What's The Deal With The On-Again Off-Again Symbie Comic From Marvel?

Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Venom | Tagged: david baldeon, Enid Balam, Jacob Chabot, joe kelly, MacKenzie Cadenhead, pepe larraz, Queen In Black, Symbie

What's The Deal With The On-Again Off-Again Symbie Comic From Marvel?

So what's the deal with the on-again off-again Symbie comic from Marvel Comics? Is it part of the Queen In Black or not?

Published Mon, 04 May 2026 08:58:14 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• Marvel’s Symbie one-shot shifted from Amazing Spider-Man: Symbie #1 and a Queen In Black tie-in to It’s Symbie #1.
• The original Symbie comic was solicited as a Knull-linked origin story, then canceled, delayed, and quietly reworked.
• It’s Symbie #1 now collects Symbie Infinity Comic, Marvel Mutts stories, and Symbie’s Amazing Spider-Man debut.
• Sources suggest Marvel steered Symbie away from Queen In Black to keep the breakout kid-friendly symbiote all-ages.

Bleeding Cool broke the news out from ComicPRO that we would be getting a new It's Symbie comic from Marvel, featuring the cute symbiote character encountered in deep space by Peter Parker, to tie in with Queen In Black, and include Symbie's first proper appearance by Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz from Amazing Spider-Man #11.

Then-Marvel DVP David Gabriel told ComicsPRO, "Symbie is going to move from the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, and he's gonna get his own one-shot in June, and then there's one thing to remember. Yes, he may be an animated character, but he's really launching out of the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. Joe Kelly is writing this story, and he's going to be connecting this to Knull and everything going on in the Queen of Black." It was to be drawn by David Baldeon and was called Amazing Spider-Man: Symbie #1. And it appeared in the Marvel June 2026 solicits as a Queen In Black tie-in, thus:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: SYMBIE (2026) #1
Writer Joe Kelly
Penciller David Baldeon
Cover Artist Pepe Larraz
FROM DEATH SPIRAL TO QUEEN IN BLACK, THESE ARE THE ORIGINS OF SYMBIE! Spidey met the weird little monster in space but had no idea of the little glob's history. Take a journey back to the very beginning of the Klyntar race that led to VENOM and CARNAGE and see the journey Symbie has made. It may surprise you! PLUS: A Symbie bonus story in the spirit of the hit Infinity comic by JACOB CHABOT! June 10, 2026 $5.99

Then, no sooner had it been officially announced and solicited than we were told all orders would be cancelled and it would be kicked into the long grass for December, after Queen In Black's moment had passed. And now from Marvel in July 2026 (though too late for the July 2026 solicits)… we have It's Symbie #1. Is this the same comic? It has the same covers…

…just an entirely different everything else. Aside from the bit from Amazing Spider-Man #11. It is called It's Symbie #1 by Jacob Chabot, MacKenzie Cadenhead, Joe Kelly, Enid Balám and Pepe Larraz. These are the new details.

IT'S SYMBIE #1
Written by JACOB CHABOT, MACKENZIE CADENHEAD & JOE KELLY
Art by JACOB CHABOT, ENID BALÁM & PEPE LARRAZ
Cover by JACOB CHABOT
Variant Cover by SERGIO DÁVILA
On Sale 7/8
SYMBIE GOES SOLO! Symbie may be a symbiote without a host, but that's never slowed him down! Ever since Spider-Man freed him from a mad scientist's lab, Symbie has made it his mission to unleash mischief across the Marvel Universe. His latest targets? The Fantastic Four, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Captain America and the Marvel Mutts!
""There's a new symbiote superstar wreaking havoc in the Marvel Universe and his name is SYMBIE! Get to know the mischievous—and adorable—little glob this July in IT'S SYMBIE #1, a special one-shot printing the character's hit Symbie Infinity Comic by Jacob Chabot as well as his appearances in Marvel Mutts Infinity Comic by MacKenzie Cadenhead and Enid Balám for the first time. The one-shot will also re-present Symbie's first appearance by Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz from Amazing Spider-Man #11! It's Symbie's entire Marvel Comics journey so far—all in one place! Symbie will also appear in the next season of Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends on Disney Jr., introducing him to a whole new audience of young ones! Check out covers by Jacob Chabot and Sergio Dávila and preorder IT'S SYMBIE #1 at your local comic shop today!"

So what's going on? Well, what I managed to glean from sources is that someone at Marvel Comics realised that in June, Symbie was going to get his first print comic, a character seen in the Free Comic Book Day book last weekend and appearing in the preschool animated series Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and the very kid friendly Infinity Comic… and his first print title of his own was going to have a story tying in with Knull and Hela and the Queen In Black, and all of the violence, torture, war and just really nasty things in that series. And some very young kiddie may read that Queen In Black tie-in story with Knull, however sweet, innocent, and kid-friendly it may be, and then go and buy the Queen In Black comic where Hela beheads Thor or somesuch. And someone decided, yeah, no, let's delay that particular tie-in for now, and get a Symbie comic just full of the nice stories instead. But then just try and hide what we did so no one can complain, until that bloody Rich Johnston joins the dots… and so here we are.

Oh yes, Symbie is a relatively new Marvel Comics character, a small, mischievous symbiote, a Klyntar from the same alien species as Venom. In the main Marvel continuity, they actually first appeared in a cameo in Timeslide #1 in late 2024 before making a more notable appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #11 in 2025, created by writer Joe Kelly and artist Pepe Larraz. Symbie was one of several alien creatures captured and experimented on by Xanto Starblood. Unlike traditional symbiotes, Symbie doesn't require a host and can freely move and act independently. Symbie is portrayed as tiny, chaotic, playful, and troublemaking, a "mischievous little scamp" compared to Stitch or Grogu. And in 2026, Symbie got their very own digital-first Symbie Infinity Comic series on Marvel Unlimited, written and drawn by Jacob Chabot and appeared in the preschool animated series Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends, as a kid-friendly, shapeshifting "little blob guy" analogue to Venom, toned down for young audiences since full Venom is seen as too intense. And also perfect for merchandise. Just not for The Queen In Black.

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