Issue(s): Nomad #17
Cover Date: Sep 93
Title: "Mommy dearest"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
Rick Mays - Penciler
Greg Adams - Inker
Hector Collazo - Assistant Editor
Glenn Herdling - Editor

Review/plot:
Art on this issue is by Rick Mays, and (more so than his work on his two previous issues) it has a kind of Manga feel, almost a Bishonen style of drawing Nomad as like a beautiful young romance lead.

I guess the fact that the story starts off with Nomad trying on clothing lends to that feel.

Rick Mays will later pencil one of David Mack's Kabuki series, and i guess he does continue to draw on Manga sources, but not quite so "sketchy". The faces can actually get kind of weird but i don't necessarily hate the art. I actually like it some of the time; it's definitely a change of pace from most 90s Marvel stuff. One problem is that everything is very "big" meaning that we get about four panels to the page.

The story is about the return of Bucky's mother. We've seen in past issues that she's been trained by Nomad's rival Giscard Epurer. At that start of this issue she finds Nomad in the clothing store and gets Bucky away from the clerk.

Here's some weird faces while Nomad confers with the local Undergrounders in New Orleans.

The guy in the blue shirt changes so much he looks like a completely different person from panel to panel. Note also the "Wanted" caricatures.

In the bar with the Undergrounders, Nomad is approached by Epurer (Nomad calls him "Poo Poo"). Epurer says that he'll give Nomad the "idenity" of the person who took Bucky, in return for a promise to do a favor in the future. Nomad agrees. Meanwhile, the mom is realizing that taking care of a baby isn't easy.

Her rage at the baby triggers her to think back to her own life of abuse at the hands of her father and pimps, and she starts to doubt her ability to take care of the baby. Nomad catches up to her as she's leaving town. He's doubting that he has a right to take Bucky back from her and just wants to talk, but she understandably gets the wrong idea.

She puts up a fight but is not quite at Nomad's level.

And he leaves Bucky with her.

A dedication from Mays at the end.

I'm glad that Nomad realizes that he can't keep a mother from her baby. But i'm surprised that Nomad doesn't offer to stick with the mom and help her (this isn't the end of Bucky's story; i'm reacting to Nomad just walking away here).

Epurer promised to give Nomad Bucky's kidnapper's "identity" but we don't actually learn it. I don't know if it's an oversight or deliberate, but i think it's really weird that Bucky's mom is never given a name. I can see, for whatever reason, a decision to not give a last name so that Bucky would always just be Bucky (although she does eventually get a name unrelated to the mom). But at least give the woman a first name.

Also in this issue we see Senator Bart Ingrid unwrapping a "Super-Soldier Gun"...

...and we see Nomad's sister wondering about the recent visit that Epurer paid to her while visiting her mother, who is on life support in a nursing home.

This book rarely feels like it gels the way it's supposed to, but i really do appreciate how it comes across as being from the unique voice of the creators, in the writing and (with this issue, at least) the art. Even if it's not always to my taste, even if i don't always agree with Nomad's opinions and decisions, it's staking out some individualized territory. It was less true last issue (with the Gambit guest appearance), and next issue is part of a more traditional crossover with Captain America featuring Dr. Faustus and the Slug, but a lot of the Nomad stories have an almost "indie" feel. Which is nice during a time when Marvel has become increasingly corporatized.

Along those lines, this issue highlights a letter from someone very angry about the depiction of anti-homosexuality bigots in issue #12, saying that Nicieza is hurting Marvel's business by expressing his opinions in the comics:

My opinions on homosexuality, while differing from what is considered acceptable by Mr. Nicieza, are not arrived at without an education.... he makes a distinct and extremely negative reference to the far right. Has [it] ever occurred to him that some potential readers might just be on the far right? If it doesn't concern him that he's losing business, it really ought to concern you!

The response from Glenn Herdling is:

I would like to ask you where it's written that comic books should be consumed by mindless action at the expense of the writer's opinion? And the opinion expressed... was very simple - stop the hate. Sorry you disagree with it.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Nomad was in New Orleans last issue, and he's still there here. He says he's been in town for "a few weeks".

References:

• Nomad took Bucky from her mom in Nomad #3 (original miniseries).
  
• We saw Bucky's mom getting trained and on Nomad's trail in Nomad #12-15.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

"at least give the woman a first name". You're just saying that because you hate tagging her as Baby Bucky's Mom. :)

Nitpick: I think you mean bishonen rather than yaoi. Bishonen refers generally to the androgynous aesthetic often found in romance manga; yaoi is specifically gay . Though, yaoi is often also bishonen, it doesn't have to be.

Agree. Thanks.