Mother Panic #1 and the Rise of Young Animal
Written by Jody Houser
Published 11/9/2016
When American publisher DC Comics announced the launch of a new imprint earlier this year, it promised to offer something different. The release of Young Animal, fronted by rocker (the lead singer of the band “My Chemical Romance”) and Umbrella Academy scribe Gerard Way, has so far kept to the weird and eclectic side of DC superheroic stock-in-trade. The uninhibitedly promising Doom Patrol, the bizarre Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, and the psychedelically charming Shade, The Changing Girl have debuted strongly with their creative direction and likably oddball characters.
It is impossible to look at Young Animal’s spark without thinking of another DC imprint, the prominent and groundbreaking Vertigo Comics. In interviews about his new line, Way frequently mentions the personal impact Vertigo had when it launched in the 1990’s to formally offer more mature takes on life in the DC Universe. Previous iterations of Doom Patrol and Shade found a home at Vertigo, along with The Sandman, Swamp Thing, and Hellblazer. A few decades earlier, The Young Animal books would have fit right in with this roster.
