MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY- King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #3 Review

So far, I have been tremendously enjoying this little series of double-headers. The installments have provided good companion pieces to the larger, over-arching storyline in ‘King in Black.’ As we move closer and closer to the end of this Spider-Man and Venom mega-event, we as readers are fortunate enough to get a better glimpse of the situations revolving around the lesser-spotlighted characters. For example, in this edition of ‘Planet of the Symbiotes,’ we as fans get to revisit our favorite couple and street-level crime-fighting duo Cloak and Dagger. As a second part to this book, we also get a feature on the new Toxin! This Toxin chapter appears to be a prelude to what may even be a new ongoing… or at least, a new mini-series. He is definitely giving us the entertainment right off the bat, and Toxin seems like a fun, fresh character to jump on, in the Venom family.

OFFICIAL MARVEL COMICS DESCRIPTION:

King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #3

STORY BY: Rodney Barnes, Steve Orlando

ART BY: Danilo Beyruth, Gerardo Sandoval

COVER BY: Philip Tan

A DARK SHADOW LOOMS OVER CLOAK AND DAGGER!

PLUS: THE RETURN OF TOXIN!

NOBODY TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF…

PROS:

• What got me hooked instantly with this latest issue of the ‘Planet of the Symbiotes’ title is the interesting new take on the impact that Knull and his alien, space-dragon and symbiote invasion is having on Earth’s victims. Throughout the crossover event, we have gotten used to our heroes, and even average, everyday civilians getting corrupted by the dark side, swooned over to Knull’s control, and violently subjugated by his symbiotes. Too often have they quite literally taken over people’s minds, hearts and spirits as casualties of this takeover. But this book switches the scenario and shows how Cloak is actually facing the demons and darkness within, with no direct control being held by Knull or any symbiotes. Perhaps the ‘King in Black’ event has highlighted or triggered Cloak’s darkness to even higher levels than before, but the root cause seems to be the demons he is keeping inside.
• As always, it warms my heart to see Dagger become the light to Cloak’s darkness, both literally and figuratively. This has been her role for many years now, as Cloak was never really the bright and sunny type to begin with. He always had to feed off Dagger’s light and bright side. But in this issue, Cloak began to see even greater pessimism and bleakness pervade in the heart of Cloak, and he was becoming extra ruthless and aggressive with how they were dealing even with the normal street-life crime.
• The second part of this book was equally as entertaining, since we get a new Toxin. The symbiote spawn of Carnage was once bonded to New York City Police Officer Patrick Mulligan, and together they followed a heroic path inspired by Spider-Man himself. After Patrick’s demise, a new bond was forged with Venom host Eddie Brock for a brief time before vanishing. But in the chaos of Knull’s invasion, the creature has resurfaced, bonded to a new host in teenager Bren Waters, and now together they are Toxin. It is amusing to see the dynamics of the teenager with his new symbiote. And now they are going up against the always sketchy and shady Alchemax. It was hilarious when the symbiote was voicing out his heartbreak at Knull not even caring about him. The teenager host is a very exciting new direction for the character, and it makes him more relatable. They are going to need all the optimism and energy they can get because it may be all downhill from here… if their first salvo is a war against the Brood and Alchemax, the path to being a hero will only get more difficult. Let the bonding commence! Also… Is the Lincoln Tunnel such an unholy trail as mentioned in the pages of this book? Now I’m curious…

CONS:

• Perhaps there could have been stronger ties to the larger, ‘King in Black’ event happening across the world, but as a supplementary piece, this books still manages to fulfill its goals, duty and mission. This can pass!

FINAL GRADE: B+

Honestly, reading and reviewing the ‘King in Black’ event has been so much fun, and seeing it all come to its close very soon is making me quite emotional. This chapter is a solid outing for Marvel and just shows you how far-reaching this whole invasion has become, in the long run. Cheers to Marvel for this epic storyline, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.