Maw #5: The Revelation

The final issue of Maw is here! And wow, what a way to end the series! 

Doyle has really created something spectacular here. It is so so full of visceral pain and horror, and yet it manages to move you, to shake you to your core. Can it be seen as a ‘morality tale’? Maybe. It certainly makes you look inward, as well as outwards. It makes you question the morality of our society, one which is not very forgiving of its victims. 

But what Maw does so brilliantly, is take all that anger, all that pain, which is rooted in us, and personifies it. It shows us what happens when all that rage is let out. And the image is both satisfying and scary.

In this issue, we get our answers about what happened to Marion. And the answer is that she is let down and used by everyone. Almost everyone plays a role in violating her and stripping her of her agency. She doesn’t really have that much of a choice in terms of the her transformation, because that role is chosen for her. As is revealed in this issue, the women of the commune choose Marion as a vessel to put in their own trauma, which then gives birth to the monster. 

Marion was in no way the ‘perfect victim’ by any means. When we look at reports of assaults today, we see an attempt to construct the perfect victim, one who was likeable, friendly, made all the “right” decisions, was wearing the “right” clothes, was “just” out for a walk etc. This is done in an attempt to justify our sympathy towards the victim. It’s easier to post on Facebook about someone who was just out for a walk, wearing big wintry clothes over someone on a night out, loud, disruptive and drunk. Marion was the victim who would have made people uncomfortable. Whom people may have sympathized with, but where they would also have said, ‘if only she didn’t do this’, ‘if only she didn’t do that, she would have never been assaulted’.  Maw forces you to face that and to question your own beliefs and morals. 

Maw also highlights how the victims, at their most vulnerable, can be taken advantage of those who say they are there to support them. To fulfil their own agendas, to get revenge for their own trauma, Diana, Miranda and the women of the commune take advantage of Marion. They strip her of her agency, and fill her in to the brim with so much pain, that it takes over her, and explodes out into a monstrous transformation. One could argue that Marion does have the agency to embrace her monstrosity at the end, but is that truly the case? When there is no way for someone to turn back, is moving forward really that much of a choice?

Kaplan and Mascolo’s partnership in this run has been nothing short of amazing. To create these stunning, terrifying and evocative scenes, next to Rae’s beautiful lettering, they all contribute greatly in bring Maw to life, and I cannot imagine what Maw would have been without it.