REVIEW: ‘The Red Mother’ #1

The Red Mother #1 is published by BOOM! Studios. It comes from the creative team of writer Jeremy Haun, artist Danny Luckert, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. The Red Mother #1 opens with a macabre scene of a strange floating corpse, with its arms outstretched to the reader. The perspective then quickly shifts to a couple named Daisy and Luke walking down the street.

Having just left dinner the two are making their way home. Daisy tells Luke about an offer from her friend Pari for the two to travel to Norway. As they are discussing their future plans Luke hears a sound. Seemingly entranced, Luke follows the sound and passes through a gate where he vanishes. Daisy tries to follow him only to witness him being dragged away before her eye is slashed out of its socket.

Daisy awakens in the hospital. She speaks with a nurse as well as two police officers but no one can tell her what happened to Luke. The police explain to Daisy that she was found by a group of students and is lucky to be alive. When the nurse returns the police leave and Daisy is left alone once more. As time goes on Daisy struggles to acclimate to her life after the attack. But something about her has changed and she finds herself being stalked by a sinister entity with plans of its own.

Jeremy Haun’s script for The Red Mother #1 is exceedingly eerie and evocative. The character interactions are authentic and Daisy’s pain feels real. Whatever this being is that attacked Daisy, the story benefits from it’s anonymity. As a result every page after the attack is steeped in dread. First the dread that comes from following a survivor and seeing them struggle. But soon that dread becomes more tangible and supernatural. Haun does an excellent job of pacing this story and keeping it emotional, scary, and never letting it drag.

The art from Danny Luckert is equally great. There is a quality to the characters that makes them seem especially lifelike. When the more supernatural elements are added this provides excellent contrast. Of note is also the use of the color red in the art. At first there is little red, all the way up through Daisy leaving the hospital. But slowly each page becomes more and more drenched in red as the entity’s influence increases. What this will culminate in is unknown, but it is an excellent visual addition to the story. The letters from Ed Dukeshire are clean, easy to read, and the effects letters are well implemented.

The Red Mother #1 caught me completely by surprise. I’ve been expanding my horror comic reading and this leaped up towards the top of my favorites this year. From the creepy opening pages to the equally creepy ending, this was a ton of fun. I can’t wait to see where this series goes, especially considering how little it revealed in issue 1. If you like horror comics or are looking for a good one to start with, I can’t recommend this highly enough.

The Red Mother #1 is available wherever comics are sold.