Queen in Black #1 – Darkness and Light Go To War

War is here! Hela, the new Queen in Black has drained Knull of his power. To combat her treachery, Knull has become a god of light. Now, as Knull prepares to bring the war to Hela, she prepares to claim Earth as her own. Now The King in White and the Queen in Black lock into a power struggle for control of Earth. As light and dark battle for control, will the Earth ultimately be lost?

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Shawn!

Creative Team

Writers: Al Ewing
Artists: Iban Coello and Zé Carlos
Color Artist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Ryan Stegman
Cover Color Artist: Frank Martin

Writing

What an amazing first issue. Not only does Al Ewing craft a really good issue, but he does so in a way that you can enjoy the first entry into the Queen In Black saga even if you aren’t up to date on all the going ons of the Marvel Universe. This issue was packed full of fun. There’s a lot of really great cameos, and Ewing provided a great introduction into how groups are going to break out and fight this threat. I loved seeing some characters that I wasn’t super familiar with. It put me on a path to learn more about them and how we got to the point we are at in their story.

This is shaping up to be a really interesting story. I’m intrigued by the concept of Knull basically being the same person in a different outfit. Despite changing to a god of light, Ewing is still writing him as a being that desires nothingness. Queen In Black #1 really feels like it’s laying out a story where victory for the heroes isn’t just a foregone conclusion. Ewing is crafting a narrative where the heroes are going to have to get creative and perhaps even a bit lucky to come out on top. While we won’t know until the end of the story what happens, it does genuinely feel that, particularly for some of the characters in Queen In Black #1, narrative aspects of the story will have long-term impacts.

Art

Iban Coello, Zé Carlos and Guru-eFX came out really strong in this first issue. Coello and Carlos did a really good job adding depth to symbiotes and to Hela despite their natural black looks. Knull feels intentionally jagged and rough helping really sell the god of light aspect of his character in this issue.

Guru-eFX did a great job on colors. Particularly, the highlighting on the symbiotes, Hela, and other dark-costumed characters really allowed the line work to pop. The colors of Spider-Man and his allies provide a nice, strong contrast off the page against the dark and subdued colors of the symbiotes. Clayton Cowles had a lot of voices to manage in this issue and does so perfectly. Cowles ensures the reader can easily follow the flow of the story without getting bogged down. Character conversations and internal monologue are easy to keep up with ensuring you know exactly who is speaking.

Final Thoughts

A stellar first issue in this new Queen In Black series. The creative team put out a first issue that feels fresh, updated, and unique while playing on some themes as we saw in the previous King in Black event. The team-ups let us get to see some of our favorite characters side by side.

Overall Grade: 10/10

What did you think about this new series? Let me know in the comments