The month of all things superior in all things Spider-Man related continues with another new Superior series; Superior Carnage. Now, considering just how much time Peter Parker spent fighting Venom, Carnage and the rest of the symbioites, it would be kind of interesting to see how the new Doc Ock version of Spider-Man would deal with this threat, but he doesn’t make an appearance here. For the most part, this first issue is just a bunch of bloody mayhem and…well, carnage.
Now, there are some who feel like Venom and the rest of the symbioite gang are representatives of the excess and over-the-top nature of the comic industry as a whole in the late nineties. The cross-over event Maximum Carnage is perhaps the epitome of all that. Yet, despite how much cynicism is sent their way, Venom still remains a fan favorite, and I think there are plenty who have a soft spot for Carnage as well. How else to explain his recent re-emergence? Regardless of the reason, he’s returned, though we don’t get much characterization of him here.
In fact, Superior Carnage #1 could almost be mistaken for an Aliens book; the plot certainly reads like a standard story from that universe. The perfect biological killing machine is captured, but there are some who want to do more than just lock it away, there are those who want to control it. How many times have we seen someone try to do that with the Aliens? Well, this time around, Carnage is the Alien, complete with pointy things bursting through chests and hissing. Meanwhile, some wants to control him, but finds that task is no easy feat for a creature that lives solely for the pleasure of killing. Really, you slap an Aliens title on this book without changing much inside and no one would really know the difference. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it does come off as fairly derivative.
And because it’s derivative, it’s not especially memorable. And because it’s not especially memorable, it doesn’t leave much of an impression. And because it doesn’t leave much of an impression, the whole affair comes off as kind of bland. Personally, I think it would be far more interesting to see how the Superior Spider-Man would handle this threat with his different way of approaching things rather than just seeing some bad guy try to make Carnage part of his gang. Maybe this series will develop into something more memorable, but that this point, it’s definitely a far cry from Maximum Carnage. Whether or not that’s a good thing depends on your point of view.
Pretty much the standard plot of any Aliens story where someone wants to control the perfect killing machine. Carnage really does come off as a the stand-in for the Aliens here; complete with hissing and lots of bloody violence and death.
A BIG thanks to Astro-Zombies for providing the material for this review. Learn more about them at astrozombies.com.
