carnage looks fantastic here.Last week I complained about the story moving at a snail's pace. This week I'm happily eating my words as writer Cullen Bunn picks up the pace and a lot of ground is quickly covered surrounding the wide roster in the Microverse. Each character is given a fitting amount of panel time and the story is starting to mesh together quite well.
Another complaint I had last week was the significant lack of Carnage. After all, it only seems fair he should be a major player considering the event is named after him; so it was odd when he was reduced to 2 minor pages. This week, Bunn more than makes up for that, delivering us plenty of the infamous Spider-Man villain. There's a perfectly in character twist for Carnage and Bunn is bringing his A-game with Kasady's often hysterical dialogue. I know there's still some people who (somehow) still hold a grudge against the character because of 'Maximum Carnage, but Bunn's crafted some incredibly entertaining and unsettling lines from the psychopath.
Thankfully, Flash Thompson has finally left behind his bland "I'm a hero!" set of dialogue and we get a much better taste of his personality in this issue. Kaine isn't quite as blunt or vulgar as usual here, but that's quickly forgotten when he savagely dispatches the large creature. He probably gets the least amount of time here, although it's not a big deal since so far he's had plenty of time in the spotlight during this arc. Also, the cliffhanger is sure to have a... painful... impact on Houston's hero.
Side note: when the Venom symbiote lashes out, it looks like something ripped straight out of John Carpenter's The Thing... and that's horrifyingly awesome.
The Bad
Why do the symbiotes have the urge to divide and conquer in the Microverse? I'm sure that will eventually be answered (or so I hope since they're being called "corrupters"), but I've been wondering that ever since we saw the symbiote spread from Carnage's foot in the previous issue. Here, Venom just randomly lashes out and screams it's going to shred the entire universe. Furthermore, why would they bring Carnage into their universe if they knew it would spread out and kill everything... including them? Maybe I'm just being impatient, so hopefully this will be addressed in the next issue.Overall I liked Shalvey's work, but once again Carnage was spotted with only 4 fingers (first page) and there's a lack of detail when it comes to faces not immediately in the foreground. I understand detailing every character would be a tiring and ridiculous chore but it really stands out when a character's face is essentially composed of three different lines.