Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, begins the hunt for a woman that he deems ‘the one that got away’. He discovers Manuela Calderon, the only survivor of his massacre of a boys school, is still alive. Driven by his desire to kill, he immediately goes after her. Only, he fails to realize, that’s exactly what she wants.

Carnage is an interesting comic because it actually shows very little of Carnage. This is a wise decision. A story focused entirely on a character whose sole drive is to murder because he enjoys murder, does not create much in the way of empathy or relatability for the reader. Instead, Carnage turns into a horror comic with classic psychological horror elements. The focus shifts to Manuela and her team of agents trying to lure Carnage into their trap. The main problem with the story is that the world building in the middle drags. A large amount of characters are introduced but, each seem to be killing time in the wait for Carnage. Nothing of significance really happens here. There is even an Eddie Brock cameo which does little but add another character to fill the middle of the issue with something to do. Once, Carnage arrives, the horror increases greatly but, there’s not a lot of space left in the story to really highlight him.

The artwork is decent for what it is. The story is mostly standing and talking. In that regard, the art works nicely. The darkness is atmospheric and the character models are detailed and strong. Sometimes though, and seemingly every time Eddie Brock is featured, expressions can become over exaggerated. It does take away from the mood and tension a bit.

Overall, Carnage #1 tries to create Carnage as a monster to be feared by leaving him in the background and letting others actions show how dangerous he can be. The problem becomes, the comic overdoes this. Carnage is given so little time in this issue that, it actually hurts how dangerous he is portrayed. The focus shifts to a group of new characters with little time to flush out their own story. The titular character does not have enough time to develop nor, do any of the side characters and this leads to a comic that ends up struggling with its own identity.

Story: Gerry Conway Art: Mike Perkins
Story: 6 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Read