Recommended. I had no knowledge of Carnage before I picked up this issue. Now, I am interested. In fact, I want to go back and purchase Carnage 1-5 from last year. I really liked the team dynamics - it just seemed more real than anything I had read in the past with the Avengers. The twist/cliffhanger ending was pretty great, and has me wanting the next issue. Read Full Review

Carnage is back and he's not taking time to mess around. He is determined to take his evil scheme to a new level. Zeb Wells is actually making me care about Carnage when I pretty much never cared for him before. He's taking the Marvel Universe to a dark place and Clayton Crain's art is helping to take us on the journey. I used to be a harsh critic of Crain's art but the more I see it, the more I can appreciate it. The issue isn't all dark. Wells is a pro at throwing in the humorous dialogue and it'll come as a surprise when readers discover Spider-Man isn't the one with the funniest lines. CARNAGE USA is shaping up to be a roadtrip to hell and the fun is going to be seeing how Spider-Man and the Avengers will manage to put a stop to his evil scheme. Read Full Review

This review began by stating that a Carnage appearance needs a good story in mind to work, and this one seems to have the ingredients for that. Carnage has a goal, however twisted, and he's proven has the means to accomplish it. Despite that, it maybe feels as though the Avengers went down a little too quickly, but the final page promises that symbiote fans aren't likely to feel too aggrieved by that, having seen what happens as a result. If you don't already buy into the idea of Carnage, this comic isn't going to convince you otherwise -- but those sympathetic towards the character (i.e. if you grew up reading comics in the 90s) will find their tastes more than catered for. Read Full Review

My only reservation, and I realize it’s a personal taste matter, is the art. I don’t like Clayton Crain’s style, I never have. I don’t like the dentist office “fine art” way of doing comic books. It looks like a bad watercolor project and it completely doesn’t work for this book. Crain is obviously a master artist, but his style keeps taking you out of the story, which is annoying. I’m sure Carnage USA will have Crain’s art throughout, which is too bad. That being said, don’t let the misguided artist choice allow you to pass by one of the best kick off issues I’ve read in a long time. Read Full Review

This issue ends with a good cliffhanger that guarantees a purchase of issue number two. Read Full Review

By the end the heroes confront Carnage after a walk throughtown akin to The Wild Bunch. Carnage overtakes the town in the waythe Joker taints the citizens of Gotham with his laughing gas. The townspeople have wide grins ontheir faces to signify Carnage's invasion. When the villain appears, he subdues all of the heroesexcept, you guessed it, Spiderman.So the story ends like Archie #627 (Archie Meets Kiss) where Riverdale has been turned into zombies; thetown has been turned into Carnage zombies.With the T+ rating, the book couldprovide some additional chills. But that's IF Marvel takes off the leash and lets things go crazy. That's a big IF. This is a good start for thisminiseries. I enjoyed thischapter, and I hope it gets better from here. Show me something crazy, and don't be afraid to take somerisks, Marvel. And please don'tlet me be right about the heroes selected for this book being chosen becausethey are the movie flavor of the month. Read Full Review

Not all books appeal to all readers, and to some extent I can accept that Carnage U.S.A. just isn't for me. However, the book has problems by any standard, and there's no telling if those problems will get better or worse over time. Read Full Review

This story has a post-script from the creative team actually apologizing in advance for what follows in this mini-series, and warning that it "may drive us all [the creative team] out of comics." It won't. You can read this as "if you liked what we've done in the past, here's more of the same kind of stuff." Act accordingly. Read Full Review