5 Best Knull Comics to Celebrate His Marvel Return

Knull is back in Marvel Comics with a new series after ending up in Hela’s realm after the King in Black storyline. When Knull died, he ended up in the underworld controlled by Hela, and the new series sees Knull escape her realm and set out to find a way to regain his lost power. However, the series also reveals that this was all Hela’s plan, as she has her own desire to control Knull’s power, and where this leads is anyone’s guess. That said, it’s nice to have Knull back in comics, and it should give fans a chance to go back and relive some of the dark god’s best stories in comics.

Here is a look at the five best Knull stories to catch up on as the new Knull series at Marvel Comics begins.

5) Absolute Carnage

Absolute Carnage is a Knull story without Knull really in it at all. However, it’s the most important storyline for anyone to read who wants to see where the entire idea of Knull started. This series brings Carnage back to the Marvel Universe, and he has one goal in mind. He wants to communicate with Knull, the god of darkness and death, who created the symbiotes so many years ago. Eddie Brock becomes Venom again to fight this, and he needs Spider-Man’s help.

This is the series that really explains the idea of the codex, the piece of the symbiotes that connects them mentally to each other and their hive, which Knull controls. However, whoever controls all the codices can communicate with Knull, and that’s what Carnage wants, so he can free the god from his prison and set him out on a path of destruction. This is the story that led directly into King in Black, because Carnage was successful in that specific goal.

4) Web of Venom: Empyre’s End

Web of Venom: Empyre’s End is the last Web of Venom story before the King in Black event began. This is a one-shot story that brings back some familiar characters to anyone who reads Venom comics, as it includes Tarna from Spaceknight Venom and M’Lanz from Venom: First Host. The main characters to start things off are Skrulls, and two of the Skrulls have a history with Venom himself.

This was part of the overarching Empyre event, which led to the Kree-Skrull Alliance with Hulkling and Wiccan. However, what it does best is that it’s a Marvel horror story, as Knull sends symbiotes to attack anyone in their path as Knull prepares for his conquest of Earth. This was one of the scarier and most intense Knull stories, and it showed how dangerous he is when controlling his symbiote army.

3) Silver Surfer: Black

Silver Surfer: Black is a fascinating series that sees the Surfer thrown into a black hole, where he has to journey through time and space. Along the way, he ends up having to battle Knull, all while Surfer’s own Power Cosmic is fading, and he’s at his weakest. This is a series that really pushes Surfer to his limits and forces him to make difficult decisions.

While most Knull comics have the god of the symbiotes trying to conquer the universe and send it into darkness, this did a lot more with the character, as it shows him trying to push Surfer’s soul into ultimate darkness, a scarier threat. Instead of saving the universe, or a single planet, Silver Surfer has to save his soul as Knull attempts to destroy him, and that makes this easily one of the villain’s most harrowing tales.

2) Knull’s Debut (Venom, 2018)

Donnie Cates and Ryan Stegman introduced Knull for the first time in Venom Vol. 4 #4 in 2018. This came after Venom had helped a Vietnam veteran and former SHIELD lab rat rescue some of his own platoon members from SHIELD imprisonment, only to discover they had been consumed by symbiotes, and this all tied into a mystery with a giant Klyntar Dragon called Grendel.

With this issue, Knull roared into the Marvel Universe in style, as the first thing he did at the start of the issue was to decapitate and kill a Celestial, showing the true extent of his power. This was his origin story, and it showed how Knull forged the All-Black and slaughtered countless Celestials in revenge. He then created the symbiotes, and this led to his status as the King in Black. This was the definitive origin story and the precursor to every other Knull story that followed.

1) The King in Black

The biggest and most important Knull story ever made was The King in Black in 2021, which saw the main series followed by spinoffs all throughout Marvel Comics. It took everyone on Earth and beyond just to protect the planet from the god of symbiotes, and even with the Silver Surfer, the Avengers, Doctor Strange, and more, all working in tandem, it wasn’t enough. Even Dracula brought his vampire army to the front lines to help fight Knull.

This was the series that showed how overpowered Knull really was, and it wasn’t until the Enigma Force arrived and bonded to Venom, turning him into Captain Universe, that the tide changed. Eddie Brock as Captain Universe then created a new weapon out of Mjolnir and the Silver Surfer’s board, and that was the only way they finally vanquished Knull and saved the world. This was one of the ultimate Marvel crossover events, and it proved Knull was easily one of the comic line’s most powerful villains.

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