Reviews

Venom Vol. 6: King in Black by Donny Cates

brandonadaniels's review

4.0

Essential to reading King In Black and in the correct order. It’s also a near perfect ending to Cates’s stellar run. I’m guessing Cates is going to be taking over Avengers after Aaron, and this book plants some pretty not subtle seeds for it.

cassie_grace's review

4.0

I read this and the main King in Black book alternating issues, and they both lose a star for not being able to stand on their own. It should have been one oversized trade. I don't think Venom makes much sense on its own without the main story happening, and the main event is really Venom's story, so it'd be a shame to miss out on his important bits. In particular, Venom #35 is the denouement for both three years of Venom comics and the event as a whole, finishing Eddie Brock's journey for the moment and giving Dylan a great starting point. It's not quite perfect, but it's a close thing.

angelfoodcakes's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As I said on my King in Black review, I read every single King in Black issue in order yet none of them came close to the writing in this book as well as the main King in Black book. I really loved the formatting of the two, with Venom being the story strictly from Eddie’s perspective and King in Black being the story as it’s happening on the outside.

I will also say that I was thrilled to see Flash alive again.

On the other hand, however, I also said in my King in Black review that I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending and wish it had been drawn out a bit more, and that still extends to Venom’s ending but slightly less so. My issue with this book is more outside of the main story, though,

I’m not sure how I feel about Dylan taking over as Venom. I’m also a little unsatisfied with the fact that no one outside of the Venom symbiote seems to be concerned with Eddie rapidly aging as a result of becoming the King in Black, and if they do we don’t see it.

I’m holding out hope, however, that the next installments will still be good and I’m tentatively looking forward to where they take this. (Donny Cates I’ll miss you 🥲)

john0824's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

jettreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0