The Marvel Universe continues to be cast in the shadow of a god as Knull’s assault on Earth grows more and more hopeless with every passing week. As the massive crossover event continues, more characters continue to get pulled in as the threat only continues to grow.
That’s exactly what we see in the two stories featured in this week’s “King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1,” as two more symbiotes join the fight. Which sides are they on and will it even matter with everything Knull has already thrown at our heroes?
Knull, the god of the symbiotes has taken out some of Earth’s mightiest heroes, encased the world in a symbiote cage and is looking to snuff out the last bit of hope the human race has. That doesn’t mean there aren’t still some who are standing in his way.
The first of two stories in this issue sees Scream, a classic symbiote villain now turned hero, standing up to some of her Klyntar brethren as they terrorize innocent civilians in their search for Dylan Brock. Fulfilling her need to protect innocents, Scream puts up a fight against the all-powerful Knull.
In the second story, Knull and his forces descend upon Ravencroft Institute to find the body of an old supporter of his cult. With defenses not being able to stand up to the god of the symbiotes, a brand new threat is created which could spell some more big problems for Eddie Brock.
“King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1” does something very few tie-in issues are able to do. It provides an interesting new hope for our heroes while also creating a brand new threat that stacks the odds against them even higher. The two separate stories go in completely different directions and they both work.
This issue also draws a lot from the history of symbiotes and applies that history to the new crossover event. Scream is a second-tier symbiote-related character, but still one Marvel fans are going to be excited to see. Plus, creating a new symbiote threat from the body of someone with deep symbiote ties is a very exciting concept.
The one downside to this issue is that it does rely on the reader knowing a lot of that established context. A casual comic fan who may not have read every issue of “King in Black” to this point is likely going to be lost in all of the wild action going on here. Still, if you’re able to just go along for the ride, it’s quite a ride to jump right into.
“King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1” provides even more angles and depth to an already very expansive story arc. It will certainly be interesting to see how these stories play out and how big their impact will be on Knull’s overall mission to kill Eddie Brock and wipe out all of Earth.
You can check out “King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1” here.