Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #2 Review
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Federico Vicentini
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Publsiher: Marvel Comics
A Miles Morales symbiote story should be interesting, given his history with the goo. I opted out of the first issue after hearing that it didn’t give too much more information than Absolute Carnage #2, and #3 didn’t really do anything with the results. So surely Miles’ own book would take the time to make it right.
The first thing that this issue makes clear to me is that I just don’t like the way Ahmed writes symbiotes. Them always using the pronoun “we” is annoying, but I like to think I’m mature enough to be able to look past that. No, my real problem is that it’s just too corny for my liking. It’s trying too hard to be creepy and I just don’t buy it. It also feels inconsistent with how symbiote Miles was portrayed in the main book. It seems like all he’s capable of saying now is “Kill!” What’s worse, Ahmed doesn’t do anything interesting with Miles being taken over by a symbiote. He’s upset that he’s not in control, but that’s it. That’s not really unique to Miles, is it? Finally, there aren’t any believable stakes. The cliffhanger shows someone being wounded, but it’s not even a fatal wound. Gee, I wonder if this major character is going to be okay?
I like the style of Vicentini’s work, but it falls short in some areas. Symbiote Miles has such an awesome design, but he doesn’t do it justice most of the time. That’s partly because of the coloring too, where a blanketed shade in the wrong area completely changes the design, for the worse. Vicentin’s symbiotes are gnarly as you would hope, but that action isn’t anything to gawk at. The weakest link is probably the faces. They can be great, but they can also be really awkward and off-putting sometimes. Back to the colors, aside from dropping the ball on Miles, I would say Arciniega does a great job. He gives a lot of detail to pages that most probably wouldn’t bother with. Every panel is much more lively, thanks to him.
I can’t recommend this to anyone, really. The premise for a great story was there, but this issue doesn’t do anything with it, and I don’t believe that any of this is going to matter down the road. The art has a nice flavor to it, but they drop the ball when they have the opportunity to give us something better. If you’re really interested, read it on MU. I promise you won’t be upset you had to wait.
Artist: Federico Vicentini
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Publsiher: Marvel Comics
A Miles Morales symbiote story should be interesting, given his history with the goo. I opted out of the first issue after hearing that it didn’t give too much more information than Absolute Carnage #2, and #3 didn’t really do anything with the results. So surely Miles’ own book would take the time to make it right.
The first thing that this issue makes clear to me is that I just don’t like the way Ahmed writes symbiotes. Them always using the pronoun “we” is annoying, but I like to think I’m mature enough to be able to look past that. No, my real problem is that it’s just too corny for my liking. It’s trying too hard to be creepy and I just don’t buy it. It also feels inconsistent with how symbiote Miles was portrayed in the main book. It seems like all he’s capable of saying now is “Kill!” What’s worse, Ahmed doesn’t do anything interesting with Miles being taken over by a symbiote. He’s upset that he’s not in control, but that’s it. That’s not really unique to Miles, is it? Finally, there aren’t any believable stakes. The cliffhanger shows someone being wounded, but it’s not even a fatal wound. Gee, I wonder if this major character is going to be okay?
I like the style of Vicentini’s work, but it falls short in some areas. Symbiote Miles has such an awesome design, but he doesn’t do it justice most of the time. That’s partly because of the coloring too, where a blanketed shade in the wrong area completely changes the design, for the worse. Vicentin’s symbiotes are gnarly as you would hope, but that action isn’t anything to gawk at. The weakest link is probably the faces. They can be great, but they can also be really awkward and off-putting sometimes. Back to the colors, aside from dropping the ball on Miles, I would say Arciniega does a great job. He gives a lot of detail to pages that most probably wouldn’t bother with. Every panel is much more lively, thanks to him.
I can’t recommend this to anyone, really. The premise for a great story was there, but this issue doesn’t do anything with it, and I don’t believe that any of this is going to matter down the road. The art has a nice flavor to it, but they drop the ball when they have the opportunity to give us something better. If you’re really interested, read it on MU. I promise you won’t be upset you had to wait.
A Look Inside
