Amazing Spider-Man #25: Unrelenting Torment

Another week has gone by, leaving us with yet another chapter of Death Spiral to review. While it doesn’t do much to move the needle forward, it maintains the status quo for this event as one with over-the-top action, fun character banter, and stakes that attempt to stay focused on the personal lives of our intrepid heroes. While it still has yet to really scrape beneath the surface of its potential, it manages to keep readers hooked with how it plays around with character dynamics. There’s a lot layered into this issue that will likely lead to bigger developments for our characters as individuals, as well as in their relationships with one another.

That being said, the focus of this story continues to shift more onto Eddie Brock and Carnage, and it is all the better for it. As much as we all wanted this to be a big MJ/Peter slop fest, the beating heart of this story is Eddie struggling to keep his head above water as Carnage chips away at his soul more and more. Dylan becoming the center of Torment’s quest for blood, and how that plays into Eddie’s failure to truly keep him safe, is the tense cherry on top of a story that’s all about our characters being absent from the lives of those they love. Torment has grown to represent their worst fears—the faceless force that aims to erase everyone they love without them having any leverage against it.

The mechanics of the fight in this issue are a really engaging conundrum, with Carnage’s chaos leading to a completely unpredictable brawl. Carnage himself provides so much entertainment with his personality throughout the issue, forced into working with the heroes when all he wants to do is slice them silly alongside the ever-mysterious Torment. Ed McGuinness continues to be a great fit for these sections of the crossover. His style maintains the high-flying superhero fun of a bunch of action figures duking it out with stakes that matter, while the other parts of this crossover have lent themselves more to setting up the important character beats and arcs throughout the story. McGuinness also gives Carnage and Venom so much expression when they’re separated from their hosts.