Mothers can be one of the most significant, if not THE most significant influence on a person’s life, hopefully teaching you to make good choices and be kind to other people.  But even if they instead teach you to kill mercilessly or try to kill you, I think have to admit that is also probably still the most significant impact on your life.  For good or evil, a mother’s worth cannot be dismissed.  Let’s have a look at the worst examples of motherhood in comics.

10. Hera

In all fairness, it’s not her fault that she’s married to the most epic, legendary womanizer ever, and it isn’t her children that feel her wrath, but Hera has dedicated her existence to hunting down all of Zeus’ bastard demigod children, most recently the child of brash human woman Zola.  Obstructing her mission is another of Zeus’ offspring the Amazon princess Wonder Woman.  Even so, Hera had her vengeance, turning Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta to stone and her subjects the Amazons into snakes.

9. Granny Goodness

And Little Orphan Annie thought Miss Hannigan was bad?!  Granny Goodness’ home for girls is really a training ground for brutal, sadistic warriors that makes Marine boot camp look like a day at Disneyland.  Using mind control, torture and intimidation as teaching methods, Granny, one of Darkseid’s inner circle, has raised an elite strike force known as the Female Furies.  At one time Big Barda led this team in battle, before Barda was swayed to the side of good by Mister Miracle.  This infuriated Granny and she’s never forgiven her.  Then again, there are always more, unfortunate girls just waiting to be tortured into becoming Apokolips’ elite.

8. Anyone Who Sends Their Kids To Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

Seriously, what is their death toll up to now?  Are any of these concerned parents at all worried that this entire structure gets completely obliterated by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or the Hellfire Club every three months?!  And how do they keep rebuilding it so fast?  Just how rich is Xavier?  Shi’ar technology has to cost eleventy-zillion dollars and that’s just for the remote control!  The student body are constantly telepathically enthralling one another, if not outright killing each other!  One of their teachers is a virtual serial killer with a habit of flying into savage animal-like rages.  Their former headmistress once had her own school for mutants, all of whom were fried by killer robots.  She also dresses like a stripper.  I’m just saying… public school’s not looking so bad now, is it?

7. Ursa/Talia al-Ghul

Ursa, while trapped in the Phantom Zone, was impregnated by General Zod.  Once the child, Lor-Zod was born, Ursa tortured him sadistically.  When Zod hatched an escape plot to Earth, both parents gladly attempted to sacrifice Lor-Zod transporting him to Earth so that they could escape.  Lor-Zod came under the care of Superman, who decided that in order to hide him, he would adopt the identity of Chris Kent and with Clark Kent and his wife Lois.  Later, Zod and Ursa took back their child… to use as a bargaining chip to force Superman to surrender!

Talia al-Ghul seduced Batman, whom she and her father Ra’s al-Ghul considered to be her perfect mate.  She then trained their offspring, Damian to become a lethal assassin, in order to kill his father!  And just in case he failed, she had him cloned several times over.  In a recent plot, she placed a $500, 000, 000 bounty placed on her son’s head, prompting assassins from the world over to converge on Gotham in an attempt to collect.  Aw, Mom, you shouldn’t have!

6. Silk Spectre I

Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter, was one of the Golden Age heroes of the Minutemen.  With her sexually provocative costume, not to mention *ahem* outgoing personality, she often attracted “the wrong kind” of attention, which led to her being raped by her ruthless teammate The Comedian.  She later had consensual sex with him and became pregnant.  Once her daughter Laurie was old enough, Sally began relentlessly training her to follow in her “mystery man” stiletto steps, forcing her to come straight home after school and discouraging her from having any friends.  When Captain Metropolis of the Minutemen attempted to form a new team, the Crimebusters, Sally forced a 16 year-old Laurie to become the new Silk Spectre and join… alongside The Comedian, who then hit on his own daughter, who doesn’t seem to mind.  Ick!

5. Madelyne Pryor

A clone of Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor encountered Scott Summers some time after Jean’s supposed death and after a whirlwind romance, the two were married and very soon, Madelyne became pregnant.  After giving birth to their son Nathan, Madelyne begged Scott to leave the X-Men and move back to her “home” Alaska, but after Jean Grey turned up alive, Scott abandoned his wife and infant son.  During the Inferno event, Madelyne became the magically powered Goblyn Queen and helped open a portal into a demonic realm.  In order to keep the portal open, she offered to sacrifice her own son Nathan as well as several other mutant infants that had been gathered at the top of the Empire State Building.  No wonder Cable has so many issues!

4. Mystique

Mystique, shape-shifting mutant assassin, had a brief fling with Victor Creed (Sabretooth) and the pair produced a child, Graydon Creed who grew up to become an anti-mutant leader… so Mystique killed him.  She later had an affair with Azazel, an ancient demonic mutant that reportedly inspired the legend of Satan.  The result of this union was her next son, Kurt Wagner, who like his father looked like a demon.  She was attacked by locals and fled but abandoned her child who was found and raised by a gypsy woman.  Finally, she took in a distraught young mutant girl dubbed Rogue and trained her to join her terrorist organization, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  In a battle with the Avengers, Rogue took on Ms. Marvel who fought too hard against her power absorption abilities, resulting in Rogue leaving Ms. Marvel’s body an empty shell, while Rogue’s mind was being splintered, with both her own and Ms. Marvel’s personalities and memories swirling in her head.  Mystique did nothing to help her adopted daughter, forcing her to seek help from the X-Men.  Listen lady, if you don’t want to have kids, there are ways to prevent that!

3. Marie L’Angell

The L’Angell family’s power runs deep and vast.  The women of the family existed to breed further offspring, while the males became Preachers.  The family was very strict, arranging marriages for power and forcing its rule.  Marie’s daughter Christina escaped and met the kind, caring John Custer and they had a son, Jesse.  Eventually, Marie’s henchmen, Jody and TC found Christina and her family and returned them to Marie’s home, where Marie wanted Jesse raised to be a Preacher.  She had John killed.  One of the henchmen killed Jesse’s dog and when the boy cursed at him, Marie had him stuffed into a coffin equipped with an air hose and sunk in the swamp.  For a week!  When Christina protested, Marie had her killed without a care.  Later, TC killed Jesse’s best friend and when Jesse once again cursed him out, he spent two weeks in the coffin.  He eventually escaped and fell in love with a girl named Tulip, but once TC and Jody found him, they killed her and dragged him back, where he spent a month in the coffin.

And you thought being grounded and missing the biggest party of the year sucked?!

2. Rorschach’s Mother

Walter Kovac’s mother was a trashy prostitute who worked out of her filthy apartment and was angry at Walter’s presence and interference.  When she thought he insulted her johns, she would verbally and physically abuse him.  Due to her abuse and the things his underage eyes witnessed, Walter became mentally disturbed.  At the age of 10, he beat two bullies within an inch of their lives and was remanded to the state, but the damage had already been done as he grew into the violent hero Rorschach.

1. Sheila Haywood

Sheila Haywood was a doctor who married Willis Todd, but had to leave after she performed an illegal abortion that left both the infant and the teenaged mother dead.  She wound up in Ethiopia, where she began embezzling money and stealing drugs.  The Joker blackmailed her into replacing a truckload of aid supplies with his lethal Laughing Gas, and afraid for her own safety, she agreed.  Her son, Jason Todd, the second Robin, located her and she promptly betrayed him to The Joker, who beat him savagely with a crowbar.  Sheila had departed, but started to feel bad and returned to the warehouse.  The Joker set a timebomb to kill them both, and despite her betrayal, Robin attempted to shield her from the explosion.  When Batman found them, Robin was dead and Sheila was barely hanging on, long enough to mutter “He was a good son,” before passing away.  How would she know?  And GREAT way to show it!

What do you think of this list?  Did I leave off anyone you would have included?  Comment below!