Writer: Steve Foxe
Artist: Andrea Broccardo
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Rachelle Rosenberg
Designer: Carlos Lao
Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski
Recap Art: Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 20, 2024
The Mole Man is bringing the New York Underground to meet their surface-dwelling family. Kaine wants his brother to help him with this Monster Mash, but Chasm wants to exterminate an Eternal. Can the spider-brothers and Hallows' Eve resolve their differences and work together to quell the uprising? Let’s slip on a monster mask, leap into Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #4, and find out!
Story
Moloids, Vermin, and monsters are trashing Queens. Kaine wants Chasm and Hallows’ Eve to help him drive them underground. But Ben is tired of people messing with his mind. Druig’s psychic touch left his brain itching. As Ben uses it like a locator beacon, Janine masks up and clears his path. But when the monsters increase in size, Ben heads off to the sewers, leaving Janine to face the music.
Druig has lost interest in the chaos he created. As Ben seeks a rematch, the Eternal helps his puppet take down his tormentor. But it's all another mind game in Chasm: Curse of Kaine #4.
Kaine wants a heart-to-heart with his clone-brother. After shaking off Druig’s control, Ben isn’t interested in singing Kumbaya with Kaine. Despite Ben’s claim to make a fresh start, he still grasps for anything resembling a win. And while love may conquer all, Janine doesn't encourage Ben’s better instincts. Hallows’ Eve tempts Ben into fun diversions that can't lead to lasting fulfillment. Still, Kaine does his bit for his brother in Chasm: Curse of Kaine #4, even if Madame Web thinks he’s wasting his time.
While Chasm emulates his creator and Kaine evokes Jackal’s late brother, Druig is the real Chasm in Steve Foxe’s story. An endless life and superpowers mean Druig doesn’t need to work for anything. Without death hanging over him, events lose significance, and memories fade. At least Druig wants to remind people that shoving their problems out of sight isn’t ideal. Having been around since Humanity’s hunter-gatherer phase, Druig knows it is easier to cast out those who don’t belong or prove difficult to help than solve the problems that lead to crime and mental illness.
Art
While Andrea Broccardo evokes an iconic Kirby cover, Kaine adopts Arachnobatix mode as he elbows aside Moloids and somersaults over a raging Freakazoid. Hallows' Eve mauls Vermin and snarls at Humans in her Black Panther mask. Chasm wields a psychoactive goo axe and fwips away monsters while Freakazoid smashes a dumpster like a spoon. But Chasm and Hallows’ Eve don’t look at each other until Ben smiles. Then they kiss while people die in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #4.
Tan Moloids and brown Vermin evoke the ground from which they sprang, while red splashes from Hallows’ Eve’s claws match the color of the Vermin’s eyes. Kaine's red suit, Hallows' Eve's hair, and the Freakazoid's scarlet skin underline their monstrous heritage. Orange fire burns from Druig’s eyes while Chasm’s burn bluish white. Yellow, orange, and red galaxies erupt from the Eternal’s hands as Brian Reber’s bluish-white psychoactive goo springs from Chasm's hands.
Amid Andrea Broccardo’s rampaging action and Brian Reber's vibrant coloring, Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #4. Words grow bold for emphasis, swell or change color for volume, and rarely shrink, while the Scarlet Spider shares his thoughts as white letters in red narrative boxes. Colorful and transparent sound effects help us hear a Black Panther roar, Chasm hew his axe into Kaine’s chest, and a monster squelch a rampant threat. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Druig spurs the disenfranchised to insurrection, Chasm gets kissy and corny, Kaine tries to be his brother's keeper, and Hallows' Eve goes killer kaiju in Chasm: Curse Of Kaine #4.
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
No comments:
Post a Comment