Dec 12, 2022
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Look at my Slim Mayhem edit Boy
365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out Villains - One Villain, Every Day, All Year…
May 10th - Ma Mayhem
A villain from the Batman Beyond Universe, Ma Mayhem is a gang leader who has embraced an anachronistic theme evocative of the gangsters of the 1930’s. Jilted by her former husband who had run off with another woman, Ma Mayhem and her sons embark on a crime spree to acquire numerous objects with particular meaning to her. This leads to a clash with Batman (Terry McGinnis) and it would be the first of many altercations between the two parties. Voiced by actress Kathleen Freeman in the animated series, Ma Mayhem was something of a homage to Shelly Winter’s character of Ma Barker who bedeviled the Dynamic Duo in the 1960’s Batman television series. Ma Mayhem’s first comic book appearance was in Batman Beyond #19 (2001).
2x19 “The Eggbaby”
Terry has to juggle school with work while testing out his parenting skills in the funniest episode of the entire series.
Plot
Terry is failing Family Studies when he is given an assignment to take care of an electronic egg that acts like a real baby in order to simulate parenthood. With the assignment being half of his semester grade, he’s under pressure to do a good job. Unfortunately, at the same time a crook named Ma Mayhem and her sons are pulling off heists across the city. Things become complicated - and hilarious - as Terry has to try to care for a ‘child’ and be Batman at the same time.
Villain
After a string of one-shot corporate villains with no real gimmick, Ma Mayhem is a breath of fresh air, finally bringing us a memorable rogue, even if she’s only in the one episode. A large, middle-aged woman with two grown sons, she feels like she stepped right out of Batman: The Animated Series - her look is retro and she talks about the good old days, but this hardly feels like a disconnect from the cyberpunk Beyond. Rather, she connects the two series together, reminding the viewer that they are part of the same fictional world.
She was clearly written specifically for this episode, as she’s a perfect foil to Terry’s current predicament. As Terry struggles with the supposed responsibilities of parenthood, Ma is an example of bad parenting - she is overbearing, she belittles her sons, she hits them - and it works as a great contrast to Terry.
She may be a one-shot villain, but she’s one that sticks out in your memory.
Character Development
This episode plays to the series’ real strengths - problems grounded in Terry’s character. Once again we see the stress of trying to balance a personal life and Batman, but this time it’s for a comedic angle, instead of angst. And that’s what makes the episode so funny - all the comedy comes from Terry’s very relatable teen problems. The conflict in the episode isn’t a battle over the greater good, it’s about trying to keep from failing a class.
The really great thing about this, though, is that it helps to build on what kind of a person Terry is. Throughout the series, we have seen that Terry is a pretty bad son, a pretty bad boyfriend, and a pretty bad student. Batman is the one thing that he’s really good at. This makes for interesting character moments but can be pretty bleak, especially with the constant reminders that being Batman lead to Bruce ending up alone and miserable. And this episode starts going that same route, showing Terry as a pretty bad father... but then we see his dedication towards keeping what is essentially a Furby safe, and in the end, there’s some hope for him, as he’s the only person who got an A on the assignment.
Rating
Five out of five. This episode was the only episode of Beyond to win an Emmy, and it deserved that win. It’s a fun, light episode, but it’s rooted in character growth. While the animation isn’t particularly great, it’s crisp. More importantly, though, is the writing. It’s a tightly written episode with no wasted space or filler, no extraneous chase or fight scenes, and it’s full of perfectly timed jokes that always land. Every time I see the episode, I laugh, even though I’ve seen it multiple times and know what’s coming. It is absolutely worth checking out.