King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #3 Review
Cloak and Dagger
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Danilo S. Beyruth
Colours: Rachelle Rosenberg
Toxin
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artists: Gerardo Sandoval with Victor Nava
Colours: Erick Arciniega
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Planet of the Symbiotes #3 is the third and final part of the symbiote anthology series running alongside the King in Black event.
Cloak and Dagger
The first story revolves around duo Cloak and Dagger, who are doing their best to keep the streets as safe as they can be during Knulls invasion of Earth. Only problem is, Cloak is finding himself adversely affected by Knull’s dark psychic energy. It figures, with the two heroes being beacons of light and dark and balancing each other out that Knull’s influence would tip the scales.
The story revolves around the relationship between the two, and how they can overcome the challenges. Fans of the characters will love this examination of their friendship, but the story is explained well enough that readers new to these characters will follow along, and it’s entertaining enough to appeal to these same readers.
Where the Planet of the Symbiotes tie-ins work well is down to the face we’re seeing a different aspect of Knulls invasion, stories which are too minor to appear in the main issue, yet really expanding on the event. And by having a series of shorter stories it prevents any of them feeling like unnecessary filler and makes for entertaining reading.
The art is really good, it taps naturally into the darker nature of Cloaks powers, which really fits in with the horror vibe of the story, and the larger event. Good use of colours is the final piece in bringing this nightmarish story to life.
8/10
Toxin
Back by popular demand is Toxin, the grandson of Venom and son of Carnage, a symbiote who was presumed dead for a long time. This story doesn’t occur at the same time as King in Black, other than a quick mention of Knull near the start of the story this could be just any symbiote story.
The focus of the story is introducing readers to Bren, Toxin’s latest host, introducing an ongoing villain in the form of Alchemax, before introducing a family complication. There are several twists and turns in the issue, but no explanation for how Bren and Toxin met up. It feels more like a tease of a potential new series, perhaps Marvel testing reader reaction and interest before committing to it. There are a number of elements that are introduced which on paper sound good, only they’ve all been done before and fall into the category of stale comic book tropes. There unfortunately needs to be a bit more here to make the character interesting and recycling old ideas into a new shape isn’t quite enough to inspire interest.
Not quite enough new or exciting ideas to make Toxin a character to get excited about, the issue would have been stronger for skipping this story. The art is good throughout, an early battle with Toxin vs a Brood looks great, while managing to keep Toxin feeling fresh and not just a rehash of other symbiotes.
6/10
Another worthy addition to King in Blacks tie in anthology series, the issue is only let down by the second story which just rehashes other idea’s which have been done to death. There is good art throughout the comic by both creatives teams though, and it’s an interesting look into other events occurring during the main King in Black event.
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Danilo S. Beyruth
Colours: Rachelle Rosenberg
Toxin
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artists: Gerardo Sandoval with Victor Nava
Colours: Erick Arciniega
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Planet of the Symbiotes #3 is the third and final part of the symbiote anthology series running alongside the King in Black event.
Cloak and Dagger
The first story revolves around duo Cloak and Dagger, who are doing their best to keep the streets as safe as they can be during Knulls invasion of Earth. Only problem is, Cloak is finding himself adversely affected by Knull’s dark psychic energy. It figures, with the two heroes being beacons of light and dark and balancing each other out that Knull’s influence would tip the scales.
The story revolves around the relationship between the two, and how they can overcome the challenges. Fans of the characters will love this examination of their friendship, but the story is explained well enough that readers new to these characters will follow along, and it’s entertaining enough to appeal to these same readers.
Where the Planet of the Symbiotes tie-ins work well is down to the face we’re seeing a different aspect of Knulls invasion, stories which are too minor to appear in the main issue, yet really expanding on the event. And by having a series of shorter stories it prevents any of them feeling like unnecessary filler and makes for entertaining reading.
The art is really good, it taps naturally into the darker nature of Cloaks powers, which really fits in with the horror vibe of the story, and the larger event. Good use of colours is the final piece in bringing this nightmarish story to life.
8/10
Toxin
Back by popular demand is Toxin, the grandson of Venom and son of Carnage, a symbiote who was presumed dead for a long time. This story doesn’t occur at the same time as King in Black, other than a quick mention of Knull near the start of the story this could be just any symbiote story.
The focus of the story is introducing readers to Bren, Toxin’s latest host, introducing an ongoing villain in the form of Alchemax, before introducing a family complication. There are several twists and turns in the issue, but no explanation for how Bren and Toxin met up. It feels more like a tease of a potential new series, perhaps Marvel testing reader reaction and interest before committing to it. There are a number of elements that are introduced which on paper sound good, only they’ve all been done before and fall into the category of stale comic book tropes. There unfortunately needs to be a bit more here to make the character interesting and recycling old ideas into a new shape isn’t quite enough to inspire interest.
Not quite enough new or exciting ideas to make Toxin a character to get excited about, the issue would have been stronger for skipping this story. The art is good throughout, an early battle with Toxin vs a Brood looks great, while managing to keep Toxin feeling fresh and not just a rehash of other symbiotes.
6/10
Another worthy addition to King in Blacks tie in anthology series, the issue is only let down by the second story which just rehashes other idea’s which have been done to death. There is good art throughout the comic by both creatives teams though, and it’s an interesting look into other events occurring during the main King in Black event.
A Look Inside
