REVIEW: ‘Queen in Black’ Issue 5

Queen in Black Issue 5 is published by Marvel Comics. Written by Al Ewing, art by Iban Coello and Paco Medina, Colors by Guru-eFX and letters by Clayton Cowles.

This issue marks the final part of the event. In it, Venom has bonded with the whole world to defend it from Knull. The fractured, frantic structure of this event rears its head again as it steps into the final chapter. The big final battle between Hela and Knull took place in another issue, and so Ewing translates it perfectly into Queen in Black Issue 5.

While it helps readers who haven’t read the tie-ins, many have already seen it. But at the very least, Everyone is on the same page now and prepared for this final battle. And once again, it’s anticlimactic

Venom is everyone; it has covered the entire planet. And there are flickers of what that entails. It has access to powers and personalities, and instead of that really coming to fruition as a fight, it becomes a conversational confrontation. These can be important, and the message is fantastic. It’s about the world having a collective, and, as individuals, the normal rather than the superheroes and the abnormal.

But for a series that’s been so intense and fast-paced, the final issue feels like it suddenly stops and forgets all the pieces that made it great. The control of the scale is terrific, narrowing it down to just Mary Jane vs. Knull, but the pacing suffers. The final moments of Queen in Black Issue 5 suggest a new era for the Symbiotes, with shifting hierarchies and hosts.

For an event that had such an enormous cast, many of them take a huge back seat in this final chapter. It’s depressing to lose Hela and have her go out with not much of a battle. The whole crossover is called Queen in Black, but it becomes apparent that it could be referring to Mary Jane, not the Asgardian Queen of Hel. Even though Venom has a new host, it seems like a waste to make the final battle of the sequel to King in Black Knull vs. Venom. Again.

The best part and most interesting voice in Queen in Black Issue 5 is Mary Jane, because of who she is and where she came from. She’s a woman who has been on the periphery of superheroes for so long, but has never been one. She’s been married to Spider-Man, hunted by countless villains and even lived in Stark Tower. But she’s also been ordinary, a civilian, and those are the people she represents.

The dialogue surrounding this is terrifically written and impactful. And it better have been, considering all the characters that get pushed to the wayside. No Avengers speak in this final chapter; even Dylan Brock gets largely pushed to the side. So countless stories are left unfinished.

The art is magnificent in its design and majesty, but there is a major problem. Knull looks like a glorious, megalomaniacal villain. That huge grin seems fascinated by what he’s seeing. Venomworld is also an epic concept, giving the Symbiote a truly cosmic feel. The whole planet is now shaped like Venom’s head.

When Mary Jane first appears, she’s in her Venom form. The hair is big and prominent, and she looks ready for a fight. However, she then sheds the Symbiote, revealing her regular human form. That is very intentional and superb in its execution, beginning to talk about being a regular human. There are heroes within Queen in Black Issue 5, but they just don’t do anything.

That’s the most jarring thing about Queen In Black Issue 5; it’s so stationary. A legion of superheroes stands around, looking at each other. When Knull breaches their perimeter, an almighty group lunges toward the giant, all-powerful being, but he swats them aside, and any sense of an all-out brawl is snuffed out.

The colors are actually really clever and lovely to look at. There’s something so satisfying about all of the heroes being placed in a uniform gray shade. Some that have fantasy skin colors stand out, such as the Thing or Beast, but almost everyone has that gray tone that connects them all. The outlier is Venom, who still appears in their jet-black skin, gold emblem and bright red hair.

The lettering is very important to the final battle. Not only are there the voices of Venom, Mary Jane, and Knull, but word balloons become a backdrop of the whole planet as all the consciousnesses within one conglomeration start to band together.

Queen in Black Issue 5 is such a limp finale to one of the most adrenaline-filled events ever concocted. At one stage, this crossover was breathless in its intensity, constantly throwing fight scenes and countless alien enemies. So much so that the story and structure lost track of themselves. So, for it to come down to this clash is jarring.

The main question that surfaces is “What’s the point?” Why bring every being, every hero on Earth, into one giant symbiotic organism, if you’re not going to use them? So many of these figures, from Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four, have had roles to play in this event, and they’re left standing around watching. It’s not a rewarding conclusion in the slightest.

Queen in Black Issue 5 is available where comics are sold.