A Classic Marvel Villain is Borrowing a Page Out of Her Iconic Nemesis’ Playbook

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The following contains major spoilers for Venom #253, on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Marvel Comics' All-New Venom is staring down a supercharged version of one of their worst enemies.

After Madame Masque's latest brazen attack against the people closest to them, Mary Jane and the titular symbiote of Venom #253 (by Al Ewing, Carlos Gómez, Frank D'Armata, and VC's Clayton Cowles) take it upon themselves to take the fight straight to their murderous foe. And, while hunting Madame Masque and her A.I.M. goons isn't any major task, ripping the villain out of her bulky new armor doesn't look like it will be nearly as easy.

Venom #253

Written by AL EWING
Art by CARLOS GÓMEZ
Colors by FRANK D'ARMATA
Letters by VC's CLAYTON COWLES
Design by CARLOS LAO
Main cover art by CARLOS GÓMEZ & FRANK MARTIN
Variant covers by CLAYTON CRAIN; LUCIO PARRILLO & NOGI SAN; and TRIBUTE GAMES & DOTEMU

The official solicit synopsis for Venom #253 from Marvel Comics reads, "UNFRIENDLY COMPETITION? MASQUE MAKES HER MOVE! Madame Masque wants Venom out of her way — one way or the other. And somehow, she’s found out who’s under the goo."

The villain who fans know today as Madame Masque was introduced as the enigmatic Maggia crime lord known only as Big M all the way back in 1967 in the story "The Coming of Whiplash!" (by Stan Lee and Gene Colan) from Tales of Suspense #97. In her youth, Whitney Frost was the affluent daughter of a wealthy financier, but upon her father's death, she learned that she was born to none other than Count Nefaria.

Although she initially rejected Nefaria's offer to follow in his footsteps as part of the Maggia, it wasn't long before Whitney fully embraced the opportunity to become a supervillain in her own right. Over the decades, Whitney Frost has taken on various villainous monikers, yet none have been so indelible to her comic book career as Madame Masque.

In recent years, Madame Masque has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, one which helped completely reset the balance of power within New York City's criminal underworld. Apart from reforming her own criminal empire, it was Madame Masque who ultimately set in motion the events that would unfold throughout Marvel Comics' Gang War crossover event.

While Marvel's Gang War didn't pan out exactly as Madame Masque expected it to, that hasn't stopped her from continuing in her efforts to establish and maintain her stranglehold over her corner of the Marvel Universe. This made Madame Masque the most surprising suspect when the true identity of Venom's current host was still a mystery, not to mention one of the worst enemies that Mary Jane could make.

Of course, there are still worse things in store for Venom than Madame Masque, and they aren't all that far away. Currently, fans are awaiting the release of Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral #1 by writers Joe Kelly, Al Ewing, and Charles Soule and artist Jesús Saiz, which will mark the culmination of the events of Amazing Spider-Man, Venom, and Eddie Brock: Carnage, as well as the debut of Marvel's next superpowered serial killer — Torment.

Venom #253 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.