Eternity Girl (Visaggio/ Liew et al.)

CN: depression, suicide, body dysmorphia

Eternity Girl is a comic written by Magdalene Visaggio, drawn by Sonny Liew, colored by Chris Chuckry, and lettered by Todd Klein. It was published as a mini-series in DC’s imprint Young Animal in 2018, and was nominated for an Eisner Award 2019 as best limited series. The story follows the titular Eternity Girl, also named Caroline Sharp and Formless Girl and Chrysalis in various incarnations of her fictional comic book history.

Eternity Girl has shape-shifting abilities, but is losing control over her powers. After an incident at her agency she is put on leave. Without her job to provide her with reasons to exist, she spirals into depression and suicide thoughts. Her attempts to kill herself remain unsuccessful because of her immortality. But then her nemesis Madame Atom shows up, offering Eternity Girl a way out of her existential suffering. But it means destroying the whole universe. On the human side, Caroline’s friend Dani tries to be there for her. On the side of cosmic forces of order and chaos, Lord Crash attempts to save the world. All Eternity Girl wants is a way to end herself.

I really liked how the story rolled through overlapping realities. Dani is a great supporting character. Making mistakes, hurting her friend, wanting to help but feeling mostly helpless… Very relatable.

The comic features great page layouts and colors, sometimes psychedelic art. I also enjoyed how the creators played with putting the characters into various styles and stories, giving the story a metafictional spin and playfully showing the construction of identities, always impacted by the conditions and expectations contexts bring with them. The comic also helped me get a better understanding of how it can be to suffer from body dysphoria.

Red Sonja, Vol. 2: The art of blood and war

I liked the humor of the script (e.g. the running gag of Sonja needing a bath, because of her stench) as well as its depth, in particular in showing very specialized yet rounded characters which were not reduced to their talent. The repetitive task (find the person, get them to follow Sonja to the dying king‘s farewell party) was handled with entertaining variations. In a genre and medium that too often reduces women to eye candy, it is worth pointing out that gail Simone & Walter Geovani give Sonja agency, and show her as sexy but not sexualized. Then again, if you‘ve read a bit by Gail Simone you won‘t be surprised.

If you like sword & sorcery low fantasy with a generous pinch of humour, you will enjoy Red Sonja: The Art of Blood and War.