ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘King in Black: Spider-Man,’ Issue #1

King in Black: Spider-Man #1 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Jed MacKay, art by Alberto Albuquerque, colors by Rachelle Rosenberg, and letters by Joe Caramagna. Peter Parker has been doing the hero thing for a long time. He’s seen Civil Wars, an Infinity Crusade, a Secret Invasion, and even a Clone Saga. You’d think by now, Peter could process anything. But even for the toughest and most experienced heroes, it can all just become too much. And even they can use a little inspiration now and then.

It’s always surprising how much guilt someone can carry for situations that are not their fault. Take Spider-Man for example. As King in Black: Spider-Man #1 opens, we find Peter having a bit of a panic attack. It seems Peter has decided everything to do with the King in Black coming to Earth is his fault. Because you know, he stuck his head in what he thought was a costume creator on an alien world, and instead, it popped out the symbiote for him to wear.

The fact that Peter didn’t realize he was bringing a hostile organism back to earth, the myriad of problems it would spawn, or the fact that its presence would draw the eye of a Dark God doesn’t seem to earn him any slack. It should. You can’t blame a guy for failing to act on information he had no way of knowing. And yet, just like poor Peter, I know I’ve beaten myself up more than once over failing to predict the unpredictable. It just seems to be what we do sometimes. Luckily for Peter, the Marvel Universe is full of inspiring heroes who may fly by at any moment and provide the inspiration to get up and try again. Individuals like The Reptile! What? Did you think I was gonna say, Thor?

After a brief moment of mistaken identity, King in Black: Spider-Man #1 sees Spidey and Reptile team up to do what they can for the citizens of New York City. They’re facing evil space-faring gods maybe a smidge out of their power levels, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still make a difference. Even if it just means getting one little old lady back to Staten Island.

This message of doing what you can no matter how small it may feel is a wonderful one. I know over the last year so many of us have felt virtually powerless to do anything against the myriad of problems that have come alarmingly close to feeling like a 12-month comic book crossover. Here writer MacKay does a wonderful job of reminding readers that, no matter how small, doing good is always a worthwhile thing.

The art in King in Black: Spider-Man #1 does a good job of bringing the hopefulness of its story to life, even against the dark and crushing backdrop of Knull’s invasion. The art goes from the moments of levity to action and optimism with skill. The strong art is further enhanced by Rosenberg’s adept colorwork.

Rounding out the presentation is Caramagna’s letters. The lettering here does a solid job of guiding the reader through the story in a clear and easy-to-follow manner.

When all is said and done King in Black: Spider-Man #1 delivers a nice optimistic message about not only doing what you can but not beating yourself up for not being able to do more.

King in Black: Spider-Man #1 is available on March 17th wherever comics are sold.