VENOM #253 (MARVEL COMICS)
After last issue’s Hijinx, Mary Jane Watson and Venom are left with a warning.
Madame Masque wants the symbiote gone for good. She’s aligned herself with A.I.M. & is poised to take over. After finding out who is underneath the alien costume, Masque gives a direct message: Leave New York NOW! For some strange reason, the Lethal Protector might have an issue with that.
VENOM #253 by Al Ewing, Carlos Gómez, Frank D'Armata, & Clayton Cowles provides some new information on what is happening here.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the latest symbiote shenanigans.
VENOM #253 by Al Ewing, Carlos Gómez, Frank D'Armata, & Clayton Cowles (Marvel Comics)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
Ewing starts off with a solid opening as Masque takes out her competition in A.I.M. The moves are very direct and leads to a promotion for her within the ranks. Trying to take out Venom will need that firepower. Once the story moves away from this, the road becomes a bit more bumpy.
The injection of Paul into this doesn’t connect as flush as it should. His dialogue comes off extremely flat even when he’s the “comic relief”. The interaction with Flash Thompson is much better even with Venom being “movie random” in comments. Readers can pick up this difference quickly. The writing teases in more humor while MJ is wired for sound. At the very least, this moves events into a solid closing point. It just seemed as a roundabout way to get there.
READ LAST ISSUE’S REVIEW HERE!
Gómez & D’Armata give full page sequences on Masque’s targets. This ushers in M.O.D.O.K. and their uneasy alliance. The half page shot of Masque with her forces is a good transition point to where the story goes. Paul’s awkwardness is on full display here. It goes for the quick laughs but is upstaged by a better explosion for readers to watch.
The Flash/MJ talk is well presented. Readers watch as the “normal” conversation is interrupted by Venom finding a tracker inside MJ’s lungs. It results in a “covert” conversation to throw Masque off their trail. Readers see the unique way this commences. It leads to a much more traditional throwdown. The action panels with Venom fighting A.I.M. soldiers is a strogner point to this issue. This leads into the ending point, where a full page image shows promise for what’s next.
FINAL GRADE: 7
Madame Masque’s threat to Venom comes off with mixed results in a very uneven issue. Ewing’s writing tries leaning into Paul’s dimwitted antics to alleviate the drama to debatable results. Gómez & D’Armata create solid images to guide readers through this point. The last page teases more excitement next go-around. Optimistic it should be a step up from here.
Let me know your thoughts on Venom #253 in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
