Written By: Jody Houser
Interiors Drawn By: Ibrahim Moustafa
Interiors Colored By: Jordan Boyd
Lettered By: John Workman
Cover By: Tommy Lee Edwards
Edited By: Molly Mahan
Executive Editor: Mark Doyle
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: June 27, 2018
Before reading this I was hopeful that this wouldn't feel as "jam-packed" as some of the other
Mother Panic has been, from the very start the most "linear" of the Young Animal line. There is always an A-to-B progression with very little in the way of psychedelics. Now, I wonder... will this hinder or help when it comes to truncating the remainder of this volume into the next three issues?
Well, I guess I could ask that... if, ya know... these weren't always planned to be six-issue series'.
Ahem.
Remember all that stuff I hated about Mother Panic the first time around? Well, I probably shouldn't assume... it was all of that vapid celebrity stuff. Violet being introduced to us as "famous for being famous" like those Hotel heirs that were big a decade or so ago. Well, all that stuff I hated... is back... and, get this... it works!
Violet decides to "come out" as living... having survived the Gather House fire that supposedly killed this universe's version of herself. Back in the long ago, she was a master manipulator of the media... and uses that skill set here with great aplomb... and to great success.
Ya see, there is a particular element who is certain that this Violet isn't the real deal... and they just so happen to the the Collective that Mother Panic is trying to nail down. It's really all just coming together here, and it quite well done. Does it feel like we're rushing to our conclusion? A little... however, it's not nearly as jarring as the sped-up "holy crap, we gotta wrap this up" compression of Shade the Changing Woman.
The only real "rushy" part comes with the Jason Todd subplot. I'd assume this was originally intended to have a little more room to "breathe"... though, I could be wrong. Just felt like we were getting a little "much" with Todd and the Gang here... that might've filled it's own arc had the worm not turned.
The art here is still really good... and, we actually do get our first dose of Mother Panic psychedelics... of sorts, when the Scarecrow lets loose some fear toxin. It's certainly not up to what we've come to expect from Oeming or Zarcone... but it's pretty neat nonetheless.
Bits and Pieces:
There's definitely a feeling of compression here, however, Mother Panic is handling the "truncation" far better than the rest of the Young Animal line. This is still a story I want to read... and a Gotham I'd like to explore.
8.0/10
I picked this up for Jason Todd, but I hate how he's written in this book.
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