Carnage #8: The Ship of Theseus

The explosive ending of last month’s issue was no mislead, as the monstrous Carnage was indeed blown to smithereens by Liz Allan and her experimental anti-symbiote weapon. Predictably, this is not a sudden and anti-climactic end to the titular character’s story, as Carnage immediately begins piecing itself back together in the most xenomorph-like fashion possible.

Trickling into sewers and storm drains, the scarlet fluid eventually showers down onto an unfortunate civilian, who soon finds himself birthing a fetal Carnage from his ribcage. It’s the classic standard of horror to expect from the dastardly villain, but it comes with a new layer of emotional vulnerability. Carnage may be able to rebuild its body from the barest of minimums, but the psychological damage is unavoidable.

Continuous evolution and physical reconstruction has chipped away at Carnage’s sense of self. Now a carbon copy of Cletus Kasady’s personality and memories, no longer fully human or symbiote, Carnage is left reeling with an identity crisis. The “Ship of Theseus” metaphor is cited, questioning how long this transformation can be endured before becoming an entirely unfamiliar being.

Writer Torunn Gronbekk does an excellent job exploring these philosophical concepts and using them to draw new parallels to Flash Thompson. Flash is going through a rebirth of his own, facing similar doubts about his place in the world. Artist Pere Perez pulls out all the stops to uplift these complex themes with matching psychedelic visuals, conveying the instability of Carnage’s mindset. These aspects more than compensate for this month’s action content, making issue #8 the most poignant chapter so far.