REVIEW: ‘The Red Mother,’ Issue #7

The Red Mother #7 is published by BOOM! Studios.  It comes from the creative team of writer Jeremy Haun, artist Danny Luckert, and letterer Ed Dukeshire. Issue 7 begins with the return of the, now fully formed, Red Mother herself, now calling to Daisy by name. Meanwhile, Daisy herself is on a date with the charming Ian. The two stop for coffee and bump into two of Daisy’s friends, Jim and Hideo. As Ian and Jim shake hands we are shown that Jim has a tattoo of the mysterious cult that worships the Red Mother.

But even as things are going well in Daisy’s social life, her professional one is suffering. The puzzle that Leland Black has given her seems impossible to work with. To make matters worse, her bizarre hallucinations of a completely red world are beginning again. It seems that no matter how far behind her Daisy has put her traumatic past, it never truly went away.

With The Red Mother #7 Haun’s grander vision appears to have finally come into focus. That focus is as a story about trauma and survivor’s guilt. The past few issues have seen Daisy back in her element and thriving. But with the introduction of Ian, suddenly the dread and danger have returned. The way that Daisy’s guilt over the loss of her former significant other is manifested as a terrifying cult and menacing smiling figure is fascinating. But despite this subtext, The Red Mother is still a horror story, and with this issue the horror becomes more pronounced. To that end I do wish that there was more paranoia centered around Daisy.

For example, the comic goes out of it’s way to show Jim’s tattoo, but it appears Daisy doesn’t notice. While this serves its purpose to show how deep the cult has infiltrated Daisy’s life, it would have been nice to see her notice it. However, this is really the only negative thing I can say about this issue’s narrative. All of the familiar disorienting eeriness and building dread are ever present.

Luckert’s art continues to be brilliant. The characters feel like living breathing people, and their emotions play out crystal clear. The use of visual foreshadowing keeps things tense, even when they are at their calmest. The colors, particularly the use of red centered around the cult, are vibrant. Similarly well implemented are Dukeshire’s letters. Every panel is easy to read and the visualizations of sound effects, particularly some at the end, are vivid.

I’ve been a big fan of this series for months, and I am happy to say that The Red Mother #7 meets my high expectations. Every horror story should have something to say, and the subtext and message of this one are strong. It stands tall both as a rumination on trauma and survivors guilt and as a Rosemary’s Baby-esque thriller. This is a horror series that truly shouldn’t be missed.