Queen in Black #1: The End is Near

Queen in Black is a Marvel event released at the worst possible moment. Not only is it facing crossover competition from its own publisher in the form of Avengers: Armageddon, but it’s also acting as the finale to Al Ewing’s lengthy run on Venom after a series of controversial decisions that have left the book in an uneasy place. Going into it, I kept my heart open for fun and was fed a perfectly competent Marvel crossover tale that is quite entertaining but lacks the thematic or emotional buildup to rival its predecessor, King in Black.

Starting with the positives, the art in this book is phenomenal. Both Iban Coello and Zé Carlos are excellent when it comes to elevating the story on display with their panel work and explosive action styles. Their perspective work and action pacing add excitement where the script lacks it. It’s enough to carry the action, but it can’t make up for the failed buildup to this story throughout Ewing’s last few years of symbiote storytelling.

Outside of that, the positives of what’s here don’t exist without an asterisk attached. Ewing does a great job setting the stakes and establishing our core group of heroes for this story, characterizing the dual threat of Hela and Knull quite well. It’s big, it’s somewhat dumb, but in a way that’s really charming, and if it gave any of our core Venom characters a personal stake in the conflict, it would’ve come across much stronger.

However, MJ and Eddie are sidelined in a story that should have been built on their backs. Unlike King in Black, which for all of its bombastic insanity still rooted its story in the character of Venom, this event just falls into their lap without much reason for them to care on a personal level. They spend more time reacting to the plot than driving it, making the climax feel disconnected from the characters the event should be centered around.

Yes, I had fun with the cheese in Ewing’s writing and the moments of aura given to its villains, but this story gives more weight to Beta Ray Bill and a throwaway Kree soldier than it does to any of the characters at the forefront of Venom‘s mythos. I’m sure the marching orders for this spun out of a Marvel Rivals season that had Hela take over Knull’s throne, but capping years of Venom storytelling with such an impersonal and hollow tale is disappointing. As a Marvel event, Queen in Black is perfectly enjoyable. As the finale to Ewing’s run, it never earns the emotional weight it asks of its readers.