As the plucky adventures of our symbiote super pair continue merrily onwards, it has now become somewhat evident that Al Ewing has put the book in a holding pattern of sorts. While it is true that this issue also ties back to some of the threads from the first arc of All New Venom, issue 253 uses that more for comedic effect than anything particularly life threatening. This is a bit of a shame, considering the goldmine of character development that could still be leveraged with the Mary Jane and Venom dynamic. Even an unapologetic Venom fan like myself now finds themselves wincing at the endless, and I mean ENDLESS, quips per page. This only drowns out some of the actual good humor that Ewing had already put into this series.
Venom #253 is endemic of a larger problem with both this title and comics in general, where stories just seem to hover around with near endless filler while waiting for editorial to give the go-ahead for any real change. With Death Spiral slated as the next big symbiote event and honestly no real sign of whatever is going on with the whole Queen in Black thing, it seems that Venom is now merely content with meandering through the same old drama. This though is despite the fact that Knull is getting a standalone series next week which might just remedy that plotline. The current drama includes putting up with the constant self-flagellating presence of Paul, awkwardly navigating potential new romantic offerings with Flash Thompson, and finally dealing with the fallout of Madame Masque knowing exactly who Venom is. All three of these are handled in varying capacities across this issue, with mixed results. Whether those are good results remains to be seen.
Inhuman Target
The issue kicks off in hilarious fashion with three pages of the hierarchy of A.I.M. being slowly whittled down by various bomb-related shenanigans. Obviously, none of this is a coincidence, unless you count the fact that Madame Masque is somehow now the head of A.I.M. following these tragedies. In that case, it is a lovely coincidence indeed. Either way, what follows is Masque, armed with the knowledge of Mary Jane being the current Venom and the firepower needed to deal with this annoyance, finally making her move to eliminate this threat.
As Mary Jane tries to balance her breakup with Paul and the awkward, but completely understandable, hostility that Dylan has for her other half, Masque makes her move. Blowing up the apartment of Paul is only the start. With the help of Flash Thompson during a coffee date, Mary Jane discovers that she is being tracked via a mechanical implant in her lungs. I will discuss why that is a little absurd in a minute. With her every move and word being tracked, Mary Jane and her friends pull a reversal to track the tracker back to the base of Madame Masque. Finally, ready to go on the offensive, Venom brings the fight to Madame Masque and her thugs, making quick work of the underlings. But the issue ends before the awaited confrontation, as Madame Masque uses a mecha suit to face Venom one-on-one.
When the Punchlines Become Weaker Than the Punches
It is safe to say that Al Ewing has found his comfort zone with this particular iteration of Venom, but that is not necessarily a great thing from a narrative standpoint. Compared to his previous run with the character immediately following the King in Black arc, there is a stark difference between how the Venom narrative is structured there versus how it is handled here. This is understandable at first glance because there are different symbiotes, different hosts, and different circumstances. However, the fact remains that while this Venom run has had its ups and downs, this issue in particular feels even more meandering than the ones before it.
As I have brought up in previous reviews for this series, the jokes are fine, and Ewing does write some genuinely great humor. There is a genuinely laugh-out-loud moment at the start when the leaders of A.I.M. start dropping like flies thanks to the strategic placement of explosives by Madame Masque. There is another genuinely funny scene where the apartment of Paul blows up right as he is about to say that it is going to be a brand-new day. Situational and environmental humor like this works well for Ewing, but the problem arises when every great joke is preceded or followed by ten or twelve more without any room to breathe.
You have barely any time to register a genuinely good bit of character humor before four more jokes hit you in the face, vying for attention. It is honestly a little lazy in terms of narrative. This is especially true when it involves the same repetitive themes, such as how much Paul sucks, what an odd pair Mary Jane and Venom are, or another awkward moment for everyone to laugh at. These gags become grating after a while. Rarely has this been more egregious than it is in this issue. While I understand that Ewing is trying to write a more lighthearted book, his previous Venom run, while being dark in its own right, reigned in the humor better to have maximum impact without ever sacrificing narrative flow.
Similarly, the threat of a supervillain of the nature of Madame Masque knowing the identity of Venom is mostly played for laughs rather than as a serious danger. The methods used to harass Mary Jane are less terrifying and more equivalent to mustache-twirling villainy. This is such a waste of a character like Masque. It once again hammers in another major issue with this series, which is the complete lack of any genuine stakes or consequences. I am genuinely baffled that we are this far along in the timeline of Mary Jane as Venom and we have nothing in terms of real character growth. There is no real insight into how the symbiote and Mary Jane are willing to resolve their interpersonal issues in any meaningful manner, and there is no real threat to their existence or that of their loved ones.
Furthermore, how does the Venom symbiote not know that it is being tracked by an implant that is inside the body? It is a symbiote, after all. It is supposed to know when foreign material is in the body of the host. Somehow, Madame Masque is able to keep following every move of Mary Jane with the equivalent of digital tracking. This is all because the symbiote apparently does not care to venture into the lungs of Mary Jane where the tracker is located. That explanation is highly questionable.
Lapses like these, paired with a litany of narrative roadblocks and a dearth of action, make for a disappointing experience. I am not even sure what they are doing with the dynamic between Flash and Mary Jane, especially with Peter on his way back. There is no real fight in this book, barring a few underlings getting glued to walls. It is a bit of a sorry sight to have to repeat these criticisms with every new issue. The previous Doctor Octopus arc at least had some modicum of action to keep it from being a total bore. The whole new costume arc was funny even though that went away just as fast as it showed up. This current story just feels like a narrative with no real goal in mind other than to spin its wheels however it can.
If Looks Could Thrill
Carlos Gomez returns as the artist for this issue, and as always, his art is excellent for the story he has been given. Although he excels more with drawing Venom in action, there is more character work here that also showcases the emotive capabilities of Gomez. It is still a little weird that while everyone else is drawn quite well for the most part, Mary Jane herself has some of the weirdest facial proportions throughout. Consistently inconsistent, the face of Mary Jane is often drawn with varying degrees of either distorted or smoothed texturing. This feels unnatural, especially when she is sharing panels with other characters who look perfectly normal.
However, Madame Masque and Venom themselves are drawn exquisitely. At this point, the clashing shades of gold and black are really more emblematic of their ongoing feud than anything else. Gomez draws them impeccably in all their lustrous glory, especially when Venom is fighting or Masque is diabolically plotting. Bringing this shining splendor to life is the color work of Frank D’Armata, which further drives home this battle of vibrant proportions. There are many colors in this book. This series as a whole has always bolstered a very superhero-style color palette to match its tone, which D’Armata delivers in spades. Simply put, this is a good-looking book no matter what you think of the writing. This is a positive thing, because you had best be prepared to see a great deal of yellow in this issue.
A Masque Off Moment for the Series
Venom #253 trudges along on a disappointing trajectory that feels like wasted potential for all the cool concepts it could be exploring. Historically, the best Venom stories have always hinged on the relationship between host and symbiote and every bit of messy drama that entails. But the current run by Al Ewing seems to be determined to follow a different path altogether. It positions the story far too much on the lighthearted side, which is not a bad thing on its own, but it lacks any real progress for either the characters or the story as a whole.
We have already discussed this a few times, but with solicitations promising a darker turn with future story arcs, perhaps this particular bit of sweet storytelling is meant to be one last dessert before everything changes in the next few months. But even with this in mind, readers cannot help but wonder just how much longer they are expected to see one of their favorite characters seemingly waste away their potential in such a strangely uncharacteristic manner for the usually on-point writing of Ewing. What comes next remains to be seen, but a course correction of sorts is heavily encouraged sooner rather than later.
Final Verdict: A disappointingly A.I.M.less issue - pun absolutely intended - that pulls its punches far too much in every department, while missing the punchline entirely with far too many mid jokes and no real plot progression.