Scream: Curse of Carnage #5 Review
Writer: Clay McLeod Chapman
Artists: Garry Brown & Chris Mooneyham
Colours: Rain Beredo
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Despite initial sceptisicm towards Scream: Curse of Carnage, as the series has progressed it’s managed to not only stand on its own two feet but really push the boundaries of Marvels horror stories, and has become a firm favourite. The writing and art has been incredibly good. Which makes this issue a little disappointing as it feels like the batons been dropped a little here.
Not that this is a bad issue, not by any means. It won’t stop me recommending it to people or reading it every month. The problem is after raising the bar so high when it drops a little the end result can leave the reader feeling a little disappointed. Case in point, we’ve built up to a big finale between Scream and Big Mother, and the conclusion feels a bit meh. Fight scenes in previous issues felt more epic and less by the numbers.
Again, let me repeat this isn’t a bad issue, there are some great moments. Watching the relationship between Andi and Scream develop over the series has been great, and seeing where they are now is reminiscent of the dependance between Brock and Venom. Not that this is just an imitation, it's very much its own beast, but due to the nature of symbiotes there are obvious parallels. The supporting characters are interesting and future foes may be more human in nature. It also makes Screams inevitable involvement with the Knull storyline more relevant and exciting. In other words the future of this series is exciting and one of the most anticipated for symbiote fans.
The art from Garry Brown & Chris Mooneyham has been one of the best features of this series, each new issue seemed to push the boat further out and made it really exciting. Take a look at some of Screams new forms in the previous issue, or some of the sludge-like symbiotes earlier on. Where this issue goes wrong is it doesn’t do anything crazy or spectacular. The scenes here feel a lot more bland and generic when compared to earlier issues. This could be any comic you’re opening rather than Scream, which had been forging its own unique identity up to this point.
I don’t want to slate the art team too much, as they’re insanely talented, the fault here is that the story is playing it safe and there’s nothing overly impressive for Mooneyham and Brown to draw. And before it sounds all bad, it isn’t. The characters are beautifully drawn, filled with plenty of gritty realism.
This issue doesn’t quite live up to the epic conclusion of this arc that many will be expecting. It plays it a lot safer in terms of the storytelling and the art, which is disappointing as it had been regularly pushing the envelope out on both until now. Not bad by any stretch, just not reaching the same quality previous issues have. The future of this comic looks great however and I’ll still be recommending it as a whole.
Artists: Garry Brown & Chris Mooneyham
Colours: Rain Beredo
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Despite initial sceptisicm towards Scream: Curse of Carnage, as the series has progressed it’s managed to not only stand on its own two feet but really push the boundaries of Marvels horror stories, and has become a firm favourite. The writing and art has been incredibly good. Which makes this issue a little disappointing as it feels like the batons been dropped a little here.
Not that this is a bad issue, not by any means. It won’t stop me recommending it to people or reading it every month. The problem is after raising the bar so high when it drops a little the end result can leave the reader feeling a little disappointed. Case in point, we’ve built up to a big finale between Scream and Big Mother, and the conclusion feels a bit meh. Fight scenes in previous issues felt more epic and less by the numbers.
Again, let me repeat this isn’t a bad issue, there are some great moments. Watching the relationship between Andi and Scream develop over the series has been great, and seeing where they are now is reminiscent of the dependance between Brock and Venom. Not that this is just an imitation, it's very much its own beast, but due to the nature of symbiotes there are obvious parallels. The supporting characters are interesting and future foes may be more human in nature. It also makes Screams inevitable involvement with the Knull storyline more relevant and exciting. In other words the future of this series is exciting and one of the most anticipated for symbiote fans.
The art from Garry Brown & Chris Mooneyham has been one of the best features of this series, each new issue seemed to push the boat further out and made it really exciting. Take a look at some of Screams new forms in the previous issue, or some of the sludge-like symbiotes earlier on. Where this issue goes wrong is it doesn’t do anything crazy or spectacular. The scenes here feel a lot more bland and generic when compared to earlier issues. This could be any comic you’re opening rather than Scream, which had been forging its own unique identity up to this point.
I don’t want to slate the art team too much, as they’re insanely talented, the fault here is that the story is playing it safe and there’s nothing overly impressive for Mooneyham and Brown to draw. And before it sounds all bad, it isn’t. The characters are beautifully drawn, filled with plenty of gritty realism.
This issue doesn’t quite live up to the epic conclusion of this arc that many will be expecting. It plays it a lot safer in terms of the storytelling and the art, which is disappointing as it had been regularly pushing the envelope out on both until now. Not bad by any stretch, just not reaching the same quality previous issues have. The future of this comic looks great however and I’ll still be recommending it as a whole.
A Look Inside
