One of the odder characters from
the past of the DC Universe.
Cave Carson and his
team had adventures
in the strange world
beneath the worlds surface.
Pulling from
the rich history of Caves'
world and adding his own
odd spin to it
Gerard Way has created
a wonderfully new book.

Cave Carson and his crew are fighting his former employer as they seek to exploit the underground natives. Plus there is the whole plot to free an evil deity. May be better read if on drugs. Decent, if a bit mundane Silver-Age DC plotting. Enjoyed the strange Wonder Twins backstory more than the main tale.

I was drawn into the story and compelled to keep reading the book by the unusual and captivating art style used throughout the graphic novel. I would have preferred a tighter narrative and earlier revelations on some of the key points of the story. Overall, I was glad I read it.

Gerard Way takes Cave Carson off the DC trash heap of forgotten characters and gives him new life. Cave's wife has just passed and now he and his college age daughter have to deal with it. Cave has went back to work designing a new mole machine for EMX. Cave, his daughter, and Wilddog get involved with an underground cult (pun intended) and headunderground to help protect the Muldroogans from them. Lots of highly stylized, psychedelic art from Michael Avon Oeming.

The Good: This is the only Young Animal book that I've enjoyed. The rest are crap. I like the idea of the weird cult that's chasing them around. Plus the return of Wilddog, a ridiculous hero from the 80's.

The Bad: Like the other Young Animal books, the story was hard to follow in places and a lot of things were unexplained.

The Ugly: Some of the psychedelic art was extremely hard to follow.

DNF - of course. This doesn't start too terribly, but soon is right up its own arse with weird crap my life is too short for. The fact I've seen a more recent monthly issue (well, it lasted about 3pp then got deleted) proves this is my second and final Young Animals volume.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye vol. 1 contains the beginning of Cave's adventure attempting to save an underground race of people and gives just enough to grab a reader's attention. It's a comic book version of a pulp adventure, with cave dwellers, evil geniuses, corrupt corporations, shape shifting demigods... a typical cast of over-the-top characters. The art is pretty cool and it makes up for a plot that's pretty obvious, except for the fact that there's never an explanation about that cybernetic eye.

A really trippy story showcasing the new direction Gerad Way is bringing to DC comics. The aft is unique and abdorbing. It was difgicult st first to see where the story was going but it tied up nicely

I've never read a comic book like this in my limited comic book reading experience. I enjoyed the fact that Cave Carter isn't a superhero in the normal sense. He's literally a spelunker who got attacked by a cybernetic eye that implanted itself into his head (I don't think that's a spoiler). However, he does have his issues, as is typical with most superheros. And he's not afraid to follow through on his decisions and protect what's left of his family. Mad Dog made me smile and I think he sounds pretty awesome, wish I knew more about him! And Chloe is quickly becoming one of my favorite side characters who may become more important later on.

No matter what, I will probably be continuing with this and reading more of it. 3.5 from me

Hey, did you know Cave Carson has a cybernetic eye? Who fucking cares?! Certainly not me after reading this shit!

If his abysmal Doom Patrol series didn’t underline it enough for me, Cave Carson has driven home the point that Gerard Way hasn’t the first clue how to write a decent comic. And let’s not forget his co-writer, Jon Rivera. Two Grant Morrison fanboys who desperately wish they were half as talented as him and demonstrably aren’t even close. I mean, this is straight up incompetent storytelling from first page to last.

The story as I can barely grasp it is: Cave Carson is some kind of scientist who right away has a cybernetic eye. Why did he get the eye? What is the eye and what does it do? Why is it so significant??? UP YOURS. We actually do see him getting the eye later on but it’s confusing because there’s no caption that says “The Past” or something to indicate that scene took place before the current story. Morons! Reading this comic, I felt like John Malkovich in Burn After Reading (what an appropriate title for this trash)!

Cave and his daughter are sorta famous or something and the company Cave works for wants to kill him or something because conspiracy of evil scientists for no reason. Which obviously means going to an underground kingdom full of Muldroogans (underground people? And don’t expect any explanations as to who they are either - nothing is explained here ever) and fighting monsters because…? Cave’s dead wife is also a ghost or hologram, his best mate is a lunatic in a hockey mask and everyone’s running around shooting lasers at each other. This is like Lost in Space written by idiots, for idiots.

It’s just so horrendously written. I had no idea what was happening nor what the point of anything was - but I knew I hated it. None of it makes sense and no attempt is made to make any sense. Zero skill or talent on display here but you can tell the creators are absolutely in love with themselves - oh, we’re such weird and whacky hipster artistes, so twee! Every single panel on every single page. Loathed the shit out of it.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye is easily one of the worst comics of the year. A complete waste of time - don’t bother.

Yet more excellent content from the Young Animal team!!

OK, so this comic is kinda like.... uh.... superhero meets H.P. Lovecraft meets...... well, Gerard Way. If you're acquainted with literally any of Gerard Way's work at all, you know what I mean.

That's literally the best description I can make, really.

I don't actually think i can criticise any aspects of this comic at all. The art was really good (especially the colouring, which was truly excellent), the storyline was cohesive and complex, and the characters were also really interesting, which I was really pleased to see because sometimes characterisation is not so good in comics. But not this one!

I think I enjoyed it even more than Doom Patrol!

(((actually i could criticise the fungus monsters because i have a huge phobia of fungi and it made me go HAUIAHFNAFYAFHAUGHGUH but i guess that added to the overall atmosphere so it was a good thing)))

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye Vol. 1: Going Underground collects the first six issues of one of the fantastically weird, alternative series created by My Chemical Romance’s frontrunner, Gerard Way. Having enthusiastically reviewed Shade the Changing Girl for the last year, I was eager to jump into another Young Animal series—one that looked like it promised just as much psychedelic fun. As Young Animal is an imprint of DC, the comics issued through this publisher often crossover into the DC world with which we are all familiar. This series is no exception, as Cave Carson is not a new character—just newly reinvented.

Cave Carson first appeared in DC comics in the mid-twentieth century, a Silver Age comic-book hero through and through, who managed to always be a helping hand more than a figure who took center change—that is, until now. Meet the new Cave Carson: no longer is he just the adventurous spelunker with a robotic implant (a cybernetic eye). He and his wife Eileen had traded in their days of exploring below the surface for a comfortable mundane life (think Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak in the fourth season of CW’s Arrow). Unfortunately, a quiet, simple life was not in the cards for these two, and when Eileen passes away, a newly-widowed Cave is pulled back into the world that he thought he left behind.

The first issue of the arc is careful, perhaps overly so, concerning which details about Cave’s life will be revealed from the start, and the wild, fun-house style art definitely increases the “untethered” vibe. While this might be off-putting to some, it was exactly the brand of innovation that I was expecting from Young Animal. And, fortunately, by issue 2, we learn a whole lot more about Cave: how he got the cybernetic eye and how he met his wife (she’s not just Eileen, but Princess Mazra of the lost underground city of Muldroog). There is also a whole lot of fast-paced action in this issue, and, when Cave’s daughter Chloe becomes threatened, we witness more of his emotional human nature.

The middle of the first arc sends Cave, Chloe, and his friend Jack on a spelunking trip to Muldroog—a city that turns out to be, of course, anything but what they expected. Cave’s cybernetic eye continues to haunt him with visions that leave him wondering if they are merely tricks of the mind, hallucinations, or something more. The last two issues of the first volume have all the hits and misses that one might expect from a bizarre, hero pulp that sometimes feels like a good old-fashioned B-movie—and I mean that in the best way. Cave agrees to help the King of Muldroog go up against a villain known as the Whisperer, and, luckily for everyone, Cave has a pretty solid networking system with some of the big players in the hero realm. Although the conclusion of the first arc does feel a little exposition heavy as loose ends are being wrapped up, the action-packed confrontation is, though fairly predictable, fully satisfying.

Because I cannot resist any longer, it must be said now that the art in Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye is what really left an impression on me. The art has a vintage pulpy feel to it, while also managing to be totally original. Every page, with its use of bold colors, and layer upon layer of different textures and tones, delivers, and it feels like a fun house—a bit disorienting but worth exploring every nook and cranny. Overall, the art more than made up for any faults in plot development and Cave’s sometimes underwhelming presence. This comic also packs a great philosophical depth: raising affection questions about love and loss, as well as reality and perception. Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye proves that with the right creative team those undervalued characters, like Cave, can come back with a punch.

The Verdict: Buy it! The birth of DC’s Young Animal was one of my favorite moments of 2016. Having been a long-time fan of Gerard Way, I knew that any comics he had a hand in creating would be inventive, bizarre, and a total visual indulgence. I’m happy to say that I was not wrong. If you are looking for a comic that combines everything you love about vintage pulp comics with the right amount of innovation and fun-house mania then Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye should definitely be on your bookshelf.

There are some fun, classic pulp fiction ideas and stylistic choices that I really enjoyed in this book, but as a whole it was pretty confusing. I haven't loved any of the Young Animal books I've picked up yet, and this continues that streak. I will say it was less disjointed and bizarre than the others I've picked up. I just don't really feel like Young Animals really fits into the DC universe.

Well this was delightfully insane and colourful both visually and narratively!

A fun graphic novel with an intense art style and interesting story.