M.M.

Lore & Background

Mother's Milk is a big, physically imposing and highly patient and methodical African-American man, appearing first in issue #2. Taught by his father to check every possible angle and means of attack, he can be somewhat particular and compulsive, getting annoyed whenever anyone does not put a drink coaster under their glasses or fails to sort out trash properly. He is the only member of the team, aside from the retired Greg Mallory, who is an American citizen by birth. In issue #35, M.M. reveals he is the only member of the unit exposed to Compound V since conception. His mother worked in a factory that had previously been a Vought-American laboratory, not sanitized afterwards, leading to her contamination. As a result, his brother Michael was born with severe mental disability and he himself was born needing regular doses of his mother's breast milk to survive. Issue #17 showed him throwing up and feeling disturbed by the constant need, while also finding the nourishment highly energizing and developing into a breast fetish, adding to his discomfort. His father worked tirelessly to sue Vought-American over his children's special needs and eventually succeeded, but the experience took a large mental and physical toll on him. M.M. became aware that Vought's lawyers were shrugging the loss off, but never told his father. His brother Michael died soon after, killed by the manifestation of his own superpowers; their father died from the stress of trying to sue VA over and over again. His mother was left broken and unwilling to fight anymore, becoming morbidly obese; her own powers expressed themselves due to her overwhelming despair, mutating her into a Cthulhu-like creature. She now lives in M.M.'s basement, completely unaware of her surroundings.

Reader's Guide

Mother's Milk is a member of The Boys, a group of CIA-sponsored black ops agents who observe, record, and sometimes liquidate Supes. He is the first naturally-born Supe, requiring regular consumption of his mother's Compound V-enhancing milk to survive. His powers manifested during an army heavyweight boxing championship match, where he accidentally killed his opponent by punching his head off. He is methodical and compulsive, checking every possible angle and means of attack, and gets annoyed when others fail to use coasters or sort trash properly. He acts as Butcher's second-in-command and is one of the few people Butcher treats with civility. M.M. is the only member of the Boys (other than Hughie) who believes some superheroes might be decent. He has a great deal of affection for Hughie, which led him to put Hughie in contact with Colonel Mallory after discovering Butcher had been manipulating Hughie. His arc culminates in a confrontation with Butcher over his genocidal plan to kill all Supes and potential Supes, including M.M. and his daughter.

Did You Know?

• In issue #6, Hughie is noted as the only member of The Boys (other than M.M.) who thinks at least a few superheroes might be decent people.
• M.M.'s daughter Janine, due to Compound V, matured early and appears 16–17 but is only 12 chronologically.