Keatinge (w) and Elson (a) and Fabela (c)
The Rose has shot Morbius with the not-quite Ultimate Nullifier and left him for dead. Becky sees him fall but is pulled back from helping him or checking on him (hint: it's comics, that means he's totally alive). He, of course, tracks Rose back to his secret lair and goes berserk there, killing all his guards before finally being led to Rose himself. The two fight and argue about what's going to become of them now that they've outlived their usefulness to the Rose's employers. Morbius admits that he knows what's happening now but enjoys the catharsis of slaughtering Rose. Morbius does end up talking to Rose's employers and learns that they're mostly in it to develop Brownsville now that Morbius has lifted the residents' spirits. One year later, Becky is in Manhattan hosting an art exhibit focused on Brownsville and dating Michael, who is in hiding (if he's seen, it could somehow mean Brownsville won't climb out of its poverty.
I haven't exactly been a fan of this series from its start or, really, even from its inception. I do think this issue helps a bit because it feels a lot more focused, like it always knew it wanted to be here (I don't know that that's true; with cancellations, sometimes you have to cut your story shorter than you'd like, but this feels more focused). That certainly helps the feel and the flow of this book but ultimately we see that the villains are pretty weak (and still a little confusing), which weakens what we had been seeing too. Also, not to ruin the exact ending of this one for you diehard Morbius fans out there, but it ends with an obvious reveal (Michael is alive and dating Becky or at least still pals with Becky) and the even more obvious and cheesy ending of Morbius saying that he's enjoying he's current plan, the one he hasn't tried before...LIVING. I think my eyeballs actually audibly rolled. People could hear my eyes. It was weird, you guys, and I don't appreciate it.
Superior Carnage 3
Shinick (w) and Segovia and Chrisostomo (a) and J.D. Ramos (c)
The transfer of Carnage on to the brilliant surgeon Karl Malus has been successful and it's left Wizard able to control Carnage, though the control is tenuous at best. Malus warns Klaw that he can feel Carnage trying to overpower Wizard and knows that the moment Wizard slips, Carnage will be in control. For the moment, though, they're going to take on Jameson to take over New York in Wizard's attempt to impress Bentley-23. It's a little chaotic and Wizard nearly slips and loses control of Carnage. When they arrive in the mayor's office at City Hall, they find Spider-Man with a couple of his minions waiting for him.
There's a lot of really good stuff here. It's a lot of what we've seen in the first couple issues as the power of Carnage is overwhelming but the plight of Wizard is still real and well-focused. In addition, we build a little more on what Klaw said to Malus about Wizard being family to him. Here, Klaw asks wizard about his mental state and what happened with Black Bolt and Wizard admits that things maybe aren't great but that he's more desperate than ever to show his son the man he is, not the failure he may have seen all of his life. There are real moments there, especially as Wizard drifts into the past tense when talking about himself before sheepishly correcting himself. Still, the threat of Carnage is a real one and it's one that everyone finds compelling enough to hear Wizard out. It'll be interesting to see where Spider-Man takes this book as the series wraps up (I believe that this story ends with issue four but I'm not totally sure and I tend to question myself when I get this way). There's a lot to like here, not just limited to the writing, though the writing is pretty good and the story is perhaps better. The art is solid and the colors remind everyone of the other two Carnage minis we've had in the last couple years (which featured distinctly different art).
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