On July 21, the first issue of Clarke’s comic book, M.O.M.: Mother of Madness, hits shelves via Image Comics, and her concise elevator pitch describes the three-issue miniseries as “Deadpool meets Fleabag.” Mother of Madness follows Maya, a single mother, chemical engineer and superhero whose powers derive from her menstrual cycle.
“It didn’t come out of nowhere.
“Everyone I know and everyone I’ve spoken to who is a part of the Marvel universe — and actors talk! Everyone has only the highest praise to offer.
Clarke is also looking back at 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, which trended last month on its 3-year anniversary as part of an effort by fans to see that story continue.
But I’m afraid I’ve heard nothing of being the case, so maybe I’ll just write it and send it to them.
I could’ve had a bunch of friends to hang out with, but yes, it’s mildly surreal to be seeing all of that again.
In a recent conversation with THR, Clarke dives deep into Mother of Madness and why she wanted to try the comic book medium.
So we joked about it, like, “Wouldn’t it be funny if there was a superhero that was very relatable and with a little bit more comedy? And wouldn’t that be a fun thing to do?” And then the idea just stuck with me.
So I was like, “Well, what if the comic is that? What if the comic knows the lineage of female superheroes, but makes her truly relatable?” So I wanted Maya to have a super suit that she could pee in and undo the fly of when she had a big pizza for lunch.
The comic that I hope we’ve reached, which I sure as hell didn’t do on my own, is this mix of the comedy, but there’s also the emotional truth within it because Maya doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing.
Yes, I wanted everyone who takes part in the creation of this comic to be female because we’re telling a very female story, so that makes complete sense.
I’ve figured out a lot of stuff that I didn’t realize the extent to how much I needed to figure out, and it’s been a journey.
If I can call it this, we’re using the vehicle of the menstrual cycle, hormones and periods as a vessel with which to describe, “I am a human, I have feelings, I am told to feel bad about those feelings, which makes me feel worse, and now here I am.” So we’re attaching superpowers to those feelings, to those emotions and to those things that we hate about ourselves, and we actually see that they are unique and beautiful.
You hear about those moms who, to save their child, have superhuman strength and can lift a car themselves.
Game of Thrones was the first thing, and I’ll never forget going to the cinema for the first time after making it and being like, “Why I am wondering what take that is? Why am I wondering where they are filming? Oh no, I can see that they did this.” With every new medium, you learn a lot about it just by making something in it, and then you view that medium in a different way.
Everyone I know and everyone I’ve spoken to who is a part of the Marvel universe — and actors talk! Everyone has only the highest praise to offer.
Well, for the record, I really have to state that that isn’t why I made the comic.
It’s also a nod to the incredible social media world that we live in and the way you can have a complete other life online and be profitable from it.
I don’t think she felt herself to be strong enough at that point to go on and escape Dryden’s grip.
But I’m afraid I’ve heard nothing of that being the case, so maybe I’ll just write it and send it to them.
I could’ve had a bunch of friends to hang out with, but yes, it’s mildly surreal to be seeing all of that again.
She’s got her own life that I explore.” So I think that there’s the show, the impact of the show, the impact of the show on me, personally and professionally, and the zeitgeist-iness of it.
But I’m just not at a point where anyone else agrees to the point where they’ll hire me to be this whole other person.