Carnage U.S.A. #1 (of 4)

The opening issue of this mini-series has serial killer Cletus Casady a.k.a. Carnage taking over the small town of Doverton, Colorado. Writer Zeb Wells pens this dark and creepy story of Carnage terrorizing the town folk by way of his symbiote separating and dividing itself then bonding with a number of hosts which are ultimately controlled by Cletus.

Eventually Spider-Man and the Avengers are called in to capture Cletus and save the townspeople. As the Avengers are doing a sort of role call to introduce us to who’s going to star in this adventure there is funny exchange between Spidey and Hawkeye at the expense of the Thing!

The art in this issue is handled by Clayton Crain. His work is very detailed and lush which adds immensely to this unsettling story. There is great scene with Cletus sitting on a porch swing with an elderly couple which really depicts how the artwork and unnerving story perfectly compliment each other.

This issue ends with a good cliffhanger that guarantees a purchase of issue number two.