Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Mike Perkins
Colourist: Andy Troy
Editor: Darren Sahn
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Carnage #9 feels like a scary Alien movie. Claire Dixon and her anti-Carnage task force are on the high seas, trailing the symbiotic villain who is trying to use dark magic forces to become more powerful.

The first 10 pages of Carnage #9 are all build-up. When they finally overtake the ship it’s like the vessel Dimitri in the novel Dracula, full of dead bodies with nobody at the wheel. The scenes are dark and foreboding. “This isn’t a ghost ship,” says Dixon. “It’s a slaughterhouse.” At this point the reader is just waiting for the jump scare.

When some of Carnage’s minions finally attack from the shadows Dixon and her party are overwhelmed, and they want out. Carnage finally appears on the last page, he’s got Dixon trapped and has plans for her.

Carnage #9 would make part of a good horror film, so bravo to seasoned Marvel writer Gerry Conway for providing the atmosphere. Likewise, Mike Perkins’ art, coloured by Andy Troy, gives the pages a Richard Corben feel, dark and foreboding.

Carnage feels like a departure for Marvel. It retains the good dialogue and characters you expect but is darker and more horrifying than normal.

And that’s the reason Carnage continues to be a good read. Instead of the safe and stolid Marvel product of late, let’s have something with – oh I don’t know – balls?

 

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker