Image Comics gives us something unique in M.O.M.: Mother of Madness #1.
Actress Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Terminator Genisys etc) cowrites the three-issue miniseries with Marguerite Bennett (Batwoman, DC Bombshells, etc).
It’s all about Maya, in the year 2049. Maya breaks the fourth wall (may the fourth wall be with us) continually, talking directly to the reader. On the first page, her back story comes tumbling out: at 29, a single mom, high school dropout, part-time sex worker, and quite a bit more. Wow, the cocktail is making her chatty! The scenario is an art gallery opening/reception/must-attend party. The men are lecherous, the woman are toeing the line of corporate banter and smiling through gritted teeth.
As we learn more about Maya, it’s clear that she has superhuman abilities and a big vocab of swear words. It’s ribald, it’s venting, it’s dramatic and longwinded and full of long sentences that seem to tax our patience while it entertains us in the kind of ‘trainwreck’ kind of way if you know what I mean, like for real. Menstruation stains, the Big C, social consciousness, puberty, all kinds of icky stuff.
Artist Leila Leiz (Image, Aftershock, Alters, Horde, etc) gives us amazing panoramas, stream of consciousness flows of panels that manage to rope in the narrative in a creatively formatted way. It’s a team that clicks; Maya gets to ramble on about how men are generally bad, and we get to surf along on the spectacular visuals. Beautifully nuanced colouring by Triona Farrell, lettering by Haley Rose-Lyon.
In addition to the story, there are many pages of notes, sketches, and fun ‘novelty’ items.
It’s wild, “sex-in-the-future-city-meets-rom-com”, with plenty of astute observations on the role of women today. Well, today as of 2049. The future’s so bright, gotta wear shades!
Image Comics, M.O.M.: Mother of Madness #1(of 3), $5.99 for 42 pages of story content. Mature.
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