[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Rachael Stott & Pete Woods
Summary
Right where Motherlands #3 left off, with Tabitha sniping her brother’s head off, #4 picks up. The aging Selena freaks out at the death of her son in the middle of the street. Tabitha turns on her mother though and explains she knew it wasn’t him, just a mechanical body with remote control. Selena asks why she wouldn’t have told her mother about it, why let her feel the pain, if even for a moment?
A life time of miss treating Tabitha is flashed back to again. A time when Selena was at a convention meeting fans. Tabitha got in line after some time being estranged from her mother. When she finally confronts her she asks a simple question, “Do you wish Bubba had stayed and I had left?”
Back in the present Tabitha and Selena go to some sort of aura cleansing doctor who puts Tabitha under the scope so that no one can track her anymore. Mother and Daughter have it out while she’s in the chair. Quickly the get on the topic of why Tabitha left Selena in an old-folks home to “enjoy” her retirement. Selena assumes that Tabitha doesn’t care about her mother and just stuck her somewhere cheap. Bubba probably put his father in a lavish place to relax and enjoy his older years!
The mother-daughter-duo soon part ways, in a chillingly similar way to their past and soon find themselves in the midst of two different firefights, one with the mob and another with Bubba!
Positives
In this issues we finally get to see Tabitha have the upper hand against her mother. Selena is shaken while Tabitha just shakes her head at how gullible her mother can be. They way they react to each other however, really shows that we often become just like our parents, for better, or worse.
From an artistic standpoint, there is a brilliant number of pages as Selena realizes that something is wrong in her life and with her relationship with her daughter, and most importantly herself. Throughout these pages we see the saturation of the panels drain from bright and vibrant to dull and washed out. In the final panels of this transition we see Selena alone in Tabitha’s apartment, everything appears grey, and the once powerful colors are faded and dull. It serves as a powerful visualization of what Selena has done to her self.
Negatives
There are no negatives worth mentioning in this issue.
Verdict
Motherlands #4 has continued the simple but powerful story of Tabitha and Selena being forced together after a life of estrangement. The way Spurrier, Stott and Woods, have made these characters look and feel so human is wonderful.
