The AWA Studios crime series Bad Mother has reshaped the way we look at the average suburban soccer mom for the proverbial future. April Walters lived a mundane middle-aged parental lifestyle raising two kids in the ‘burbs with a husband who’s barely ever around. But all that changed when her daughter Taylor is kidnapped by a psychotic hot-tempered crime boss named Ava. April’s life quickly goes from boring food shopping trips to blowing up privately-owned crime syndicate buildings overnight. While April’s evolution through each chapter has been fun to watch, sadly it all comes to an end in Bad Mother #5.
While Bad Mother #5 seemingly ends April Walter’s story, Bad Mother as a continuous series telling the tale of different moms has a nice ring to it. You just never know these days. Moving on, Bad Mother #5, Christa Faust, and Mike Deodato Jr. set up a smooth situation that throws all the major characters in mortal danger. This issue gets down to business rather quickly, but not without giving us another stone-cold psycho moment from Ava.
Helping to pull this off is the phenomenal pacing and sense of unpredictability that Faust and Deodato can create as the story continues to move forward. Some fiercely intense moments occur during the book’s opening sequence that strips away any chance of Ava having a soul, but it helps sell just how diabolically evil she is. One of the other blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gems of Bad Mother as a whole is the perception that once you reach a certain milestone, your life becomes stale. April Walters is a good reminder that you’re never too old or out of touch to do anything you set your mind to.
Deodato has brought such an amazing presence to this series. One of his strong suits lies in the art of transition — he makes paneling from one moment to the next look so simple that many of his panels don’t even require captions. In addition to that, his character designs add just the weight and depth that help balance the storytelling.
Bad Mother #5 ties up many loose ends to wrap up this series. The reader’s journey alongside April has been engaging, informative, and a lot of fun. Hopefully, Faust does consider additional volumes of her Bad Mother series telling the unheard stories of other moms. Make sure to check out the whole first arc and add Bad Mother #5 to your collection today.
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