Comic Book Review: M.O.M.: Mother of Madness #2
M.O.M.: Mother of Madness # 2 is the second of three issues for this new comic miniseries from Image Comics, which continues the story of a young single mother whose superpowers are tied to her emotions and how she uses her powers to take on a secret group of human traffickers.
In the first act of the three-issue series we met Maya Kuyper, an unlikely superhero who is the main character of this comic arc, and we learned more about her, both from her meta-expositional interaction and a perspective on her life and surroundings. The sophomore issue is no different, since it starts with a flashback from her teenage years, and a conversation with one of her close friends named Tiff, where a young Maya discusses her doubts and feelings regarding these new set of superpowers she has found she possesses. They share their impressions about the dangers of objectification for all genders and the recurrent obsession of society with binaries, which falls into the premise mentioned earlier by writers Emilia Clarke and Marguerite Bennett of aiming to address the huge gap that exists in the book world regarding more diversity and inclusion.
After that flashback, we delve more into the details on what her superpowers are, after having a glimpse to a family moment with Billy, her kid, and Benny, her friendly neighbor who’s being told how her superpowers work. We learn how Benny helps her on her quest to use those superpowers for good as the story takes us through the introduction of several characters who help Maya in different aspects – Henrietta, a clothing store owner who help her with her super suit, and Alf, her therapist and life-guru, to mention a few. We also get more moments between Maya and Benny, and how there’s this perhaps-mutual feeling brewing between them, which is awkwardly interrupted by a radio announcement of a future podcast (remember, this story is set in 2049) with Senator Beyoncé and a cryogenically revived Ruth Bader Ginsburg (how about that?).
Nevertheless, the story moves to a flashback regarding Harvey, “the devil on her right” as Maya describes him. We learn more about their tormented relationship, which involved physical and emotional abuse from his part and when she got pregnant with Billy, leading to her to run away, and look for another life for her and her son. This part is truly emotional, and the way artist Leila Leiz beautifully links the scenes in those two panels describing her journey through pregnancy and motherhood is so endearing and gives us a poignant perspective of Maya’s and Billy’s story, and how she has managed to raise her son surrounded by the love of both her and their friends.
However, as we learn more about the actual adventures fighting crime as an unknown hero/vigilante (there is a bit where she even jokes about not being able to register a copyright to avoid getting caught) and how they are living with it, we found how that flashback had a reason: Harvey comes through her door, with a lot of plastic surgery work done in his face, apparently sorry and willing to be there for their son. And as Maya wonders what is the right course of action – wondering what her mother would have done, though recognizing she wasn’t perfect either – we are introduced to the villain of the story, learning more about her reality and motivations, getting exposition of this crime boss lady having a cover as a successful businesswoman, and on the other hand witnessing how Maya keeps fighting her human trafficker minions. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, where we are left guessing what the true motivations of Harvey as a prodigal father are and what this will mean for Maya and her current quest.
This second issue presents a balanced combination of exposition as well as moving the story forward. It presents more backstory on Maya to understand her motivations and I found her conversation flashback with her friend Tiff to be quite interesting, especially considering when this issue has been released – does SB8 sound familiar? However, as I was reading this part, and considering how convoluted our reality might be, there is a bit that resonated which I think unintentionally feels like an inspirational message for all those who are fighting for human rights: “...we need to remember, all us down here – we need each other. We need to be kind to each other.”
M.O.M.: Mother of Madness # 2 was released on August 25, 2021 and is available both in physical and digital formats.