Mothers. Everybody’s got one (unless you’re Superboy, who has two dads).

But in comics, motherhood has always been a major part of a hero’s psyche, for better or for worse. Which is why we wracked our brains to bring you a Special Mother’s Day Treat — a light-hearted compilation of the Top 20 Best and Worst Mothers in Comics!

Top 10 Best Mothers in Comics: Finding decent mothers in comics is no easy task, with many of them vying for space in the back of Kyle Rayner’s refrigerator. (What, too soon?) But the best of heroes always have a better mother behind them, and the best of the best have made the list:

10. Animal Man’s wife, Ellen Baker: She kept her family in one piece while her husband was considered MIA for a year, following the events of Infinite Crisis. And yet she still stayed strong, and kept her two kids hopeful during all that time. That automatically puts her on the list.

9. Queen Hippolyta: Warrior queen, yet tender mother. She was Wonder Woman’s confidante and best friend — even if at first she did not approve of her daughter’s compassion for Man’s World. Yet Hippolyta has always served her daughter, first and foremost, stemming from the love that turned a hunk of clay into Themiscrya’s first daughter.

8. Linda Park West: She dropped a career as a successful journalist to basically pioneer a new field of medical science — all in the name of her kids! Linda Park has her hands full with two Speed-Force-imbued children, but she always handles them — and her hyperactive husband, Wally West — with care. Give that woman a prize!

7. Sarah Connor: In retrospect, go Connor go! Now that Judgment Day has actually taken place, all that training the slightly off-kilter Sarah Connor instilled in her son John may be the only thing that saves his life in a world where machines have run rampant. (Editor’s note: She’s also my all-time favorite heroine.)

6. Invincible’s mother, Debbie Grayson: How this woman isn’t a sobbing mess, I’ll never know. The mother of Mark Grayson — aka Invincible — she survived heartbreak when she learned her husband Omni-Man was in fact an agent of the Viltrumites, sent to take over the planet. Yet she has not only instilled Mark with a bedrock moral foundation, but has also begun raising his half-brother, Oliver, as he ages quickly due to his alien heritage. A trooper if I ever saw one.

5. Blue Beetle’s mother, Bianca Reyes: Easily my favorite mother in comics, who handles her superpowered son with both humor and morality. Bianca Reyes has even teamed up with her son on one occasion, when a fight broke out in the El Paso hospital where she works. Never one to let her son’s “extracurriculars” get the better of her, she even chewed out Guy Gardner for creating a giant green fist in their backyard. You get ‘em, Mrs. Reyes!

4. Invisible Woman: Talk about a cool mom. She’s the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, and her powers act as a built-in security system for her children Franklin and Valeria. Why go to Disneyland when you can time-travel to the first World’s Fair? Invisible Woman Sue Storm can not only make that happen, but keep your kids safe as well! Is it any wonder she’s on the list for the Best Mothers in Comics?

3. Aunt May: The rock of Spider-Man’s life, the one who reminds him of Uncle Ben’s message — with great power comes great responsibility. Every time Peter runs out of cash or gets his wife stolen by Mephisto, Aunt May welcomes him home with open arms (even if she thinks he, like Danny Glover, is getting too old for this… stuff). Of course, she’s shacking up with J. Jonah Jameson’s dad now, which bumps her down the list a bit. What, it’s awkward!

2. Lara Lor-Van: She made the ultimate sacrifice — to send her son in a space capsule to make a new life for himself outside of the doomed Krypton. She even gave her infant a copy of Kryptonian history (at least in Superman: Birthright, my preferred Superman origin). Always an unsung heroine, Lara Lor-Van’s leap of faith meant the salvation of a universe. So it’s not too much to at least give her some flowers and chocolate, OK?

1. Martha Kent: Patron saint of all comic book mothers, she instilled in Clark Kent an unwavering sense of truth, justice, and the American Way. If it wasn’t for her, we’d probably be living on a cinder right now.

Top 10 Worst Mothers in Comics: This list, perhaps no surprise, had a little bit more competition. But in the end, we selected both the villainous and the neglectful, as well as some seriously bad mother — shut yo’ mouth!

10. Catwoman: What, she admitted it. She wasn’t a terrible mother in that she was abusive or anything, but in that she was a magnet for enemies like Black Mask. She ended up giving the child up for adoption rather than see it get hurt.

9. Talia Al Ghul: Like Martha Wayne before her, she’s given her son Damian everything — everything except decent socialization, that is. Besides the fact that Damian can never really have a normal life, she’s waited hand and foot on this kid, even cloning his organs so they could be replaced in a pinch. Wait, okay, I guess that sort of eventuality screams “bad mom.”

8. Arrowette’s mother, Bonnie King: Oy, talk about living through your children. Bonnie basically is a stage mom, a sports mom, and a raging loony all at the same time. Back in Peter David’s Young Justice series, Bonnie would attend the equivalent of PTA meetings in civilian clothes and a bejeweled domino mask, as she started a food fight with Wonder Girl’s mom. Awkward.

7. Black Canary: Black Canary goes down the list a bit from Catwoman, even though her plight was similiar. Her adopted daughter Sin was being targeted by the League of Assassins to become their new protege. Green Arrow then faked Sin’s death — without BC knowing — and absconded with her to a monastery, which then adopted the child. And not only did Black Canary not fight this (or continue her relationship with her now non-daughter), she even married the man for it! #parentingfail

6. Sally Jupiter: Like Bonnie, only much worse — she never let up. Ragging on her daughter Laurie for her choice in men, her choice in lifestyle, all until she decides to become a costumed hero once more, Sally Jupiter doesn’t realize how nasty she’s become until Julie is seemingly amongst the dead in New York City. Only when Laurie does return — albeit under a new name — can Sally Jupiter finally stop causing all the stage-mom damage that she spent 28 years doing.

5. Alien Queen: Her family tree includes face-huggers and chest-bursters. ‘Nuff said.

4. Rorschach’s mother, Sylvie Joanna Kovacs: Let’s see — prostitute? Check. Sees her Johns in plain view of her kid? Check. Slaps the kid around when he thinks she’s in trouble? Check. Oh, and she shouts that she should have just had an abortion. Cap it all off with a home life that created such a mentally cracked moralist known as Rorschach, and Ms. Kovacs gets on the list easy.

3. Martha Wayne: Because she never taught Bruce Wayne coping skills. In retrospect, this might have been a good idea. Unfortunately, she had to wait till the end of the movie. What, is this too soon?

2. The Scarlet Witch: Sort on the same platform as Madelyne Pryor, but boy is she a bunch crazier — and a lot more powerful. She created herself some children from Mephisto’s soul after marrying a machine — already a poster candidate for Social Services — and after these children were dispelled, she later went crazy and (A) destroyed the Avengers, (B) rewrote the world to put Magneto in charge, and (C) depowered 90 percent of mutants worldwide. On the plus side, Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed — those children reborn — are some awesome characters.

1. Ursa: She tortured her son, Chris Kent, in the Phantom Zone. Let me repeat that — she TORTURED. Her son. In the Phantom Zone. Give this woman a prize, because she’s the worst mother in comics!

What say you, Rama readers? Any moms we left out? Let us know and tell us why!

This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under DC Comics, Dark Horse, Image, Marvel, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.