Scarlet Spider #10

Hey everyone, JT here with my second review of the week, and we're continuing the Minimum Carnage Mini-series in this month's issue of Scarlet Spider. Last time we left off, Carnage had escaped to a tiny universe, Scarlet Spider was trying to stop him, and Venom showed up, telling Scarlet Spider to surrender. Let's see if Kaine did that... which I doubt.

 Scarlet Spider #10

Summary: We pick up where we left off, with Kaine, extremely upset that he wasn't able to stop Carnage. Venom tells Scarlet Spider to relax, he remembers him from killing The Queen during Spider-Island, and he's there to stop Carnage, just like SS. SS tells Venom that's fine, but if he touches him again, he'll kill him. Venom says he'll keep that in mind and they discuss the tiny people that were with Carnage, when suddenly Venom loses control and the the symbiote takes over, turning him into the big, hulking Venom. With his last bit of control, Flash yells for SS to run, as Venom tries to eat SS. Kaine fights back and tries his hardest to take down Venom but he can't. Flash fights the symbiote for control as it tries to move onto Kaine, but he calms it down somehow and regains control. SS is rightfully upset at what just happened, but Venom cuts him short when they find that Dr. Ketola survived. Venom asks her where Carnage went and she said he's in a subatomic space known as the Microverse, after using that machine in the last issue, Venom says they have to go after Carnage, to which Scarlet Spider replies "@#$% That." This seems more like a JT and X crossover... Anyway, Venom says they have to go after Carnage, he's their responsibility, but SS says he's not Spider-Man and he could care less what Carnage does as long as he's out of Houston. Venom says Carnage will be back, and asks SS for help, but he tells venom to go to Micro-Land or Hell for all he cares, SS is out. In the Microverse, Carnage tells Katy Kiernan he's keeping her alive to report on what he does, he wants the world to know of his exploits, so she's allowed to live, for now. We also see that Carnage's allies seem to think he's a bit crazy as well, but they apparently need him, so they put up with him. Back in the lab, Venom is about to enter the Prometheus Pit when SS shows up, asking Venom if he really thinks Carnage will come back, to which Venom says the bad ones always do. Scarlet Spider decides to join Venom in going after Carnage as they step into the Prometheus Pit. Venom wakes up in the Microverse in a nice area with little faeries... but they quickly attack him, causing the symbiote to break apart. Venom is saved by a group of Microverse inhabitants, and they recognize Venom and tell them they need his help. Over with Kaine, we see him waking up by a yoda-like zen master, and just when it seems like things couldn't be worse for Kaine, we see that he's also by a gigantic green-bug-lobster creature that's getting ready to take out Kaine and his new friend when the issue ends.

Thoughts: It's funny, before he took over Scarlet Spider, I didn't like Chris Yost's work much, but I'll be damned if he hasn't made Scarlet Spider something I look forward to every month, and his work in this issue continues that trend. The Minimum Carnage mini has been pretty good so far, Kaine and Flash are such polar opposites that its great seeing them together, it's kind of like seeing Cap team with Wolverine, in the sense you have a guy who plays it by the book and a guy that does what he want when he wants. I enjoyed this issue, it was average, far from bad but nothing too memorable happened here. I can't wait to see what happens when Venom, Scarlet Spider, and Carnage are all at the same place at the same time.

Score: 7.5/10 

Scarlet Spider: I know another idiot who talks about responsibility a lot.
Venom: Yeah? I know a great man who does the same.

Minimum Carnage Alpha #1

Hey everyone, JT here with my last review of the week, Minimum Carnage: Alpha. So what happens when Venom and Scarlet Spider team up to take on the crazed Cletus Kasady? Let's find out, shall we?

Minimum Carnage: Alpha #1

Summary: Things start off quickly, as this issue has a cinematic feel to it. We see Cletus Kasady sitting in his cell, when he looks up and says "Yes". We jump forward three hours and see Flash "Agent Venom" Thompson and a few armed soldiers, moving through the prison, looking for the recently escaped Kasady, as well as any survivors of the slaughtering spree he went on after escaping. They discover that the glass to Kasady's cell was broken from the inside, something he shouldn't have been able to do. Venom eventually finds the prison employees, holed up in a room trying to save themselves from Kasady. Venom tells them to call the police, the F.B.I. and the National Guard, because Carnage is on the loose. We eventually see Cletus Kasady, driving a car out of town when he's caught at a police checkpoint. They tell Cletus to surrender, but he says his friends won't like that. The officer insists that Cletus steps out of the car when suddenly his throat is slit, and the rest of the officers are attacked and killed as Cletus happily drives off. Back at the prison, Venom watches the security footage of when Cletus was freed and has the prison workers zoom in, as we see a small parasite or something on Kasady. Venom also asks why they didn't reform Cletus' symbiote, like they were able to do with his, and learns that Cletus' symbiote is bonded with him on a molecular level, and has nested in his DNA, which leaves Venom shocked. He then puts in the call to Hawkeye to alert the Avengers about Carnage, then calls his very own April O'Neil. Katy Kiernan, and asks if she knows anything about really small killers. She sends him an article from her paper about something that happened in Texas with shrinking and Venom heads off towards the Lone Star State. Two days later, we see the Scarlet Spider entering a burning building (because that's what heroes do, as Kaine says) when he stumbles upon the pieces of the body of a murdered woman. He says he's killed before, but whoever murdered that woman savored it. Kaine notices one survivor, a man that seems deathly afraid of him, but Kaine grabs him anyway and they escape the burning building. We later find out that the man that murdered the lady and scared the other guy was looking for his wife, and killed her mother for fun. Kaine heads out to find the man's wife before the murderer can, and it just so happens the woman is being questioned by Katy Kiernan. Kiernan asks the woman, Dr. Ketola, about a machine that allows people to go to a sub-atomic universe. The woman denies it but Kiernan knows there's a story there, but the two are interrupted by Carnage, who wants to use the "Prometheus Pit" as it's called. He attacks the Dr. Ketola and yells that her husband says hi, when Scarley Spider shows up and takes down Carnage. Carnage, thinking this is Spider-Man in a new suit (can you blame him?) underestimates the ruthlessness of Kaine, who immediately tries to snap Carnage's neck. Carnage says he likes this new mean streak in Spidey, and attacks with his tendrils, but Kaine uses his claws (I forgot he had those!) to cut them off, which tells Carnage he's not Spider-Man. Suddenly, Kaine is taken down by a bunch of smaller super-powered people that incapacitate him long enough for Carnage to make Dr. Ketola start the Prometheus Pit, and for him to throw Katy Kiernan in it as his guinea pig. Carnage gets ready to enter when one of his tiny cohorts reminds him of their deal, he has to kill some people for them, and they give him a whole new universe to kill people in afterwards. Kaine recovers and tries to stop Carnage, but Carnage enters the Prometheus Pit and disappears. Just when things can't get worse for the Scarlet Spider, he's told to get down and surrender by Agent Venom.


Thoughts: Now THIS is what I'm talking about! That's how you start a crossover. We got a quick introduction into each characters mind, for anyone who is only reading one series, we got to see them act on their own first before we saw them team up, and Carnage was built up like the threat he should be. Plus, we got a few unanswered questions like Carnage's tie with the tiny people and who exactly they want killed, which should keep people interested. After Bunn's lackluster start to Venom, I'm really enjoying what he and Yost have started here, hopefully they can keep the momentum going. Overall, this was a nice start and a very good way to get Flash and Kaine to cross paths.

Score: 8/10 

Venom: I'm the guy. They're looking to me to lead them through this. I can't tell them how badly this guy freaks me out.