- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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This ambitious introductory issue finds an unusual team-up between Spider-Man (Marvel Comics), the webbed wonder, and Batman (DC Comics), the caped crusader squaring off against Carnage, the maniacal super-psycho, and Joker, the trickster-terrorist.
The writing by J.D. DeMatteis has good story-flow, and the artwork (and lettering) by Mark Bagley, Mark Farmer, Scott Hanna, and Richard Starkings (pencils, inks, coloring) is satisfying.
You can find nice stills presentations on the Internet.
The plot is simple but entertaining:
Spider-Man is overseeing the rehabilitation of Cletus Kasady (Carnage) at the Ravencroft Institute, while Batman is monitoring Joker's incarceration at Arkham Asylum. Ravencroft and Arkham are toying with the idea of implanting behavior-changing computer chips in the brains of criminally insane super-criminals such as Carnage and Joker.
When Carnage and Joker escape incarceration during an implant-related transport event, Batman and Joker form an uneasy partnership. Meanwhile, Carnage and Joker agree to remove their chips and form a team to tackle Batman and Spider-Man and create anarchy.
Carnage and Joker's alliance soon disintegrates and the two try to undo each other in an abandoned theater. Batman and Spider-Man show up at the theater, tracking the two super-villains (with a frequency signal from a remnant of the brain chip still inside one of the super-villains) to the abandoned theater.
Carnage almost kills Batman, but when Joker intervenes, insisting that he be the one to kill the Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Batman take advantage of the hesitancy of the moment and spring upon the villains and haul them off to incarceration again, perhaps proving that this unlikely partnership can prove to be profitable.
While I am a bigger fan of stand-alone experience magnification presentations such as "Batman: Year One" [1987] and "Maximum Carnage" [1993], I like this issue featuring this 2-on-2 engagement.
Firstly, Joker and Carnage are the two most iconic nemeses of Batman and Spider-Man, respectively. Joker is a mayhem artist with a taste for the theatrical, while Carnage is a pure maniac with terror on his mind. If we therefore imagine that Joker and Carnage could possibly team up, then certainly, a Batman and Spider-Man alliance seems noteworthy.
Secondly, as a fan of comic books, getting portraits of how symbolic nemeses of popular superheroes would form teams reminds us of the overall appeal of hero-villain team presentations such as Justice League, Legion of Doom, Avengers, Suicide Squad, and Superfriends. This pleasing (if rather blunt) introductory presentation of Joker and Carnage warranting a hero team-up makes me want to take in a Friday evening with wine, pizza, and a personalized reading of this Batman and Spider-Man floor show.
Overall, it's a great read for established fans of comic books or for people just starting to read comic books and seeking an introduction to the world of hero-villain pageantry.
Issue Link [Marvel Wikia]
The writing by J.D. DeMatteis has good story-flow, and the artwork (and lettering) by Mark Bagley, Mark Farmer, Scott Hanna, and Richard Starkings (pencils, inks, coloring) is satisfying.
You can find nice stills presentations on the Internet.
The plot is simple but entertaining:
Spider-Man is overseeing the rehabilitation of Cletus Kasady (Carnage) at the Ravencroft Institute, while Batman is monitoring Joker's incarceration at Arkham Asylum. Ravencroft and Arkham are toying with the idea of implanting behavior-changing computer chips in the brains of criminally insane super-criminals such as Carnage and Joker.
When Carnage and Joker escape incarceration during an implant-related transport event, Batman and Joker form an uneasy partnership. Meanwhile, Carnage and Joker agree to remove their chips and form a team to tackle Batman and Spider-Man and create anarchy.
Carnage and Joker's alliance soon disintegrates and the two try to undo each other in an abandoned theater. Batman and Spider-Man show up at the theater, tracking the two super-villains (with a frequency signal from a remnant of the brain chip still inside one of the super-villains) to the abandoned theater.
Carnage almost kills Batman, but when Joker intervenes, insisting that he be the one to kill the Dark Knight, Spider-Man and Batman take advantage of the hesitancy of the moment and spring upon the villains and haul them off to incarceration again, perhaps proving that this unlikely partnership can prove to be profitable.
While I am a bigger fan of stand-alone experience magnification presentations such as "Batman: Year One" [1987] and "Maximum Carnage" [1993], I like this issue featuring this 2-on-2 engagement.
Firstly, Joker and Carnage are the two most iconic nemeses of Batman and Spider-Man, respectively. Joker is a mayhem artist with a taste for the theatrical, while Carnage is a pure maniac with terror on his mind. If we therefore imagine that Joker and Carnage could possibly team up, then certainly, a Batman and Spider-Man alliance seems noteworthy.
Secondly, as a fan of comic books, getting portraits of how symbolic nemeses of popular superheroes would form teams reminds us of the overall appeal of hero-villain team presentations such as Justice League, Legion of Doom, Avengers, Suicide Squad, and Superfriends. This pleasing (if rather blunt) introductory presentation of Joker and Carnage warranting a hero team-up makes me want to take in a Friday evening with wine, pizza, and a personalized reading of this Batman and Spider-Man floor show.
Overall, it's a great read for established fans of comic books or for people just starting to read comic books and seeking an introduction to the world of hero-villain pageantry.
Issue Link [Marvel Wikia]
