review by justin anderson

the plot: Story 1: Cletus Kasady, after his battle against Spider-Man and Venom, is taken to Ravencroft Asylum for study, after his experience with the Carnage symbiote. Only, it wasn't dead, after all. Meanwhile, Peter Parker and friends are busy attending the funeral of Harry Osborn. Back to the asylum. Killing the guards, Carnage finds a woman cheering him on. It's Shriek, another recent inmate. The two decide to run off.

Bad timing for Parker, who assures Mary Jane he's going to give up the hero business for a while.

Swinging across the city, Carnage and Shriek come across the Spider Doppelganger. Carnage tries to kill it, only for Shriek to hold him back. She wants to keep it as a pet. Carnage agrees. Parker, going out for Chinese food, hears about the Ravencroft massacre on the radio. There's only one person it could be. Heading into the city, in full costume, he meets Shriek and Doppelganer. Through a fierce fight, he manages to stun Skriek, only for Doppelganger to get a lucky shot. Spidey falls off the building, barely alive after the impact.

The Daily Bugle. Jameson learns that Carnage is now free, and his recent encounter haunts him. Rushing for his passport, he finds Carnage waiting for him in his office.

Story 2: Spidey is reeling in the darkness, in pain. Trying to remember what happened, he wakes to find Aunt May and Uncle Ben in his room. He's 16 again, and Ben is still alive. So... why does he remember everything? Flashbacks. Names. His daily routine goes on, his usual events relating to other memories. Times goes on. The spider has already bit him. But he's glad to be with Ben again. Only, the burglar is still out there. The night replays, the burglar taking his shot.

In the rush of anger, Spider-Man finally wakes up. He'd been knocked out when the Scorpion brought a wall crashing down on him. He takes out Scorpion with minimal effort. He wakes the next morning, to find Mary Jane has fixed breakfast.

Story 3: A Cardiac story. Cardiac is after a few crooked construction workers, responsible for the death of a child in a hospital. "Questioning" them, he suddenly has the Jury gunning for him.

the review: It's a first issue of a new series. Expanded to contain 3 separate stories, the first being a major event. Story 1 leads to what could have been an ultimate Spider-Man story arc, until it was weighted down with lots of superheroes by the end. A good beginning. Carnage flexes some muscle, a new villain is brought in, and Spidey has no time to rest, even with the Green Goblin now gone.

Story 2 is interesting. Even if the events were hallucination, we still get to see Parker in his "second chance" with Uncle Ben, and how some things may have been fated.

Story 3 is an introductory Cardiac tale, to help boost the popularity of a new title. Not a bad story... but, this IS a Spider-Man title.

***** out of *****

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