review by justin anderson

the plot: I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Funny it took so long for some of Marvel and DC's biggest icons to have a crossover. But....

"Sheesh! You can't swing a dead cat without hitting another intercompany crossover book these days! I'm sick to death of it all."

To quote from the back of Lobo/Mask #1. Company crossovers became big in the 90s. The 70s saw Spuderman/Spider-Man, the 80's was rather dry, then you can't walk without tripping over them. Some are downright BAD, too....

But this one comes out to be rather good.

We open with Peter Parker having a dream about the death of Uncle Ben, the killer's face turning into the face of the Joker. Exposition follows. We get another, similar scene with Batman seeing Carnage kill his parents. Cut to Spidey at Ravencroft, where Carnage is being tested. he escapes the.... big glass egg(?) he's in, Spidey wails on him, he's hosed with microwave guns. Dr. Briar arrievs with orders to implant an inhibitor chip into his head despite Dr. Kafka's protests.

It works, of course, so it isn't too mong until the Joker gets one of his own. Cletus is now downright timid, his symbiote harmless. He can't look anyone in the face. Parading the 2 killers around, Dr. Briar is shocked when Carnage kills the driver of their car. His symbiote shorted the chip, and he was playing with them the whole time.... Joker, though, IS now too scared to look at his own shadow.

Spidey shows up in Gotham, rescues Dr. Briar as Batman tries to talk Carnage into surrendering, a fight ensues, Carnage runs off with the Joker. Batman chews Spidey out for being in "his city".

Carnage shorts out Joker's chip. They argue, get along, then argue again. Bats decides he needs Spider-Man's help, picks him up in an alley where Spidey has saved a woman, the two ride in the Batmobile.

Carnage and Joker fight it out, disagreeing on how to kill everyone in Gotham. Joker escapes the old theater and blows it up. Finding the remains, the MUCH ALIVE Carnage holds Batman captive, promising to kill him in fromt of the media. Joker shows up, his virus ready, willing to unleash it and kill everyone in Gotham than see Carnage kill Batman.

Fear sets in, Carnage weakens, Batman beats on him like a punching bag. Spider-Man pounds on Joker. The heroes shake hands, the end.

the review: I give it four of five stars.

The art is fairly good, matching the standards of all modern comics without going manga. The overall feel is very dark without covering everyhting in a layer of shadows.

The interaction between the heroes and support is very well done. Batman is not the easy-going type we saw Adam West portray. In the comics, he's hardened. He objects to another hero butting in on his turf. Spidey doesn't get it. Dr. Kafka and Dr. Arkham, together, in the same room, defying Briar, is a standout scene alone.

But the Joker/Carnage pairing is useless. All they do is fight. And why is it, that Carnage, super-fast and deadly, can't touch the Joker? It should have either been a Joker/Green Goblin pairing, or Carnage/ Two-Face.

The pairing in this issue didn't even DO anything....

Inconsistencies abound with Carnage as well. His hair is red, his eyes are green. It's established. So.... why does his hair turn yellow halfway through? It's also brown in a mugshot Batman's looking at. His eyes also turn blue and brown. We also see him pull the "wrap a symbiote piece around a corpse" stunt to fool the Joker. But.... that goes against the fact bits of his symbiote fall apart if away from the main piece for too long (which they got RIGHT earlier in the story....).

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