Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
While we’re all stuck home scared of the coronavirus fictional New York had to deal with a superpowered serial killer. And thanks to some really stupid moves by some really stupid people he may end up running around New York with the potential to turn everyone into crazed killers. Just in case you think you’d want to live in the Marvel universe.
We’re at the halfway point of this twenty chapter book, so let’s see the result of a really bad idea being interrupted by an even worse idea trying to be a better idea. If that makes sense you’ve been reading along with us.
Coming up on this week’s Dancing With The Superheroes.
I think we all knew Carnage was going to escape. It’s only halfway through the novel and he has to threaten New York somehow or this isn’t much of a superhero story. What surprised me is that he didn’t take not-the-T-virus with him. It seems Catrall has that and runs off with it in the confusion. This still has the potential to end really bad, and that stuff has to play into this tale somehow besides this situation.
What really worked was the fight scene. Michelinie and Smith do a good job describing the fight between Spider-Man and Carnage, from Carnage’s tricks using the symbiote’s abilities to Spidey using his own powers. We also learn that Spidey can figure out Carnage’s mood from how the symbiote moves in it’s freakish liquidy ways. His famed Spider-Sense isn’t infallible and if he’s quick enough an opponent can still get a few by Spidey. Carnage is a cold-blooded mass murderer but he can come up with strategies on the fly. It’s just Spider-Man has years of experience while Casaday stalked his victims and the symbiote’s instincts only go so far. And I can see the fight in my mind’s eye just fine, which is a talent I wish I had. It’s one of the reasons I’m more interested in making comics than prose. More on that later this week.
Overall a good chapter, but what happens next? Can Carnage be stopped before his latest killing spree? What about Catrall and the madness serum? We’ll see what’s next for Peter next time.
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