Carnage #14 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Alex Paknadel, art by Fran Galan and Federico Sabbatini, colors by Erick Arciniega, and letters by Joe Sabino. This is part of the Carnage Reigns crossover. The group of heroes and villains combined work to stop Carnage’s takeover of New York.
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Over halfway through the crossover, much of the introductions and revelations of the previous issue have to be thrown into action. Spider-Man, Red Goblin, and the Cape-Killers are at the base of Stark Unlimited, with Kasady orchestrating his plan at the top. They are partnered by two huge Stark Sentinels, sent by the less-than-heroic Feilong. The issue has a great recap page that brilliantly catches everyone up to the situation before immediately continuing where it left off. As one plan is being made, another is into a bombing run.
The Sentinels are back up, but are unpredictable, with a whole heap of separate storylines happening before they landed in New York. Paknadel’s approach to this comes in two sections, which avoids what initially seemed like a foregone conclusion. The other plan seemed doomed to fail at the start, and it is interesting to see the characters themselves acknowledge the magnitude of it. But there is a larger red herring, more layers to Kasady’s plan that puts a downer on any perceived progress towards defeating him.
Carnage Reigns is broad with the characters it contains, feeling like a true crossover. Characters from Invincible Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man, Red Goblin, and more are being dragged into the fight against Kasady. Furthermore, they are largely people that don’t have much experience going up against him, adding more variety to the fights. The dialogue between the heroes is not all that spectacular. Where it shines is through Kasady and the villains of the comic. As he gets affronted by the Sentinels and other members of this coalition against him, the sense of control he’s had over his plan falters.
There are points where it becomes a nonsensical diatribe of threats and violence. It suggests that a lot of his bravado, whilst natural to him, is often used as a defense mechanism. But we also find out just how easy and ingrained killing is to Cletus. What Carnage #14 also explores are the ramifications he has on others. Kenneth’s mind has been frazzled and obliterated. And Normie only got a glimpse and is showing signs of changing. Kasady isn’t just a murdering machine, things around him fester and corrode, like a Horseman of the Apocalypse. It should be noted that whilst it is the title of the book and the crossover, Carnage is still in space, with Kasady using a different symbiote so far.
The art is awesome. Every character looks incredible in this art style. Almost all of the figures are intimidating and ominous. Where Miles and the Red Goblin looked similar in Red Goblin #5, here their differences are made clearer. Miles has round lines whilst the Rascal symbiote is more angular. The Red Goblin goes through further changes multiple times in this issue, showing a more monstrous side to the character. Taskmaster is another notable mention, but he is always off to the side and never properly in view. The brawl between the Sentinels and Kasady is a fantastic blend of technology and alien biology. Some of the transformations towards the end of the issue are gruesome but amazing. They match in size, escalating the sense of scale.
The colors are superb, able to cope with the different tones and costumes being brought in as more characters are brought into the crossover. There are some incredibly subtle details and color blending, the pastel style allowing for tones to be visible below a top layer. This works perfectly for shadows and shading. The lettering has a lot of custom word balloons, but they are laid out well and there aren’t many issues with ease of reading.
Carnage #14 is another great view from the villain’s side of the story. Even with more heroes and other costumed characters wading in, the focus of this issue is the man pulling all the strings. It is confusing, considering that there is no Carnage in this book, but his former host is still the star of the show. He is put up against some different opposition and how that fight unfolds is some of the best action of the crossover so far, before changing the dynamic of the problem yet again.
