Web Of Venom: Carnage Born finds Donny Cates, with the art team of Danilo S. Beyruth, Cris Peter and Clayton Cowles, continuing to build on the symbiote mythology in this blood-drenched one-hot that brings back the original spawn of Venom; Carnage!
A cruel cannibal obsessed with death and murder, few mourned Cletus Kasady after he seemingly died in VENOMIZED. But now a cult devoted to the madman has gathered, hoping to resurrect their fallen idol and return his madness to the Marvel Universe…
Web of Venom: Carnage Born
Written by: Donny Cates
Art by: Danilo S. Beyruth
Colors by: Cris Peter
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
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Writing
Web of Venom: Carnage Born is first and foremost a horror title. There are cults in robes, blood and gore aplenty. Having that aspect of the story is a great way to add mood with setting and atmosphere. Its one of the many things done well by writer Donny Cates. Cates is no stranger to horror, and it shows. There’s some truly scary and creepy shit in this book. Cates even adds an almost Freddy Krueger like myth to Cletus Kasudy’s origin, a nice touch that saves the necessary re-telling from being purely exposition. It pushes Carnage further into being a monster.
Cates uses that same deft touch to summarize much of what he has been doing with the symbiotes in various places/titles/events. It makes Web of Venom: Carnage Born accessible to new readers, yet not boring to long-reading fans. The mythology running through these books has become vast but not impenetrable. That’s not an easy thing to do.
This being Cates, you also get one hell of a fucking set-up at the end that puts Carnage on a collision course with just about every major player in the Marvel Universe. The final image is a treat that will get you stoked on what is to come. (You can see it below at the end of this review).
Art
The art team of Danilo S. Beyruth and Cris Peter comes together here to create images that ooze crimson and viscera. There’s plenty of blood and gore around. The slashy line work and vibrant colors create a very unique, lurid look.
The way the symbiotes look has always been one of the selling points on the concept, and Beyruth and Peter combined, create one creepy looking Carnage and one disturbed as fuck Cletus Kasady.
Veteran letter Clayton Cowles also does great work with his fonts and word positioning. There are both sparsely lettered pages and pages with heavy dialog and narration yet both look great, not feeling empty or crowded.
Conclusion
Donny Cates has been creating a very unique mythology with these symbiote books, and Web of Venom: Carnage Born is a nice place to start if you haven’t checked these out yet. With it’s accessible, yet compelling story and unique art, it’s one book not to be missed.
