A storyline that is no doubt quirky and works with DC’s Young Animal and why I enjoyed the imprint. Doing things creatively, different and for the most part, taking chances and running with it! I dig that!
TITLE: Mother Panic/Batman Special #1
YEAR: April 2018
COMPANY: DC Comics/Young Animal
Writer: Magdalene Visaggio
Art & Color: Sonny Liew
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jamie S. Rich
“Mother Panic” from DC Comics imprint “Young Animal” started in 2016, the imprint was developed by American musician and comic book writer, Gerard Way (author of “The Umbrella Academy”) and stories set in the DC Universe but stories that are created for mature users with a more experimental approach.
“Mother Panic” was created by Jody Houser and artist Tommy Lee Edwards and the series is set in Gotham City and revolves around Violet Paige, a young woman who is a celebrity and a woman with a sharp tongue. One can say that she also has deep issues.
She lives with her mother who had an early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and her mother lives in what looks like a scene in “Alice in Wonderland”.
By day, Violet hits the social scene and by night, she is the white clad hero known as Mother Panic. And as she tackles the scum that exists in the city, she has caught the attention of Batman and Batwoman.
But Mother Panic is not a superhero, she is a woman that is out for revenge.
She carries scars after killing her father after a misunderstanding and she was put into the Gather House by her older brother Victor, who despises her for what she has done to their father.
But the Gather House was where children were experimented on and what horrors and what abilities that Violet has gained is not known. And now, she uses her skills to get revenge on those responsible for experimenting on children but also to use her abilities and her wealth/technology to go after corrupt slime and twisted individuals that were also experimented on in the Gather House.
And while Young Animal’s storylines were fascinating and entertaining, DC Comics decided to put the Young Animal comics on indefinite hiatus and lasted for 12 issues and relaunched as “Mother Panic: A.D.” which takes place in a Dystopian future and lasted for six issues.
Before “Mother Panic: A.D.” was made, a crossover for DC Comics and Young Animal took place called “Milk Wars” in which Retconn, a corporation which steals stories and reconfigures them for new markets and alters heroes lives.
For Mother Panic, she finds out that Gather House has been restored and is run by Batman, who has been twisted into becoming a priest leading a group of young people as Robins.
It’s an interesting story to see Mother Panic and Batman cross paths but in a weird kind of way. Batman as a priest known as “Father Bruce” and leading little Robins? Too weird. But that’s the point of “Milk Wars” I suppose. And you get a little Fennec Fox, who is among the little Robins.
But overall, it’s a storyline that is no doubt quirky and works with DC’s Young Animal and why I enjoyed the imprint. Doing things creatively, different and for the most part, taking chances and running with it! I dig that!