Carnage has been out of the picture since 2004, when the all-powerful Sentry flew him somewhere into space and literally tore him apart. Zeb Wells brought Carnage back (surprise, surprise) into the Marvel U earlier this year, and now Carnage plans to seek revenge upon earth’s mightiest heroes by bring mayhem and murder to small town USA. Wells, who is hot off the press with his work on The Avenging Spider-Man, teams up with Clayton Crain to revive the maniacal Carnage and bring some real terror into the lives of those innocent townsfolk. Having been out of the game for so long, there is no doubt that Carnage will make sure everyone knows he’s back, and he’ll be ripping through the USA, leaving nothing behind but a trail of blood. Read on for the skinny…

WRITTEN BY: Zeb Wells
ILLUSTRATED BY: Clayton Crain
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $3.99

“Spider-Man and the Avengers must go on a brutal hunt to capture Cletus Kasaday before a small town in the American heartland falls under his mass-murdering spell!”

When Carnage was first introduced in the 90s as the symbiote offspring of the other fan-favorite Venom, he was a heartthrob of sorts among comic fans (if you’re in to the murdering psychopath types). Nobody could deny his almost sensual appeal, his blood red suit, and his absolute insanity. Sure Venom was cool with his slimy black costume and his gaping jaw, but Carnage really took the cake as far as eye-candy villains go. Nostalgia aside, all you really need to know is that Carnage has caused many problems for Spidey and the gang in the past, and now that he’s back after a 6-year absence, he’s going to kick some ass and kill a bunch of people.

Zeb Wells has been flying high recently in the Spidey Universe, taking on his own ongoing Spider-Man title, The Avenging Spider-Man, which offers a much needed break from ASM. In an interview with Wizard World Anaheim, Wells said that he re-read the entire Maximum Carnage series as research for this, and we can expect to see a few throwback moments to the Carnage of old. Anyone who grew up in the 90s knows how epic the Maximum Carnage series is (and the video game, which made me lose many hours of my childhood). That said, if you missed out on the 2004 series, or even if you missed out on the earlier Carnage event this year, not to worry. Though this is very much a continuation of the storyline, we’ve been promised that by no means it is necessary to have prior knowledge.

Wells is teaming up once again with Clayton Crain. Crain’s art style is extremely smooth, and very detailed. I really cannot think of any artist who I would rather see draw this book. Crain’s style was pretty much made to draw Carnage in all his crimson glory.

Each week I ask myself the question, why is this my pick of the week? This week Carnage USA simply makes the cut because Carnage has always been my favorite villain. Whether it’s because I’m a child of the 90s, or I’m a sucker for anything red and black, I’m not sure. Suffice it to say that Carnage is a little alien psychopath who derives almost too much pleasure from wreaking havoc on humans, and truth be told, I couldn’t be more excited. Expect to see Carnage on his absolute worst behavior, trying to draw the attention of Marvel’s big guns. Hopefully this will only be the start of the new Carnage, and hopefully we’ll get to see him and the new Venom cross paths. I think Wells said it best, “If you know what Carnage is all about, and a four-armed dismembered torso of Spider-Man’s Doppelganger isn’t outside your comfort zone, you’ll be good to go.”

Preview right here