Carnage, Vol. 2: Carnage In Hell

Carnage (2022)

by Ram V, Alex Paknadel, Rogê Antônio (Illustrator)

New depths of Carnage! The Carnage symbiote has a bloodlust unlike any other organism in the Marvel Universe. Now, prepare for it to reach new and never-before-seen heights! With violence and glory on its mind, the symbiote carves a bloody path through the Asgardian underworld with the singular goal of reaching Malekith the Accursed. But what does Carnage want with the disgraced lord of the Dark Elves? What does it have to do with Venom and Eddie Brock? And what fresh Hel will be unleashed on the Marvel Universe if the symbiote succeeds?! Carnage has ambitions of universal destruction and death, the likes of which would make even Knull himself tremble. But unlike the slain King in Black, Carnage has no weapon to inspire fear in the hearts of the living. Until now!

Collecting CARNAGE (2022) #6-12

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Spider Man, Superheroes

160 pages, Paperback

Published May 30, 2023

About the author

Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

Reviews

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dig the splitting up of Cletus Kasady and Carnage and the two journeys the characters are heading down in this book. Revisiting Hel was also a fun concept. The best part of this series though would have to be the horror elements. This feels like a real horror book at times, but I just wish it would be that more consistently.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The exact opposite of what I’d hoped for, less of a horror story and more of a MARVEL COMIC (in theaters now!) The whole saga in Hel is lame, I didn’t enjoy it all. I really dislike the King in Black storyline, so call backs to it always give me a groan. I did like the idea of Carnage and Kassady being separate and having this animosity- they are separate beings but comic readers will always equate the two. I hope we see more darkness and horror before the story concludes.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Carnage is divided into so many pieces, I'm not sure I can keep track of them all, but I will try. Gets a huge power up here, but still his greatest enemy is himself, if you look at it in a highly convoluted way.
Highlights:
- In Hel, Detective Shayde has a piece of Carnage that is seemingly connected to Cletus Kasady. Despite Carnage wanting revenge, Shayde is able to free Malekith from his punishment and they attempt to escape Hel together.
- A much larger portion of Carnage is with Serial Killer Kenneth Neely, Able to manifest in a separate body, they too have come to Hel searching for Malekith
- Hela finds Carnage and Neely and gives them a portal to take them to Malekith. A battle breaks out, and Carnage steals back the codex that was in the dark elf. He then uses his regained power to leave Hel and travel to Nidavellir.
- Switching locales, we see that Cletus Kasady has remanifested as part of a house. He does his typical killer thing, and seems to be done with Carnage, though he is still connected in a way.
- Carnage goes to Nidavellir to have one of the dwarfs forge him a new weapon. He wants All-Black, the Necrosword, but ends up getting All-Blood, as well as some hellish looking armor.
- Hoping to stop his visions of conquest, Neely teleports (using the codex) to Cletus to ask for his help stopping Carnage. It takes a while to convince him, but Cletus agrees to help because too many people fear Carnage and not Cletus. Cletus has his own version of a symbiote...

This is getting interesting, but I'm not sure exactly where it is heading. I know I would prefer if there was only ONE Carnage.
Recommend, but watch out for confusion if you aren't familiar with what is going on.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only the second volume and already this Carnage series is losing the thread. The first volume seemed to set out a clear conflict: Carnage wants the powers of a god to exact evil across the universe. Carnage in Hell finds Carnage, his serial killer companion, and the Carnaged-cop chasing them in Hel. The plan to kill Malekith goes awry thanks a series of confusing events, but somehow Carnage still gets all superpowered up.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Cletus Kasady breaks free from his mind palace with the intention of showing that he can out-murder Carnage even without the symbiote's prompting. Yet Kasady somehow still has Carnage-like powers?

I think the main issue with Carnage in Hell is that there is simply too much Carnage to go around. He's infecting half the cast when he's not playing the starring role! It's hard to follow each storyline and totally unclear at this point what's to come. A big battle between Carnage and Cletus? Sure, maybe, but the first volume really seemed to be setting up something more exciting.

[Nunya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carnage:
I hope you're happy
I hope you're happy now
I hope you're happy how you hurt your cause forever
I hope you think you're clever

Cletus:
I hope you're happy
I hope you're happy too
I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission
To feed your own ambition

Carnage and Cletus:
So though I can't imagine how
I hope you're happy right now

Neely:
Carnage, listen to me, just say you're sorry
You can still be with Cletus
What you've worked and waited for
You can have all you ever wanted (I know)

Carnage:
But I don't want it
No, I can't want it anymore

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap

It's time to try defying gravity
I think I'll try defying gravity
And you can't pull me down

Neely:
Can't I make you understand
You're having delusions of grandeur?

Carnage:
I'm through accepting limits
'Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But 'til I try, I'll never know
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love, I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost

I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down

Neely, come with me
Think of what we could do, together

Unlimited
Together, we're unlimited
Together, we'll be the greatest team there's ever been
Neely, dreams the way we planned 'em

Neely:
If we work in tandem

Carnage and Neely:
There's no fight we cannot win

Just you and I, defying gravity
With you and I defying gravity
They'll never bring us down

Carnage:
Well, are you coming?

Neely:
I hope you're happy
Now that you're choosing this

Carnage:
You too
I hope it brings you bliss

Carnage and Neely:
I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy, my friend

Carnage:
So if you care to find me
Look to the Venomverse
As someone told me lately
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly"

And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me

Tell them how I am defying gravity
I'm flying high, defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of 616
No Venom that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down

Cletus:
I hope you're happy
Shayde:
)Look at him, he's wicked)

Carnage:
Bring me down!
Shayde:
(No one mourns the wicked)
(So we've got to bring her)

Carnage:
Oh!
Shayde:
(Down)

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so this one was something..

We get to see Jon and Cletus and also Carnage and Kenneth as they are on their separate quests in Nifleheim/Hell and well the thing with Malekith, one rescues, the other on the slaughter and how it all connects and whats Carnage plans plus Hela and what she wants. Just when you think the story is going one way, it turns the other side and its intriguing and knows whats coming with Carnage multiverse story next it sort of sets the ground for that.

The personal story of Kenneth and Jon both are so intriguing here and it provides such a great exploration of these two diametrically opposed characters, one good becoming bad and the other bad maybe becoming good, and thus inverting the roles and showing the mind game carnage is playing and I love that character exploration.

The next story with them going to Nidavellir to get some dwarves assistance to make the All-blade like weapon but call it All-red as it connects to Carnage's big plans, is interesting and you finally get to see all plotlines come to a great intersection and then it becomes so epic with God carnage finally, its one of the most epic carnage moments that you cant help but admire this brilliant piece of writing!!

It changes the whole thing and actually makes this book a must read and I love how it uses marvel recent continuity to weave together such a great tale and makes you love the shared universe more and it will be fun to follow Carnage from here on!

But just then we see what Cletus has been upto and it becomes even more ineresting!

Its one of those runs which in parts is weird, but as a whole is like watching an epic film!

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnage in Hell builds on the previous volume’s story beats but not in such a way that feels wholly satisfying, yet thematically the series remains rather surface level, especially when mental illness in the series is tied so closely with horror. While the series does deal with trauma’s relationship with mental health, the empathy generated by this exploration does little to humanize the characters in a nuanced enough way that radically alters how readers relate to them. Nonetheless, the expanded supporting cast clearly gives the impression that this book is building towards a major event where Carnage poses a high level threat to the Marvel 616 universe and the horror aesthetics combined with the crossover this book has with some of Jason Aaron’s contributions to Thor made Carnage in Hell more enjoyable for me than its predecessor.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnage heads to Hel to track down Malekith the Accursed, with Jon Shayde hot on his heels. But when Carnage's true plan is revealed, the Marvel Universe will quake in its boots.

I love how Ram V can wax poetic in the dialogue boxes, while Carnage is busy slaughtering his way across the Ten Realms at the same time. It's a great juxtaposition, and adds some depth to a character that can be dangerously one note with all the murder and such.

I do wish the art was a little more consistent across the five issues collected here, with contributions from series artist Francesco Manna offset by Roge Antonio. They both look fairly similar so it's not a huge issue, but it does bug me a little.

Carnage's trip continues to impress, even as the stage grows ever bigger for his ultimate revenge.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twisted and psychotic, this latest edition picks right up where Carnage vol. 1: In the Court of Crimson left off. As if the first volume was tame, I feel that the impact and drama has been ratchet up another notch. Carnage is not content to kill humans....gods and demons are on his list as well! This volume has even more twists and turns than the first and really in my opinion amps up the stakes to a level I wasn't prepared for. The story moves at a great pace and the book is very entertaining if you are a comic book fan and a fan of the character. I remember buying (and still own) a copy of his first appearance and it shows that 30 years later this creation is still running strong with interesting stories to be told. Great follow-up to volume 1.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a whole, I think there is a really good 7-8 issue miniseries trapped within this run of Carnage. With some judicious trimming and focusing up, this could have been really cool insular story like Cates' Thanos. Unfortunately all the problems I had with the previous volume continue on here, only made worse when as the story should be wrapping up, a new writer takes over to start setting up a barely related to what has been going on crossover while what should have been the finale to this story is apparently a whole other miniseries by another different writer. No thanks.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

And you thought the first volume was Carnage heavy?

The symbiote's long game continues as he's rampaging (with his serial killer sidekick) through Hel to pick up something that's crucial to his plans. Did you ever think that Carnage would be mixing it up with Asgard? Me neither.

Bonus: How many versions of Cletus/Carnage ARE there?
Bonus Bonus: AGAIN with more symbiote shenanigans? Wow.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting to lose focus a bit as we prepare for the Carnage Reigns crossover. The symbiote heads to Hel to take something from Malekith. Meanwhile Cletus is still on Earth but somehow maintaining his old powers even without the symbiote. It's all a bit confusing. There's also a change in writers from Ram. V. to Alex Paknadel part way through that may have added to the confusion.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Thor lore elf stuff was boring, and I mostly skimmed it. But the horror movie with Cletus was so great. It is like you put Carnage in a haunted house in the movie Se7en with some Cenobite dust on top.

[Dean · Rating 1 out of 5]

lost all interest once they moved to another realm. brings malekith back in as potential threat post war of Realms punishment.

I dont remember how it ends, but a one shot later wraps up detective shayde 's story.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making his own reality. Some brutal action and some great power creep.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that Carnage's alter ego is named Cletus. Cletus is a great name. If you're having a baby consider naming them Cletus. The world has enough Brayden's, Aiden's, and Jayden's.

[MatyG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, violent, and tons of interdimentional stuff. The ending had me excited for the rest of the series.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure this is going to amount to much of anything...

[Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Venom got an upgrade why not carnage?

[Gaspar Machado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah shit, carnage is running about, killing some people to get video game upgrades. Shit what are we going to do? If we don't stop him soon, we're going to have a *CLETUS KASADY SHOW*!

[Isaias McAllus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy chulo como ahora tenemos a Matanza y Cletus al final de esta obra. Y más curioso aún que se vaya de evento con Spiderman... pero no con Peter si no con Miles (en España podemos leerlo dentro de la colección de Miles Morales)