Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #431

Background

We all know Silver Surfer, the herald-of-Galactus-turned-cosmic-avenger who stars in his own monthly book, and we all know Carnage, the mudrerous symbiotic madman, and of course, we all know Spider-Man, that lovable archnerd-turned-superhero to whom this very site is devoted to. What you may not know is that Dr. Ashley Kafka has been fired as head of the Ravencroft Institute for the criminally insane, that Joe "Robbie" Robertson has been getting pressure from his wife to quit his job as editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, and that industrialist (and, as the Green Goblin, super-cool supervillain) Norman Osborn has bought half of the Daily Bugle and recently offered a million-dollar reward for the webhead's capture - dead or alive. Now you know!

Story 'The Carnage Cosmic'

As Pete tries to muster support against Carnage Cosmic, Silver Surfer flies out into space to grapple (and finally resist) the Carnage symbiote's influence. Robbie, meanwhile, finally decides to resign from the Daily Bugle. Ol' Silver returns to the city, and reunites Cletus Kasady with his other just long enough to trap Carnage in a shell of ethereal energy. Carnage is no longer a threat to humanity (at least, until some other Spider-writer runs out of ideas and brings him back).

General Comments

Well, Joe Bennett's art is a welcome change from seeing Steve Skroce's offerings, but I seem to say that in every review in which I get the chance. We do get some insight on Cletus Kasady's troubled past, but, besides that, this story has nothing much to offer beyond a touch of character development on Robbie, as he sets his priorities. It'll be interesting to see how his decision might coincide with the appearance of the Black Tarantula (who hinted at an aquaintance with Robertson) in next month's ish.

Overall Rating

A very mediocre three webs.