Emilia Clarke’s debut comic book superhero gets power from period

'Game of Thrones' actor Emilia Clarke recruited an all-female creative team and made a comic featuring what is undoubtedly one of the most progressive female heroes in the genre. Titled "M.O.M.: Mother of Madness", the comic book will be published in July.

The actor said that "In doing my research, I found that 16% of comic book creators are female, according to a 2019 study, and only 30% of comic book characters are women. On the other hand, roughly half of comic book buyers are female. Something did not sit right with me in that exchange, and all these signs were telling me to go make my own."

'M.O.M.' is centered on Maya, a busy single parent whose life is upended by the discovery of superpowers, reports Variety.com.

"She's a single mum that's got to get shit done. This was born from the idea that single mothers are superheroes. You need superhuman strength to do that. When you get into your 30s and your friends start having kids, you're like, 'Oh my god. I was not aware of what it took. Holy shit,'" she said.

Another key identifier for the character is that all of her powers manifest from her menstrual cycle.

"The bloating, the hair growth, the mood swings, the [acne], all of it. We hate that when it happens, speaking for myself and everyone I've ever met who has had a period. What if we turned that around and made the period something that we can feel like this unique, crazy, superhuman thing that happens in our body? When Maya is scared, she goes invisible, when she's angry, she has superhuman strength. She can swing like Spider-Man from her armpit hair," Clarke says.

When it comes to menses, the actor thinks it's way past time that we normalize something that over half the world population experiences.

"She's so ashamed of her powers at the start. It's mental. Even today, if your tampon falls out of your bag, it's embarrassing. Why?" Clarke asks.