Venom #262 — Al Ewing and Carlos Gomez Deliver the Chaos of Venomworld
Mary Jane is Venom. Everyone is Venom. The war between Knull and Hela is over, but the aftermath leaves Earth drowning in symbiotes. Al Ewing and Carlos Gomez turn the volume up on chaos in Venom #262.
There is a specific kind of joy in watching a creative team take a premise that has already bent the rules of physics and logic, and then lean into it with both hands. Al Ewing and Carlos Gomez are doing exactly that in Venom #262, and if you have ever wondered what it looks like when the concept of the symbiote goes completely off the rails, this is the issue. It is loud, it is chaotic, and it is exactly the kind of story that makes you glad you stopped by the shop.
The setup here is delightfully unhinged. Thanks to the events that have unfolded in the Venomworld arc, Mary Jane Watson is now a symbiote, but she is far from alone. The description from Marvel calls it Venomworld Lives, and that is the key. The war between Knull and Hela has concluded, but the victor’s price is that eight billion people are now bonded to symbiotes. The world isn't just changed; it's transformed, and the dynamic between the World's Strangest Roommates is now playing out against a backdrop of global, symbiotic saturation.
Carlos Gomez’s art is the perfect vehicle for this escalation. His line work has always had a fluid, muscular energy that suits the symbiote aesthetic, but here it feels essential. You can see the weight of eight billion new connections in the way he handles the crowded panels and the chaotic action. It’s a visual feast that doesn’t just support the story but amplifies the sheer scale of the problem Ewing has written. It’s vibrant, busy, and impossible to look away from.
This issue feels like a pivot point where the personal meets the planetary. We know these characters can handle cosmic threats, but seeing them navigate a world where everyone is suddenly a host? That’s a fresh angle. It shifts the focus from just fighting villains to managing a fundamental shift in humanity itself. Ewing is pulling on the threads of identity and connection in ways that feel both epic and intimately character-driven.
If you’ve been enjoying the Venomworld run, this is the issue that ties the loose ends into a knot you can’t quite untangle. It’s a great time to jump in if you’re curious about where the series is heading, or just a fantastic read if you’re already on board. The stack is getting lighter on this one, so it’s worth grabbing a copy before the shelves empty out completely. Trust me, you’ll want to see how Gomez brings this vision to life.