DC Comics
Eternity Girl #2
By Judah Churchill
April 18, 2018 - 14:20

DC Comics
Writer(s): Magdalene Visaggio
Artist(s): Sonny Liew
Colourist(s): Chris Chuckry
Letterer(s): Todd Klein



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Eternity Girl is one of the titles under Gerard Way’s DC Young Animal line. “The Next Wave of Weird” is how Mr. Way describes his Young Animal venture. Eternity Girl isn’t just weird though-“it has a ton of heart” according to Gerard. It’s a little peculiar for DC to advertise a group of comics as being weird considering they let Grant Morrison run rampant in the editorial room for years. Eternity Girl would not crack the top ten list of Grant Morrison’s strangest stories. It is a charming story though. It feels like an Image title and I appreciate Visaggio tackling the issue of depression and how it is bullying the protagonist. She is committing to letting Chrysalis /Caroline’s mental health define who the character is and what her journey will be.

Sonny Liew’s art is a bit of a misstep for me. The character design seems quirky in a way where I’m thinking everyone is cracking a joke every time they speak. Liew is also trying to stay on the Young Animal brand by making the lead Caroline/Chrysalis character look like a teenager-she’s apparently 35. There is a well-written stand up comedian character that looks like a crummy version of Edna Mode from the Incredibles that just slowly grates on you and sabotages the complex emotional weight that Visaggio has slyly crafted.
 
What makes the stand up comedian’s contribution important is how it sets up the disdain and resentment our protagonist feels toward having an unwanted role model thrust upon you. Visaggio pulls off a very tricky act of accurately portraying the many levels of mental health and how it affects those exposed to someone who’s depressed and their need to fix those who are suffering from it. I haven’t read DC comics regularly in a long while but I have been constantly pleasantly surprised by how much they are letting their creators write about issues that had seemed taboo for a mainstream comic not that long ago.
Rating: 8/10

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