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Review: Mara #5

By | June 20th, 2013
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Brian Wood and Ming Doyle bring “Mara” closer to it’s conclusion in the penultimate issue of the miniseries. How many more surprises are there in store for us? A lot, apparently.

Written by Brian Wood
Illustrated by Ming Doyle
Everything’s on the table as far as the military’s position on Mara, but who’s the one with the nuclear option? How much power can one woman hold before the world says “enough”?

People have been talking a lot about Superman lately and for good reason. He’s one of the biggest and longest survivng cultural icons that still matters to the world today. Which brings me to today’s issue, “Mara” #5 by Brian Wood and Ming Doyle. When “Mara” started, it was about an extraordinary woman who was a world renowned sports star, but as the series developed we’ve seen it become something else entirely. As Wood and Doyle introduced Mara’s powers over the following issues, we saw the series become a much more Superman-like story with a world that was mistrusting and unsure of Mara now that she was revealed to be superhuman. This issue, we find her isolated from all of humanity and still unsure of what to do next while the military targets her remaining family in order to find out more about her.

Brian Wood played a nice game of bait and switch with “Mara” by positioning the titular character at first in the spotlight of the world and having everyone love her only to take that away from her over the course of the series. This issue finds Mara desolate and isolated as the few people she knew she could trust have turned on her as she floats in space, alone. That’s really the crux of this issue and Wood plays it really well by showing how disconnected from humanity Mara has become because of her new found powers. This is also helped by Ming Doyle’s gorgeous art, which keeps Mara centered in large panels making her feel small and insignificant. As if what makes her so important to the world is what keeps her isolated from it. Wood’s writing of Mara and her isolation is really what makes this issue so engaging, even if it makes the issue feel slightly on the empty side.

When you get to the penultimate issue of a miniseries, one usually expects to find the action ramping up towards the inevitable climax, right? Wood and Doyle opt for a more gutsy approach to this issue, however, as they stop most of the action in order to focus more on the character. This could lead to some criticisms that not enough happens in the issue, but it works here mostly due to just how much care is put into the portrayal of Mara from the creative team. Wood is very thoughtful in his narration in showing Mara’s disconnect from humanity because of her awesome powers which shows in Doyle’s art in her graceful yet powerful flight. It’s not often that flight is portrayed as well as it is here thanks to Ming Doyle’s art. The issue becomes a microscopic look at how these powers and the events of the last four issues has change Mara and her perceptions. She’s finally free of the media that plagued her at the beginning of the story, but the cost is that she is now shunned by the world at large.

Wood and Doyle have crafted a very interesting and introspective look at superheroes with this series and, particularly, how the world would react to someone with that kind of power. The military don’t trust her and the media fear her and so she has nowhere to turn to, which leaves her completely cut off from the world. Not to bring up too many comparisons to other works, but the issue that Wood and Doyle have created here really take a lot of the ideas that Man Of Steel wanted to explore and take them to all new levels. Mara’s superpowers put her in a position where she is an outcast from the world and doesn’t know what to do, which is a very fundamental theme in that film. Yet, Wood is not bound to the constraints of a licensed character and is allowed to take that idea to whole new places as teased by the final page cliffhanger leading into the next issue.

“Mara” has been a superb series so far from two excellent creators and has really become a new standard in exploring superheroes in comics. This issue was a bold move from those creators as a more introspective approach to the build of a conclusion that we usually see in superhero comics and it worked. Brian Wood and Ming Doyle have created an excellent look at how superheroes work by creating their own universe and looking at the concept of superheroes through a different lens. This is truly how the Superman story should be explored for the 21st century.

Final Verdict: 7.5 – A solid buy for a series that you definitely should have been keeping up with.


Alice W. Castle

Sworn to protect a world that hates and fears her, Alice W. Castle is a trans femme writing about comics. All things considered, it’s going surprisingly well. Ask her about the unproduced Superman films of 1990 - 2006. She can be found on various corners of the internet, but most frequently on Twitter: @alicewcastle

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