A new mystery surfaces.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Shawn Crystal
Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: John Workman, Shawn Crystal
What They Say:
Back to full strength, Violet Paige hits the Gotham City party scene to dig up more clues for the people behind Gather House. What she finds is a figure from her past who she thought was long dead. Meanwhile, Violet’s allies discover something disturbing about her mother…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s taken ten issues but I feel like I’ve finally gotten a handle on what it is that Mother Panic reminds me of. There’s such a similarity to the original Grendel run of books, especially once it started shifting artists and expanding on what it was interested in dealing with, that it took me a bit to reconnect with that style. Jody Houser has excelled in this series in giving us shorter and more defined arcs even while having a more languid pace at times. This installment also really cements that Grendel-esque feeling thanks to the addition of Shawn Crystal in the artist line-up as his work here is really distinctive and reminds me of the changes in tone to story and character that we get over the years in that other work. There’s similarities in concept as well and part of me hopes that Mother Panic can eventually make such fantastical leaps as well.
This issue is one that’s definitely going to be a challenge for many as it feels a lot less defined in a way. With so many things going on in the past arcs this one gives us a Violet that’s different than before. With her surgery done she’s feeling better, more alive than before and in better condition, but it’s unclear if that’s going to come through in her capabilities at the moment. And it’s unclear as to whether it’s impacting how she’s viewing the world and dealing with issues as she does seem more on edge here. While she’s being asked to deal with the “supervillain in the basement” with Otis and his rats, she’s instead dealing with part of the Violet life of being an antisocial party girl of wealth. THat has her attending a new soiree where there’s such an undercurrent of intensity about her in dealing with the whole thing that she feels like she’s going to snap.
Where it takes a curious turn is when she discovers a young woman at the part that reminds her of someone from Gather House. That strikes up a number of memories with some real intensity to it that reminds of the kind of PTSD life that she leads because of what she was put through there. The woman plays it off as mistaken identity, which does have Violet questioning herself, but it’s not something she can let go. There’s naturally confusion about this that leads to her donning her Mother Panic role to find out more but there’s little to really grab onto at the moment here. What sells it is the kind of hazy and surreal memory aspects that are presented in the visuals with the demons of the past. I can see how Crystal’s work may not appeal to a number of readers but Mother Panic is so open to interpretation with what it does that I really found it engaging. With his work reminding even more of some of that early Grendel work as well with its character designs and the layouts of it all it just clicked all the more so for me.
In Summary:
Mother Panic is the kind of book that still feels like you have to work at it to really get the most out of it and part of that is unlocking more of who Violet is with each arc. And that really can be difficult with a monthly book. Jody Houser continues to work a really intriguing larger narrative for the character that I’m hopeful will get more time to unfold and be explored and I’m digging the way the artists are rotating into it combined with the shorter arcs themselves. Shawn Crystal is a perfect addition to the roster and I’m excited to see more of his interpretation of the cast and settings here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: DC Comics/Young Animal via ComiXology
Release Date: August 23rd, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
