Review: MOTHER PANIC #6

MOTHER PANIC #6
Written by Jody Houser
Art by Shawn Crystal, Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: April 26, 2017

This. This is mother f*%&ing Gotham City.

Mother Panic is the Bat-esque-book I never knew I needed until I had it, featuring Gotham’s most kick ass vigilante who has nothing really to do with the Bat-family. Mother Panic is raw. Mother Panic is gritty. Mother Panic pulls no punches and is fantastic.

Jody Houser is writing the hell out of this series and issue #6 is no exception. The way she weaves our protagonist’s dual lives with her history is phenomenal, and the pacing with which this story unfolds is perfect. The way Houser is building a world within Gotham for Violet that is uniquely hers is fantastic, and this book benefits from it’s setting but is not controlled by it. Like Mother Panic herself, it is truly an unpredictable rogue in a setting that is well known. The dynamic volatility of this character keeps me on my toes at all times and this issue does a great job of conveying how complex an individual Violet is. This is not a one note “harsher than Batman” character. Mother Panic is a thousand different things at once and Houser is doing a great job conveying that to readers.

Shawn Crystal’s artwork is top notch, with his layouts in particular impressing me in this issue. His style is as unique as the story being told and I love how raw his work is when punches are flying. Crystal conveys the motion of a punch extremely well and these dynamic characters leap from the page with his pencil work. Amplifying the pencils in all the right ways is the fantastic colour work by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, which sets a mood for this comic that is pitch-perfect “Mother Panic”. Beaulieu’s work brings this comic right in line with the unique aesthetic of the Young Animal books and gives each page a brooding feel that is much more than “set in Gotham”. His colour work is on point in every panel and he and Crystal have a good thing going as an art battery on this comic.

Mother Panic #6 is one of the finest crafted comics you’ll read this week. This series has not missed a beat since it started and, if this issue is any indication, there is no lull on the horizon. Give Mother Panic a try if you want to see a different side of Gotham, as executed by a gifted creative team.

The Verdict: 10/10

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