Marvel Legends: Carnage

 Holy shit everyone, work. Work has been such a total pain in the ass these last few weeks. There were such high hopes for posting several articles this month, and they all got ruined by the constant, unrelenting onslaught of work. But, now there’s a quiet moment, fresh off finishing another class of essays (one that I started grading two days ago, and feel like an utter failure for needing two days to complete. –mr) so let’s celebrate that with some time spent on action figures.

Carnage is the super villain persona of serial murderer Cletus Kasady, and is the first symbiotic offspring of Venom. First appearing in the Maximum Carnage arc of The Amazing Spider-man way back in the early 90’s, Carnage has been an occasional Spider-man villain, as well as periodically menacing other Marvel characters, and even on occasion getting his own title. (More on solo comics later, specifically the most recent one, as I’ve got feelings about it.—mr)

The Legends Carnage figure is a really strong and striking blood red color with black veiny patterns, and it is a really gorgeous figure in person. The pictures here make him look maybe a little too crayon-red in color, but in person the red is deep and bold. The body in general is a lithe one, with all the details painted on it. The deep red makes the solid black really pop, and the overall look of the figure is really, really great. The body has what amounts to be the standard array of joints for a figure of this line: double knees and elbows, ankles and wrists, shoulders and hips, an ab crunch, a waist swivel, and a swivel joint in the calf that effectively cuts the lower leg in half, allowing the foot and lower calf to be rotated parallel to the ground. This allows for some extra display options, but can be a little bit of a pain if the joint loosens over time; it also doesn’t look all that great from some angles, as it does cause the lower half of the calf muscle to be displaced. The intention of it is to replicate the ability of a human leg to rotate slightly at the knee, but the knee joint on this figure does not contain a swivel, so this motion is approximated by this calf split. In a practical sense, it’s a good design decision, but one that slightly compromises the look of the figure in poses, but not so severely that it can’t be overlooked or forgiven. Occurring here, in the leg, makes the joint more stable in terms of holding up under posing and bearing the weight of the toy, whereas if the joint where an ankle swivel, it would probably become too loose over time and cause a lot of standing difficulty.

Carnage comes with an interchangeable Cletus Kasady head, which is a much nicer head than it first appears to be. At a casual glance, it looks kind of goofy, depicting a wild-eyed, red haired Kasady with a maniacal smile. And, viewed straight on, it looks more comical than menacing. But, from the right angle, looking straight at the figure with the head tilted downward, chin to chest, it’s actually a real effective face, capturing the idea of Kasady as crazed murderer as well as the condition of wild and unpredictable insanity that is basically synonymous with Carnage. The regular Carnage head is just great, sculpted with an open jaw and painted with large white eyes, surrounded with black. Carnage is, generally speaking, a repainted Venom, who is, generally speaking, a repainted Spider-man, so getting a head that is clearly different and unique helps make this figure be more than just a repainted Spider-man. The Marvel Legends figure family tree is generally that one buck has been multiple characters, so everyone is largely a repainted someone else, so these differentiations are often the real value part of any given figure. As far as accessories go, a human head is something of a rarity, but because it’s a crazy face head, it does offer display options for Carnage as practically two different figures.

Optimal viewing angle

The figure also comes with two interchangeable sets of hands, one which is a pair of more regular claws with elongated fingers, and the other a slightly exaggerated claw while the other hand is a curved blade that Carnage is able to manifest from his body. The slightly larger clawed hand has a few wiggly protrusions on it, which work with the motif of wiggly bits that stick off of Carnage’s back, arms, and lower legs, simulating the writhing nature of the symbiote. This is a neat mold touch, and helps the figure feel alive, giving a sense of being three dimensional and not just a body that stands on the shelf. Personally, the preferred configuration for Carnage is the Carnage head and the standard clawed hands, since at first the ax blade hand didn’t do much visually. Although, just like with the Kasady head, the more monstrous hands have wormed their way into appreciation, and are nice as a way to change up the figure on a shelf.

I have incredibly vivid memories of reading the Maximum Carnage arc while sitting on the floor of a local Dominick’s while my dad did the grocery shopping. As strange as that sounds, there was a time when groceries and convenience stores carried a small selection of comic books, and I wander off to the magazine section of the store and sit there while my dad did the work. He probably appreciated the ability to do this mundane task peacefully, and I certainly loved the chance to read comics. Carnage was always such a menacing character, and occupies that niche of comic villains that genuinely feel evil, alongside the well-written Jokers, Monguls, and Reverse Flashes of the world. Maybe three years ago, Carnage was getting his own series as part of a Marvel reboot effort, and I was pretty stoked for it. Carnage has had other books and roles in the time between his arrival and the present, but this was the first one I was really going to jump on board for. It didn’t last very long, only 16 issues, and went from a story of Carnage out for revenge to a weird and uninteresting plot where he was the one prophesized in the ancient tome of a Cthulhu-esque cult of deranged and secluded island worshippers. As the series progressed, Carnage morphed into something like DC’s Larfleeze in his solo book, and that’s not a good comparison. The single corporeal Orange Lantern, and personal favorite creation of the Johns-era of Green Lantern, Larfleeze is a character of seemingly infinite potential who was basically ground down into an idiot for the misguided purposes of comic relief for no apparent reason, and his brief solo title began as a serious tale full of character and development, only to switch halfway into painfully lame humor and general tomfoolery of the unenjoyable variety. A shame, really. At least with the recent Carnage series, one could argue that they were aiming for Spider-man levels of humor and smartassery, but they just didn’t succeed.

Legends Carnage is part of the white boxed wave of figures released in preparation of the Venom movie, and is part of a series of toys that is incredibly hard to find at retail. That will make adding him to your collection difficult, but if you are after a good 6” Carnage, this one will not disappoint.