2 out of 5

Poor spin-off mini-series.  They rarely get the time to do what they’d probably be capable of.

Axis: bad became good guys, good guys became bad guys.  That’s the gist.  Carnage?  As a good guy?  It’s worth a glance.  And Spears had a good idea for that: not just simply flip-flopping the character, but working with what happens when a psychotic, completely divulged from his emotions, feels compelled to do “good.”  He literally cannot understand.  He’s not even sure what good is… and so proceeds to lop off criminal’s hands and only “lightly” punch people in attempts to mimic what he processes as right over wrong.  Artist Germán Peralta and colorist Rain Beredo are excellent choices to bring this imbalance to life, Spears’ darkly humorous tone enhanced by the art team’s moody but clear work, Carnage’s muddled dream sequences – representations of how his brain is trying to work this stuff out – special highlights of creativity (from writer and artist) in interpreting the madness.  The first issue necessarily moves through some further setup quickly – Carnage kidnapping a reporter to “teach” him how to be good – but despite the bumpy pacing it still feels like a uniquely dark and quirky take on the character.  Unfortunately, this has to get mashed up with another plot involving the Sin Eater, and this takes us all too far away from that initial idea for most of these three issues, making the bumpy pacing even bumpier and not allowing for satisfactory development of either plot.

Was Sin Eater a big deal in Axis?  Was it an editorial mandate that he be involved?  Who knows.  It was a spin-off series with promise, but, as usual, it didn’t have near enough room to develop much, and the required hero/villain battle stifled that promise even more.