Set sail for spoilers, Captain!
Flash is firmly sticking to his "be the hero" mindset and, truth be told, he's quite a bore. Thankfully, Kaine's blunt and downright rude personality counters this well and keeps the dialogue more than amusing. While he's harsh on the outside, the opening page gives an excellent look into Kaine's mind (and sight) as stumbles around the chaos left behind from the last issue. Carnage eluded him and the weight of being a hero is coming down hard on him. It's nice to get a look at his vulnerability every now and then since he's always doing his hardest to play the role of the tough guy.
Speaking of that first scene, the artwork immediately pulls you in as we see the aftermath of Carnage's destruction through Kaine's red visors. We always see characters pop their claws and rarely think anything of it, but the panel here is a painful one. You can really feel the pain behind the process of popping those stingers as his fists clench and objects propel from the claws. As usual, Venom looks fantastically intimidating as he lets loose and the splash page between Venom and Scarlet Spider in a stalemate is almost poster worthy.
We know Spider-Man heals faster than a regular human, but does Kaine have an accelerated healing factor? Last issue he suffered a brutal stab through the chest and now there's no visible sign of the injury whatsoever and he's trucking along just fine (despite a remark about pain in the opening). Also, a minor catch but Carnage's hands bugged me the first time we get a look at him. One hand apparently only has three fingers and the other has four. With spiky fingers such as those I imagine it would be tough to have them conveniently hiding at an angle.
The Good
Every Spider fanboy has been psyched for Scarlet Spider and Venom to bump heads for awhile now and thankfully the encounter is easily the highlight of this issue. This isn't Flash vs Scarlet Spider, though... it's Venom against Scarlet Spider. Losing control of the symbiote makes the former bully extremely powerful and as we find out here, even stronger than Kaine. The battle spans a few pages and is a delight as we witness Kaine using his stingers and Venom displaying his absurd level of strength.Flash is firmly sticking to his "be the hero" mindset and, truth be told, he's quite a bore. Thankfully, Kaine's blunt and downright rude personality counters this well and keeps the dialogue more than amusing. While he's harsh on the outside, the opening page gives an excellent look into Kaine's mind (and sight) as stumbles around the chaos left behind from the last issue. Carnage eluded him and the weight of being a hero is coming down hard on him. It's nice to get a look at his vulnerability every now and then since he's always doing his hardest to play the role of the tough guy.
Speaking of that first scene, the artwork immediately pulls you in as we see the aftermath of Carnage's destruction through Kaine's red visors. We always see characters pop their claws and rarely think anything of it, but the panel here is a painful one. You can really feel the pain behind the process of popping those stingers as his fists clench and objects propel from the claws. As usual, Venom looks fantastically intimidating as he lets loose and the splash page between Venom and Scarlet Spider in a stalemate is almost poster worthy.
The Bad
Regarding the Microns, we get glimpses here and there but we're widely left in the dark about their overall agenda and, despite barely knowing this team, we're introduced to yet another group in the Microverse. The place looks wonderful, but at the moment the story surrounding them is moving at a pretty slow pace. Hopefully much more will be revealed in the next chapter. Furthermore, the mysterious Micron pulling the strings is hilariously similar to the Emperor's hologram. Ironically enough, there's a Star Wars joke later in the issue.We know Spider-Man heals faster than a regular human, but does Kaine have an accelerated healing factor? Last issue he suffered a brutal stab through the chest and now there's no visible sign of the injury whatsoever and he's trucking along just fine (despite a remark about pain in the opening). Also, a minor catch but Carnage's hands bugged me the first time we get a look at him. One hand apparently only has three fingers and the other has four. With spiky fingers such as those I imagine it would be tough to have them conveniently hiding at an angle.