Minimum Carnage: Omega #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At the end of this story, I have to say, I'm not really sure the story that Bunn and Yost wanted to tell.  We really got two stories, a Carnage story in issues #1 and #5 and a Microverse story in issues #2-#4.  In retrospect, I'm not entirely sure why they needed to be told together.

As I worried, we never really get to the bottom of the dispute between Marquis Radu and the Redeemer.  If this mini-series were a teenage comedy, the Microverse appears to have played the role of the obnoxious blond cheerleader dating the football-team captain; once he realizes that he's in love with the nerdy poor girl, she's quickly forgotten.  It's unfortunate, because I was really interested in the intrigue that Bunn and Yost had carefully crafted between Radu and the Redeemer.  If this mini-series was intended to serve as little more for an advertisement for a new "Micronauts" series, I would understand why we were left in a lurch.  Since it isn't, it simply feels sloppy.

In the end, the fact that the Microverse is so easily forgotten makes you wonder why this mini-series wasn't just a two-issue cross-over event between "Scarlet Spider" and "Venom."  Nothing about the resolution required the journey into the Microverse.  We instead could've just gotten Venom following Carnage to Houston in issue #1 and then joining forces with Kaine to stop him in issue #2, which is essentially what happens in the first and last issue of this mini-series.  But, even if it were just the second of a two-issue cross-over event, I think I'd still be disappointed in this issue.  Are we supposed to believe that Kaine accidentally failed to kill Cletus or are we supposed to believe that he just intending to lobotomize him?  It makes a big difference, honestly, and I don't understand why it was left so unclear?

In the end, I'm disappointed in this whole affair.  I'm also pretty sure that I'm done with "Venom" and I'm pretty glad to see us return to the regularly scheduled programming in "Scarlet Spider."  This cross-over event had potential, but, unfortunately, I just don't think it met it.

Venom #27 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

After the excitement of the last two issues, this one is a bit of a pause, allowing the various converging storylines to merge.  The problem is that we don't really get anywhere until the end of the issue.  Bunn emphasizes that the symbiotes are slowly killing the Microverse and most of the issue is dedicated to a fight with the Enigma Force, Kaine, and Venom on one side, the symbiote army on another, and Carnage on his own side.  The denouement comes at the end of the issue, where Flash takes control of his anger and somehow uses it to destroy the symbiote army.  Bunn isn't entirely clear on how he manages to do that and I have to admit a little eye-rolling as we once again plumbed the depths of Flash's tortured soul.  Is there any problem that can't be solved by him crying over his father?  I also didn't really follow how Carnage dissolving somehow turned him into a mini-symbiote army in the Macroverse, but hopefully we'll learn more about that in the last issue.  I'm a little concerned that the shift to the Macroverse is going to side-step the issues we have in the Microverse, like who the Redeemer and Marquis Radu really are.  But, I guess we'll see.

Scarlet Spider #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ho boy, things heat up here.

First, I have to apologize to Bendis.  (Odd, I know.)  I commented in my review for "Avengers" #33 that it seemed weird to me that the Avengers were being negatively affected by being in the Microverse but Kaine and Venom weren't.  Here, we learn that Venom at least is being negatively affected, as Flash informs us that he thinks that his loss of control over the symbiote has to do with the Microverse.  Sorry, Bendis.  (On a connected note, I loved Yost having Marquis Radu mention Lord Gouzar, the current villain in "Avengers."  Nice touch.  Are Kaine and Venom suddenly going to find themselves face-to-face with the Avengers?  I doubt it, but I would be seriously happily surprised if that happened.  Maybe just a "Shaun of the Dead" type of moment?)

Speaking of the symbiote, Radu accomplishes his goal here, re-capturing Carnage in order to use him to manufacture an army of symbiotes.  He also conveniently gets to use Venom, too.  His goal seems to be to kill the Redeemer, who he calls the Microverse's god.  Apparently, the symbiotes weaken the Engima Force, which binds together the Microverse and of which the Redeemer is the living embodiment.  By destroying the Enigma Force, he kills the Redeemer and become the new god.  (However, I'm not really sure how he's going to do that.  Killing a god and taking his place is a little different than killing a political enemy and taking over his kingdom.  If the Engima Force is consumed by the symbiotes, then what power is Radu going to use to become god?  I guess we'll see.)  Upping the ante, the Redeemer informs Kaine that the destruction of the Engima Force will destroy not only the Microverse, but the Macroverse as well.

I have to say that I am thoroughly intrigued.  I wasn't after the first few issues, but I am now.  I think this cross-over event is almost as good as "Spider-Island," with an easy-to-understand, self-contained story that helps develop the characters involved.  Here, Flash continues to face his demons to assert control over the symbiote and Kaine has to overcome his murderous instinct to help the Redeemer.  Good stuff all around.


I also wonder about the identities of Radu and the Redeemer.  Are they different aspects of the same person?  Brothers?  I mean, Radu looks more alien, but it seems suspicious that we haven't seen either of their faces yet.  I hope that gets addressed at some point.

Venom #26 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is fantastic.  Seriously, I think Bunn does some of the best work that I've ever seen him do.  This cross-over event started with a pretty significant "WTF?" factor, since I don't think anyone was really clamoring for a "Kaine and Venom go to the Microverse" story.  But, Bunn moves us past that question by telling an action-packed story that also delivers essential background information in a pretty fluid way.  By the end of this issue, we understand who all the players are and Bunn has set up the second half of this event nicely.

First, let's discuss the backstory part.  We quickly learn, in the form of one of the Microns giving an arrival briefing of sorts to Cletus, that the Microverse has things called "flesh factories" that churn out "perfect beasts and killing machines."  We also learn that this group has brought Cletus to Microverse to kill the Redeemer, who Kaine met at the end of last issue.  But, justifying Katy's inclusion from a story perspective, Bunn has Katy realize that they want Cletus to kill the Redeemer not as an assassin, but as the source an army of Carnages manufactured by the factories.  (Shudder.)  Bunn conveys all this information over a two-page spread in a way that that makes it feel like a believable conversation and not just forced expository.  For that accomplishment alone, I'd give him a gold star, since it's been a while since I've seen anyone pull of that much exposition so effortlessly.

However, the plot, as they say, also thickens.  Venom, as we saw last issue, has been saved by a rag-tag band of rebels called the Enigma Force.  (I loved Flash commenting how Peter would love "this science fiction mumbo jumbo."  It was a nice way to remind us who's in that suit.)  The Enigma Force is apparently working for the aforementioned Redeemer (popular guy), who wants to see Flash.  We also learn that members of the Force fear the symbiote, believing that it has the potential to corrupt the entire Microverse.  When agents of Marquis Radu, the guy who wants the Redeemer dead, attack the Force, Bunn shows them carrying sonic weapons.  It makes you wonder whether the Force because the Microverse has experience in battling it.  I wonder where we're going with that thought.  Bunn also uses this scene to get in some character work, having the Force's seamless teamwork remind Flash of the days when he used to fight for something that meant something to him.  It's a poignant moment, reminding us again how alone and isolated Flash is, even as he tries to make it work with the Secret Avengers.  It's hard to work in these moments in these sorts of events, so I salute Bunn for putting in the effort and managing it so well.

Bunn is equally adept at the Kaine part of the story.  After fighting off the monster that attacked him at the end of the last installment of this mini-series, Kaine chats with the Redeemer, learning that he's a former conqueror set on healing the Microverse.  Bunn also gets in some character work on Kaine, having him express skepticism that the Redeemer is ever going to purge all the murderous instincts from the Microverse, since, after all, Kaine knows from whence he speaks.  The Redeemer informs him that he's brought Kaine to this planet to "heal" the Marquis.  However, before they can infiltrate the Marquis' base, Carnage arrives.  Having previously killed most of the team that brought him to the Microverse, he had one of them bring him to the Marquis, conveniently running into Kaine and the Redeemer on the way.

The issue ends with everyone on a collision course.  Flash should arrive in time to help Kaine fight Carnage and then the group is likely to make its way with Marquis.  It actually seems possible at this point that Carnage could JOIN with Flash and Kaine, which is a team-up moment that I would really love to see.  To get through the entire missing backstory in a way that also delivered a great "Star Wars" space epic is quite an accomplishment and, for all the criticism I usually have for Bunn, I really applaud him for it.  As I mentioned in a previous review, I didn't really need a Microverse adventure involving Kaine and Venom.  But, you can't always get what you want.  Sometimes you get what you need.

Scarlet Spider #10 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm going to go with a short-form review since this issue really isn't a "Scarlet Spider" issue.  In fact, I actually thought for a moment that Yost didn't write this issue, because the portrayal of Kaine is a little basic.  For example, we see him unnecessarily expositing the fact that he now has something to lose.  It's a common theme in "Scarlet Spider," but Yost seems forced to spell it out more clearly here than he usually does, likely for new readers, and it loses something in the translation.  Also, Kaine seems significantly more violent than he usually is (which, of course, is saying a lot).  I get that he's full of rage after failing to prevent Carnage from killing the scientists at the Space Center, but he's essentially reduced to screaming, "I'm going to kill you" over and over again.  Again, it's almost like another author is writing this series and, unaware of the progress Yost has made in developing Kaine's character, wrote him like he was the '90s version of Kaine.

Flash also acts uncharacteristically here randomly losing control of the symbiote for no particularly good reason that I can tell.  I'm not sure if the symbiote recognizes Kaine as a threat and is responding to some old beef with him or if it is simply agitated because of Carnage.  I guess we'll see where that goes.

We do get some more information about why Carnage was contacted by the "tiny people."  (In a great example of pet peeve #1, we learn that they're called Microns from the title page.)  It seems that the group that we saw last issue want him exactly for his homicidal impulses, though it's unclear why. They also appear not to have been trapped on Earth, but came specifically to get Carnage.  Meanwhile, after Kaine and Venom make the journey to the Microverse and get separated in the process, Venom finds himself saved by a different group of Microns, who seem likely to be in opposition to the other group.

All in all, it's a meh issue.  If it had been an issue of "Venom," I don't think that I'd be so disappointed.  But, this issue proves the fears that a lot of folks had about this cross-over event, that it would needlessly distract us from the infinitely more interesting stories that Yost was already telling in this title.  At least we only have another issue of it left before we return to the good stuff.

Minimum Carnage: Alpha #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, I'm game.  This issue isn't perfect, resorting to a lot of exposition that I guess you have to have in these sorts of team-up events, where readers of one series might be unfamiliar with the protagonist from the other.  But, once they get past introducing Flash's whininess and Kaine's crankiness, Bunn and Yost manage to channel the creepiness of Carnage, reminding you what an unpredictable threat he is.

As the first issue in the cross-over event, this issue obviously raises some questions, like why the "tiny people" contacted Cletus and why they were seemingly stuck on Earth in the first place.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the issue is Flash's discomfort in the mere existence of Carnage.  The discovery that the symbiote has bonded with Cletus on a cellular level clearly shakes him, particularly since he's not exactly doing such a great job of control his own symbiote lately.  Kaine seems less fazed when confronting Carnage, having no reason to view him as anything other than a violent monster who needs to be stopped.  Their battle is fun, in a sick way, as Cletus comes to realize that Kaine, who tries to snap his neck and uses his claws to break free of Carnage's hold, isn't Spider-Man.  Cletus, of course, is in his usual form, and I loved him surprising the "tiny people" by revealing that the "clean start" he wants in the Microverse is just the ability to kill more people in a whole new universe.  That sounds like the sort of thing that would motivate Cletus.

I'm still not so sure that "Kaine and Venom take on the Microverse" was a story that needed to be told, but Bunn and Yost sell it enough that I'm interested to see where they go with it.