Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2 Review

 

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Andrea Broccardo

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Dean White; Chris Campana; Craig Yeung & Rachelle Rosenberg

Designer: Carlos Lao

Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Recap Art: Mark Bagley

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 25, 2024

 

While Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Shift have been playing nice with the Vermin, Gwen Stacy and Chameleon gave one of New York’s humanoid rats a roast. But Ben Reilly is a changed man. With his scrambled memories, the former Scarlet Spider enters the fray and kills Jackal’s creations before he wonders, “Gee, might they be sentient?” Ben might not have much to spare, but Druig wants a piece of his mind anyway. What chaos will Chasm unleash when an Eternal messes with his muddled mind? And can his clone brother Kaine help Ben recover what he has lost? Let’s refill our psychoactive goo guns, leap into Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2, and find out!

 

Story

Ben Reilly spent so long trying to be Spider-Man that he doesn't know who he is. The situation worsened when Maxine Danger messed with his memories. Now Druig is influencing him. When Ben realizes he has been sleepwalking, he wonders what else he can try to regain control. His girlfriend offers him fun and diversion in Steve Foxe's story. But Ben's love for Janine is coupled with need. Ben relies on her to retain his sanity in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Where would he be without Janine?

 

Like Ben, Janine doesn’t view sleepwalking as a step toward mental recovery. She tries to distract him from his dark thoughts, but her bright ideas leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Still, she has one more card to play. Or should I say a mask? After using her Frankenstein's Monster and Werewolf masks, she pulls out another to help Ben. Using it exposes Janine to danger but demonstrates her commitment to him.

 

Kaine Parker has been following Ben and Janine’s trail of destruction. In the hospital morgue, Kaine doesn’t realize that Druig helped Ben reconstruct Freak. Using the dead Vermin and his psychoactive goo instead of lightning, Ben cobbled together a Super Freak. The monster pursues Kaine through the hospital. Kaine's plan doesn't include bringing the Super Freak home to his mother. (If he had a mother, that is). Kaine wants to get it away from people before the Super Freak brings someone's spirit down. 

 

 

 

Art

On his hands and knees, Moleman looks up at Druig. With a spider crawling over his hand, the Eternal looks down upon another cowering mortal in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Kaine somersaults over Super Freak while a portable exam table crashes into the wall and ceiling. One of Jane Foster’s associates hangs from glowing webs alongside a security guard. The supersized Freak pursues Kaine down a corridor that evokes Jackal’s horrors chasing Peter Parker through a nightmare train. Andrea Broccardo’s Super Freak design suggests that HR Giger's Alien art diverted Druig. Kaine's solution to his Freakazoid dilemma evokes how Daniels and Tennessee banish unwanted guests from the Covenant's terraforming bay in Alien: Covenant.

 

Black and red Kaine battles a brown and red Super Freak as a suspended medical examiner’s blue scrubs pair with the blue-tinged white floor and wall tiles. A gray villain who liked Anna Watson stares through a transparent barrier and across a hallway grounded with black and grey flooring and illuminated by a glowing glass ceiling. Chasm’s lavender and black pairs with Hallows Eve’s mauve and black as yellow windows in distant buildings shine against a gray sky. The lovers regain their usual vibrant purple, green, orange, and black in their holy abode. But when Hallows Eve slips on another mask, she explores Brian Reber's purple and lavender world in orange, gray, red, yellow, and white finery.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and Kaine's white thoughts into red narrative boxes. Words grow bold for emphasis, swell or change color for volume, and rarely shrink. Colorful and transparent sound effects help us hear Super Freak’s rampage and Janine's world shatter, while a yellow and orange growl suggests the rise of another spider villain in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As an Eternal, Druig has too much time on his hands. Instead of taking night classes at Empire State University or volunteering at FEAST, Druig seeks diversion by manipulating others, including those with all eight eyes open in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #2.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.