WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for King in Black: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Jed MacKay, Michele Bandini, Elisabetta D’Amico, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
The events of King in Black so far have left the better part of the Marvel Universe crawling with Knull’s living darkness, and nowhere seems to be more drenched in the symbiotic ooze than New York City. While the big guns do what they can to face Knull head-on, heroes such as Reptil are fighting against the invading hordes in the skies and on the streets. Not only is the former Young Avenger facing off against some of the most deadly foes he’s ever seen, but he’s about to get a lesson in dragon slaying from his own personal favorite superhero. Spider-Man is about to take Reptil fishing for the real deadliest catch.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
When Spidey first spies Reptil flying between the skyscrapers of Manhattan, he doesn’t recognize the young hero for his pteranodon form, opting to launch an aerial assault on the perceived draconic threat. Once the misunderstanding has been sorted out, the two heroes take a moment to figure out just what the best use of their time and abilities would be. The symbiote controlled Celestials looming overhead, like Knull himself, are far more than either of them can handle. A single giant dragon terrorizing a ferry nearby, however, is right up their alley.
Knull’s dragons have proven time and time again that they are far deadlier than they appear, which says a lot for beasts with such an intimidating visage already. Reptil has faced off against plenty of monsters in his time, though, and he shapeshifts into a gargantuan form of his own to pull the dragon underwater by the throat.
While Reptil tussles with the symbiotic horror, Spider-Man deals with the crowd on the boat. None of the civilians seem particularly convinced that Spider-Man will be able to save them from the monster outside, and the group’s concerns are understandable. But the Wall-Crawler turns out to be cunning enough to work out a plan B on the spot in the form of an improvised and electrified harpoon.
Spidey takes his new weapon to the deck and waits patiently for the dragon to break the surface of the water. The moment is about as tense as possible, even Spider-Man himself noting the similarities to Moby Dick. The comparison is more than surface level, though, as the hero blames himself for everything that has come to plague the world recently.
Spider-Man was the one who originally brought the Venom symbiote to Earth, making him feel as though Knull’s invasion is his personal responsibility. He knows he isn’t strong enough to face the dark god of the symbiotes on his own, but by felling this dragon right now, he is at least gaining some cathartic release by cleaning up some meaningful amount of the mess he made. The battle between Peter Parker and the symbiote dragon isn’t a long one as the hero strikes the beast down for good in a stunning display of crackling energy and superhuman strength, but it is still an awesome sight to behold.
About The Author