By Larry Jorash — The Big 2 have recently embraced colors, doing so by pairing their characters with a set of related shades in minimalist ways and having creators craft idiosyncratic stories for collected anthologies. We have had a new run of Batman Black and White, we have had Wolverine: Black, White, and Blood (oooo blood!), and now this week we have had the digital-first zany Harley Quinn: Black, White, and Red. And now this week we have Carnage: Black, White, and Blood, which given the title feels like a clear sequel to the book about Wolverine — just with Marvel Comics’ symiote serial killer, Cletus Kasady/Carnage, at the center of the mayhem.

What has made these books work by and large is the quality of the individual creators that these corporate comics publishers have involved. With Batman Black and White, for example, DC Comics has recruited some of the most powerful and daring creators within monthly comics, inviting names like David Aja, Sophie Campbell, and Tradd Moore to work with their flagship character in experimental ways that would never fit with the mainstream flagship Batman title. In Carnage: Black, White and Blood #1, Marvel certainly does not skimp with the high quality of creative talent deployed.

“Love Story,” for example, is by rising star writer, Tini Howard of Excalibur and X-Men fame. In this story, Howard teams with Ken Lashley and Juan Fernandez, all of whom team up to channel Frank Miller in a for a story involving a street-level team-up fight between the Defenders and a duo of symbiotes. The fight’s scope plays out across a set of small, violent panels that punctuate every blow. It works.

In this book we also get another X-Men line writer — Benjamin Percy of Wolverine and X-Factor — teaming with Sara Pichelli and Mattia Iacono for a story that draws inspiration from Spaghetti Westerns. In this piece, we get an outlaw bounty hunter tracking a string of horrific incidents across North America, steadily accentuated by the black, white, and blood (which is actually just red) color pallete. We get a cold winter and tense page-turner here, in what is the bloodiest of the three stories.

The third and final story comes from writer Al Ewing — who has steadily emerged as Marvel’s boldest visionary ideator this side of Jonathan Hickman — who teams with John McCrea and Iacono again for Build-Your-Own-Carnage story. In this piece, readers can choose between replaying the same seven page loop over again, which tasks McCrea and Iacono with a tricky formatting job that they pull off flawlessly.

All in all, while nothing new this Carnage book is another solid addition to the ongoing trend of minimalist superhero color-themed anthologies, giving big name creators a chance to try new things with familiar characters. That said, if you like Carnage, you will probably like this book; if you do not like Carnage as a character — well, there might not be a whole lot here for you.

Overall: Another solid addition to the growing ranks of color-themed superhero comics from the Big 2, Carnage: Black, White, and Blood #1 is a fun anthology for Carnage fans. 8.0/10

REVIEW: Carnage — Black, White, and Blood #1

Carnage — Black, White, and Blood #1
Writers: Tini Howard, Benjamin Percy, and Al Ewing
Artists: Ken Lashley, Sara Pichelli, and John McCrea
Colorists: Juan Fernandez and Mattia Iacono
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
CARNAGE RULES! Witness the cerebral chaos caused by CARNAGE, brought to life by some of the greatest creators at Marvel! But beware, True Believers, true to their titular character’s namesake, these spine-chilling tales are not for the faint of heart and presented in BLACK, WHITE AND BLOOD!
Price: $4.99
Read It Digitally: Carnage — Black, White, and Blood #1

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Larry Jorash resides in Central Florida managing a comic book shop and coaching youth sports. In his spare time he enjoys ice hockey and reading. You will almost never find his hand vacant of coffee. Find him on twitter: (@theREALlarbear)