A horrifying end.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jody Houser
Art: Shawn Crystal
Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: John Workman
What They Say:
As Mother Panic’s scope of revenge narrows, her partnership with the unhinged Pretty falls apart. Unable to bear the end to their collaboration Pretty turns on Mother Panic. After all, if she’s not with him…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Mother Panic has certainly been a book that has captured my attention from the start with what Jody Houser is putting together. Each issue makes me want to get more into what makes Violet tick and to see how her mission is changing and fine tuning. With this arc, which comes to a close with this issue, Shawn Crystal once again delivers some great pages and a really wonderfully dynamic take on Violet in her Mother Panic role. There’s something really engaging about the style he employs here to make it feel as bleak as it does without going for something over shadowed and depressing, lacking of any color. Hopefully, he’ll return for another arc down the line as I’d love to see more of his approach to Gotham and Violet.
The story here does have something of an abbreviated feeling but it also serves as a reminder that not all opponents are really worthy of a big overly long arc. In fact, it harkens back a bit to the days of old with one-off villains and a greater focus on the motivations that drive our protagonists. Violet’s not exactly struggling with things in her life in a way as she essentially bludgeons anything that gets in her way, but there’s that emptiness about her that’s really apparent. Whether it’s drinking by herself or slugging someone in “self defense” in a way that it was set up, she’s keeping up her Violet persona well but there’s a good sense that it really is a lot of who she is after all that she’s been through. Gather House certainly changed her in profound ways but there’s a blur between her life and that of Mother Panic in some ways.
The problem she faces this time around is that her actions have caught Pretty’s attention and he’s intent on teaching her a lesson as another failure from Gather House. That has him creeping into her place, which isn’t exactly the best thing anyone can do. It’s not something where he accomplishes a lot but rather we see what Violet’s mother has been up to in her own off kilter way as she befriended someone named Otis that’s living in the basement. He’s apparently able to command rats to do things, which puts Pretty into a bad position as they’re used to attack him. While his fate is almost comically sealed, what gets me with this segment of the book is more of how Violet deals with Otis and her mother as there’s such an easy acceptance about things. It’s not a world ending conclusion to the arc but it’s one that puts Pretty to the side and expands our main cast a bit.
In Summary:
Mother Panic has a solid enough installment here with what it’s doing in establishing Violet more, the dynamic of her relationships, and the way her goal itself is starting to take shape more. The background with Gather House is the big piece of this arc overall with the reader getting a greater view of it through Pretty and her own memories. Jody Houser definitely has me wanting to see a lot more of Violet as well as her Mother Panic persona and particularly how the whole dynamic at home is going to grow when it comes to her mother and Otis. Shawn Crystal did a great job on this arc in giving it his own style rather than trying to mimic what the series started out out as and I’m curious to see how the next arc will take shape in all departments.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: DC Comics/Young Animal via ComiXology
Release Date: April 26th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
