Mother Panic

Mother Panic is an American comic book series written by Jody Houser, illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards, and published by DC Comics under their mature readers Young Animal imprint. It tells the story of Violet Paige, a woman living in Gotham City who becomes the vigilante Mother Panic to get revenge on the people who tortured her in her youth. The series features guest appearances by Batman and his allies, and is the only Young Animal book to feature an original character.^[1]

Young Animal is an imprint of DC Comics, designed to tell stories set within the DC Universe aimed specifically at mature readers.^[2] Mother Panic was the final of the imprint's four launch titles to release. The series and its title character, Violet Paige, was conceived by Young Animal curator Gerard Way and illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards, both of whom conceptualized the character's background.^[3] Jody Houser, the author of Valiant Comics' Faith,^[4] was asked by Young Animal editor Molly Mahan to write several sample pages featuring Mother Panic to see if she "could nail [her] voice". Houser, who had grown up reading Batman, was hired shortly after turning in her work and began to write the series. She expanded upon Way's and Edwards' concept to "flesh out" the main character and establish her within Gotham City and the Batman mythos.^[3]

Unlike the other Young Animal titles, which feature established DC characters such as the Doom Patrol, Mother Panic features an original character created for the series.^[3][5] Houser's vision of Paige was essentially that of an anti-Batman: unlike Batman, Paige's identity as a vigilante is "not entirely an act" and the character as a whole is "messed up". Houser hopes that the series will last for several years and that Paige will continue to evolve. She also wants to explore aspects of Gotham not seen in other Batman-related comics, due to the mature themes of Mother Panic; for this reason, she is excluding well-known adversaries such as the Penguin and Catwoman. The first several issues were illustrated by Edwards,^[3] followed by Shawn Crystal^[6] and John Paul Leon.^[7] Jim Krueger writes a backup story called "Gotham Radio" for the series.^[8]

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The first issue of Mother Panic was published on November 9, 2016,^[3] cover-dated January 2017.^[9] The issue's story established Violet Paige and the series' setting in Gotham City, and featured a cameo by Batman.^[5][10]

The series will continue into 2018. It will relaunched with a new first issue and given the subtitle Gotham A.D. Unlike the first series, the second volume is set in a dystopian future where masked vigilantes are outlawed, Batman having abandoned Gotham.^[11]

Mother Panic has received generally positive reviews from critics. Reviewing the first issue for IGN, Jesse Schedeen called it the standout of the Young Animal lineup. He wrote that although it was set within Gotham City, Mother Panic felt distinctive from the Batman family and surreal.^[5]