King in Black: Spider-Man #1
- WRITER
- Jed MacKay
- Artist
- Alberto Alburquerque, Elisabetta D'Amico, Michele Bandini
- Letterer
- VC's Joe Caramagna
- Cover Artist
- Rob Liefeld, Marcio Menyz, Federico Vincentini, Jesus Aburtov, Carlos Gomez
- Publisher
- Marvel Comics
- Price
- 4.99
- Release Date
- 2021-03-17
- Colorist
- Erick Arciniega, Rachelle Rosenberg
If there's one superhero in the Marvel Universe that has always been quietly driven by a sense of guilt owing to his lifelong commitment to the balance of power and responsibility its Spider-Man. And as Knull's invasion of symbiotes intensifies during the crossover event King in Black, the latest oversized special tie-on issue has Peter Parker being offered a brief moment of self-reflection amidst all the chaos to contemplate his own legacy with symbiotes, juxtaposed with a much more uplifting impact the friendly neighborhood webslinger has had among the superhero community as he faces the overwhelming onslaught across New York City.
The lead story, by Jed MacKay and Michele Bandini, follows Spider-Man as he laments over bringing symbiotes to Earth in the first place, with the entire planet suffering because of his Secret Wars mistake. However, an encounter with the young X-Men Reptil has the wallcrawler gain some timely perspective as Knull's symbiote monsters continue to wreak havoc across New York, prompting Peter to break out of his own private pity party. A back-up story has MacKay joined by Alberto Alburquerque to craft a story that takes Reptil's perspective as he looks back on his own recent move to New York City before his impromptu King in Black team-up with Spider-Man against the symbiotes as they descend upon Manhattan.
MacKay certainly gets Spider-Man's voice down, having previously written him during the 2018 crossover event Spider-Geddon. This particular Peter Parker story starts with him a little more morose and self-flagellating than usual but without coming off as particularly off-putting in its melancholy. For all the responsibility that comes with superhero power, MacKay recognizes both the aspirational and wish-fulfillment aspects of Spider-Man, with Reptil serving as a good foil for the more experienced superhero in the story. And while there is quite a bit of exposition from Spider-Man's internal monologue running throughout the main story, MacKay doesn't let it throw off his pacing or distract from the big, bombastic action set pieces when they do surface in all their symbiote kaiju glory.
Bandini, working with inker Elisabetta D'Amico and color artist Erick Arciniega, bring the shadowy thrills to the main feature; there's certain visual similarity across all of the King in Black tie-ins, with crimson skies and black symbiote goo coating virtually every landscape and the art team wisely keeps the action centered in close on their superhero characters, which especially serves the story's quieter moments. That said, the climactic action sequence is one of King in Black's most imaginative yet, if only because of the scale that the creative team is working with while keeping the stakes on the little guy no matter how grandiose the fight becomes. Alburquerque, working with color artist Rachelle Rosenberg, leans more into the prehistoric possibilities of this particular team-up with a more understated art style.
With King in Black nearing its conclusion, this tie-in is a bit more character-driven and introspective than many of its counterparts while still sure to include plenty of symbiote-bashing action. The creative team certainly has a strong handle on their characters and while Spider-Man's initially downcast demeanor may catch some off-guard at the outset, this outlook is well-articulated and justified before the story dials up its escapist possibilities with a welcome guest star to help save the day as the webslinger defends his hometown at all costs.