Carnage #5

The fifth and final chapter of this 2011 Marvel limited series closes out with a cover that demands attention: Carnage looms at center in his vivid crimson-and-black symbiote form, tendrils of living darkness erupting behind him while two figures — wrapped and ensnared in symbiote matter at his feet — lie utterly overwhelmed. Clayton Crain's painted artwork gives the whole image a brooding, almost visceral atmosphere, the deep purples and blacks making Carnage feel genuinely threatening rather than just theatrical. Written by Zeb Wells with every visual element rendered by Crain, this finale issue wraps up one of Marvel's more intense symbiote stories from the era in striking fashion.