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.

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3 Review

 

Writer: Justina Ireland

Pencilers: Marcelo Ferreira & Chris Campana

Inkers: Roberto Poggi & Craig Yeung

Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: Cory Petit

Cover Artists: Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi & Rachelle Rosenberg

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: July 17, 2024

 

Peter Parker teamed with the Lizard and Misty Knight to rescue her partner Colleen Wing and Dr. Michael Morbius. Maxine Danger told Spider-Man, Lizard, and Misty where to find their kidnapped friends. But Theocritis holds Dr. Morbius under his spell while his underlings give Colleen love at first bite. Can Team Blood Spidey rescue their friends and prevent Theocritis from converting innocent people into vampires? Let’s grab some garlic, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3, and find out!

 

Main Story

Maxine’s former underling used Dr Morbius’ blood to develop three new products. TJ used Lure to summon vampires to work for him. TJ changed his name to Theocritis and used Change to voluntarily and involuntarily convert Humans into vampires. But his third product, Cure, only provides temporary relief from vampirism. In Justina Ireland’s story, TJ needs Dr Mike to turn his treatment into a serum that will defang vampires permanently.

 

In Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3, Team Blood Spidey steals a van and rams through the garage doors of TJ’s headquarters. Misty takes Maxine’s flash drive in search of a USB port. Spidey thwips up the stairs after Lizard to ask for directions to Dr. Mike's swank lab. He finds one employee extraordinarily helpful. Like Dr Morbius’ new assistant Whitney, who TJ lured into vampirism through a dating app, the vampire worker didn’t choose to become a True Blood.

 

Despite her kicking and quipping in the Hemoglobin Inc. garage, Colleen felt a little down after her first blood donation. Yet, like Buddy Ryan in Night Court, she's feeling much better now. TJ's forced conversion brings Colleen surprising joy. She's so enthralled with her afterlife that she argues its merits with Misty. If Colleen can't convince her fellow Daughter Of The Dragon, she’s got another role in mind for Misty.

 

Dr Morbius struggled for years to find a cure for vampirism. Like the recipients of TJ’s Cure, he cannot exorcise the blood hunger from his body. In Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3, Dr Morbius utilizes TJ’s First-Class laboratory with all the latest scientific equipment to find the solution that has eluded him. So what if TJ forcibly converts Humans into vampires? With Hemoglobin Inc.'s impressive resources, it’s only a matter of time until Dr Mike discovers a permanent Cure for everyone.

 

 

 

Art

Spidey crashes onto a delivery van, thwips away vamps as Misty revs the engine, and goes Teen Wolf Surfing into Hemoglobin Inc. As Misty slips her flash drive into a computer, a silhouette with golden hair spies Misty’s golden arm. But when the lights come on, Colleen’s hair emulates her Bronze Age origins, and her skin is washed white as snow in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3.

 

Rachelle Rosenberg brings vibrant colors to Marcelo Ferreira, Chris Campana, Roberto Poggi & Craig Yeung's art. Spider-Man's blue and red stand out against the turquoise walls as gray-skinned vampires greet a green Lizard clad in purple Hulk slacks and a white lab coat. Lizard's green skin contrasts with a pistachio combatant who emulates the Nazi guarding The Flying Wing in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. The yellow flames leaping from Spider-Man’s purple head dance in the tomato sky as Peter Parker confronts the vampire he believes created this Fright Night in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3.

 

Cory Petit thwips large black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and white narrative boxes with red borders. The Lizard’s giant roars threaten to pierce dialogue balloons. While Lizard’s hisses swarm this twilight battle, Petit’s vibrant and transparent sound effects reveal Lizzie’s brawlin’ muscles’ concussive power during this forever night. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Hemoglobin Inc. offers employees rapid career advancement, transformative economic benefits, and a zest for life. Yet Peter Parker won't stand by and watch others endure transformation without representation or leave them to face the moral quandaries he battled when a spider bite changed him forever in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #3.

 

Rating 8.8/10

 

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

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2 Review

 

Writer: Justina Ireland

Pencilers: Marcelo Ferreira & Chris Campana

Inkers: Roberto Poggi, Sean Parsons & Craig Yeung

Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: Cory Petit

Cover Artists: Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi & Rachelle Rosenberg

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 12, 2024

 

Peter Parker teamed with the Lizard and Misty Knight to rescue her partner Colleen Wing and Dr. Michael Morbius. The Lizard led Spider-Man and Misty to an abandoned church with an underground lair. But when vampires swarmed the fake church, the terrific trio sought refuge at a church guarded by troops armed with holy water weaponry. Can Spider-Man, Misty, and Lizard rescue Colleen and Dr Mike? Does Dr Mike have a cure for vampirism? And why do vampires seem drawn to the Lizard? Let’s grab some garlic, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2, and find out!

 

Story

TJ once worked for the Beyond Corporation. Now, he is Theocritis, the vampire CEO of Hemoglobin Inc. Theocritis is developing three vampire-related products for the market. One of them is Cure, which curbs a vampire’s bloodlust. Theocritis used Dr Morbius' blood to engineer Cure. Dr Morbius has spent years seeking a way to go from Living Vampire to Human. Hemoglobin Inc. hasn't found the solution, but they've achieved promising results. Dr Morbius agrees to peruse their research and see if he can help Theocritis. Although he plays it cool, Dr Morbius has a good reason to help out Theocritis in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. The vampire CEO imprisoned Dr Morbius’ friend, Colleen Wing. The private eye can shrug off a pair of handcuffs, but Colleen will need more than a hairpin to escape the vampire compound.

 

While others largely yanked Peter’s strands until now, he plays detective as effectively as Colleen or her partner Misty in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. He doesn’t benefit from Theocritis’ briefing, but Spider-Man intuits the Lizard's vampiric appeal. That victory comes with a cost. Still, it enhances Spider-Man's understanding of the web in which Misty and the Lizard ensnared him. Theocritis founded his company on Beyond Corporation’s proprietary technology. Maxine Danger insists that anything Theocritis develops belongs to her. Spider-Man plays it cool and doesn’t give away that he discovered Misty and Colleen were working with Maxine Danger.

 

Justina Ireland doesn’t clarify Theocritis’ connection with Blade and The Structure. Still, a vampire invasion provides the perfect cover for Theocritis to ramp up his vampiric business operations. Theocritis is on a rapid journey from office flunky to CEO, but he's still a fanboy. The way he manipulates an employee suggests his goals are less than noble. Still, at least Theocritis' efforts address a social ill that most elected officials would rather ignore than tackle.

 

 

 

 

Art

Justina Ireland’s story is so spectacular that it takes an army of artists to bring it to life in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. Marcelo Ferreira, Chris Campana, Roberto Poggi, Sean Parsons & Craig Yeung convey the impressive laboratory of Hemoglobin Inc. Colleen peers out through the glass panel of her sanitized pen. Her expression and the bite marks on her neck suggest she's no longer in a hitting-and-quipping mood. High-speed camera shots reveal Spider-Man's acrobatics in the park, but the Lizard's ground-shaking landing disperses the undead. Maxine Danger may have escaped jail, but the prim and stylish CEO opts for attire and a new corporate vehicle taken from Wez’s gang in The Road Warrior.

 

Rachelle Rosenberg conveys the cleanroom environment of Theocritis' biotech startup. He may wear a suit, but his all-red ensemble suggests his likely future residence, provided Maxine doesn't get to him first. The skies of New York take on attractive pinks, purples, and oranges. The lamp posts and the glowing headlights of Misty’s motorcycle illuminate the yellow-green ground fog that hovers over the park. Rosenberg also enlivens silhouettes with purple highlights, completing the eerie atmosphere in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. Amid all the gray, bloodless vampires, Misty Knight's red outfit, enlivened with reflective black leather and her golden arm, seems the perfect foil for pink-haired Maxine's Punk sensibilities.

 

Cory Petit thwips large black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and white narrative boxes with red borders. Spider-Man’s thwips and the Lizard's roaring complete this story of corporate warfare and the toll it takes on everyone when CEOs value profits over people. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

After his recent battles with Ben Reilly, Peter Parker finally meets the woman who stole his clone’s memories. While Miles Morales’ mentor agrees to meet Peter halfway, her partner is in danger of joining the undead in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #2. But is a manufactured vampire the equal of a natural-born bloodsucker?

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

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

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 Review

 

Writer: Justina Ireland

Artists: Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi, Chris Compana & Craig Yeung; Josemaria Casanovas

Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer: Cory Petit

Cover Artists: Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi & Rachelle Rosenberg

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 15, 2024

 

Peter Parker has seen the reluctant Human soul beneath the rabid Vampire mask. He wants to prevent the Vampires from converting more Humans to their toothy throng. But the Lizard has other ideas, and they start with body-slamming Spider-Man. Can Peter Parker get through to the Lizard? Can he enlist the Lizard’s aid to close the Darkforce portals or help save the newly fanged? Let’s grab some garlic, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1, and find out!

 

Main Story

Lizard scores a few points. But then he steps aside to let Misty Knight enter the ring. Misty wants Spider-Man’s help in fighting the incisor invasion. Spidey’s not interested. But then she mentions a cure. What? A cure for vampirism? Tell me more.

 

In Justina Ireland’s story, Spidey thwips across New York City with Lizard and Misty to find Dr Morbius. An undead assault team kidnapped the vampire researcher and Misty's partner, Colleen. Thankfully, Misty slipped a tracker on The Living Doctor. But then the Lizard gets an idea into his scaly Isotope Genome Accelerator Duplicate head and leads the terrific trio in a different direction.

 

Justina Ireland’s first story in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 tosses a lot of fun and intriguing ideas into the mix. Two churches feature prominently, along with an underground lair, and the Lizard finds a way to talk without a spell from Hermoine. Readers will meet a priest who blesses Spider-Man’s web fluid, see parishioners armed with holy water guns, and discover a clue to those behind the Darkforce Invasion. Yet, as Spider-Man says in the beginning, “Something about this feels off.” These incongruities irk Spider-Man, so he takes five to do a little solo investigating. While Spider-Man waits for Misty to show her hand, I look forward to Ireland revealing how the pieces of her puzzle fit together in future issues.

 

Art

Tombstone may want Spider-Man dead, but the crimelord can’t match Lizard’s glare. Misty poises like a model clutching a semiautomatic with her bionic hand. She coolly dispatches vampires while the Lizard slams or chomps down on the living dead. Then Lizard charges down an alley, and the wind of his passage lifts his white lab coat into the air. Spidey thwips along, hoping Misty can keep up. But she follows on a motorcycle, pulling an Evel Knight wheelie while smashing a bloodsucker’s noggin. Spider-Man may have had a revelation, but Misty and Lizard display more exuberance than remorse in dispatching the newly undead. Without a cure, it's us against them!

 

Rachelle Rosenberg fills Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1 with bright and attractive colors. Lizard’s green skin and purple slacks contrast with Spider-Man’s red and blue suit. Bricks that appeared black in ASM #49 are now an appealing turquoise. Rosenberg fills alley backgrounds with green and portrays the throbbing vitality of the city that never sleeps with yellow and orange illuminated buildings under a red sky.  

 

Backup Story

In Justina Ireland’s second installment in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1, Colleen Wing and Dr Morbius travel in the back of a delivery truck. Dr Mike suggests she give it up, and Colleen demonstrates the benefits of binge-watching Elementary. When the delivery truck arrives, Colleen and Dr Mike haven't computed their location based on sounds and sensations, but they surprise their kidnappers in high-stepping style. As Colleen tells Dr Mike, "Why kick a guy in the face if you're not having fun?

 

As they investigate the premises of a corporation run by vampires, Dr Mike makes a tantalizing comment that puts a new spin on Ireland's Main Story. We also meet the undead CEO who tears out employees who displease him. Like Spider-Man, Dr Morbius and Colleen Wing discover a potential instigator behind the Darkforce Invasion. But will they Unlive to tell about it?

 

Art

Chris Campana and Craig Yeung’s All Ages art shows Colleen keeping her cool while Dr Morbius is grumpy. The vampire employees’ hairless white heads, pointy ears, and red eyes suggest they’d find sanctuary in Limbo should their corporate venture fail. Compana and Yeung enliven this shorter story with action and fighting, and much blood sprays as Colleen trades her gun for Bartitsu stick-fighting.

 

Rachelle Rosenberg contrasts Colleen's red hair with a white jumpsuit, while Dr Morbius' green skin pairs well with his blue and red outfit. While Rosenberg employs a smaller range of colors, Colleen and Dr. Morbius move from the cool blue truck interior to a green and brown parking garage before heading up to the yellow interiors of the bloodsuckers' corporate headquarters.

 

Cory Petit thwips large black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and white narrative boxes with red borders. Petit demonstrates restraint in emphasizing the carnage in this second story in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1. Yet he helps us hear creaking doors, scraping sarcophagi, and a mob of undead pounding down church doors. Still, nothing tops the Lizard's roar on the first page. It doesn't faze Spider-Man. But then, he's Amazing.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Spider-Man teams up with the Lizard and Miles Morales’ mentor, while Colleen Wing and Dr Morbius discover exciting business opportunities among the undead. Both groups uncover clues to the source of the Darkforce Invasion in Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1.

 

Rating 9.5/10 

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