Motherlands #3 Review and **SPOILERS**

Momma Knows Best

Written by: Simon Spurrier
Art by: Rachael Stott, Felipe Sobreiro, and Simon Bowland
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 28, 2018

**NON-SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

This book has been a disappointment for me up to this point. Neither of the first two issues hit with me at all with awkward dialogue, forced interactions, and underwhelming art. There is still potential for this story and this multiverse to be a ton of fun, but it's got a long way to go before I'm totally on board. Hopefully this issue starts turning things around and starts an upswing because if not, I might be out.


Explain It!

This issue picks up in the wake of Tabitha getting shot last issue. Her mom wants her to take some time to recover because her aura is being all weird. Tabitha objects, but her mom turns on a machine called the Shudderbooth, and some tentacles come out to pleasure her "faff." Luckily, the tentacle porn takes place off panel, but you still have to read as this mother talks to her daughter about all the times she's taken a turn in the machine. I'm all for being open with your kids, but this is a little too open for my liking.

They banter back and forth about whether or not they need each other for a while, but it's all very repetitive and boring if you've been reading all three issues. Basically, Selena is a terrible mother that treated her daughter like trash to focus on her TV show. We do see that Selena wants them to be close but she can't look at herself and see where she went wrong in the past. Tabitha surprises her mom by hinting at the fact that she might be gay, but I was glad to see that Simon Spurrier didn't push that too much and moved past it quickly instead of making it a huge deal.

After a quick flashback to Selena being terrible, Braintrust comes bursting in to steal the duo's tech. Tabitha activates the Shudderbooth and uses the tentacles to cause pain instead of pleasure. The Braintrust lackeys reveal that they are attacking Selena and Tabitha to get at Bubba and make sure he's all alone.

Tabitha kills the last one and they escape to String 9110, where Bubba is getting ready to attack a vault. As they're sitting back waiting to make their move, Oona and her goons show up to make their own move. She has been tracking Tabitha with the aura staining bullet she was hit with in the last issue. She gets ahold of the pair, but they've got a few tricks up their sleeves as well. First, they turn into little cubes somehow and get out of her grip. Then, after Oona knocks them around a little bit, Selena activates the spoon that Oona thought had been a decoy. The spoon was actually a psychic resonator and it knocks Oona out cold. 

Now Selena and Tabitha can get back to the business of trying to get to Bubba. Oona's people are moving in on him and Selena is horrified that they're probably going to kill him. Bubba is just standing there waiting for them so instead of letting someone steal their bounty, Tabitha pulls out a gun a fires. The issue ends with Bubba's head splattering as it's hit by the bullet.

This one didn't disappoint me like the first two did, but that could be because my expectations are much lower than they once were. The art still doesn't thrill me but it is growing on me a little bit. It's the story that I can't seem to get behind. This one was easier to get through than the first two, but I can't seem to get myself to care about the story moving forward. This book just isn't really a book for me.

Bits and Pieces

Despite some improvement over the first two issues, this book just isn't hitting very well with me. I'm holding out to see if Simon Spurrier can capitalize on the interesting worlds that he's created, but at this point I'm not into it. The art is growing on me a little bit, so that's something for me to go on moving forward. I just hope the story catches onto that trend.

5.1/10