Coming
late to the party (again!), with DC Animals’ Mother Panic, which is set in
Gotham City. Calling her an ally of Batman’s would a major overstatement, but
she’s not really a villain either. Competitor might be the most appropriate
description.
The
features two storylines, one detailing Mother Panic’s origins (dead father, crazy
mother, abandoned in a Catholic boarding school by her indifferent brother),
and her crusade against… well, we’re not really sure.
Telling
the origin in snippets of flashback has become a bit of a cliché, but such is
the nature of comic books. There are only so many ways to tell such a story,
especially one involving a new character – or a new variation on an old one.
I’m
liking Tommy Lee Edwards artwork here. I used to be unimpressed by his work,
but here it seems so well suited to the Bat-universe. I could easily become a
fan.
And
speaking of fans, I was thrilled to see the reunion of Phil Hester and Ande
Parks on the back-up feature, “Gotham Radio,” written by Jim Krueger. I adored
their work years ago on Green Arrow,
and it’s only gotten better since then. The team says more in three pages than
most writer/artist teams say in 10.