Eve Stranger is back and things are getting complicated…
Hot off the heels of her second issue, IDW Publishing has unveiled the third instalment of their new series Eve Stranger: a high-concept spy thriller about the world’s most perfect assassin who can’t remember one week from the next and has a backstory to die for. Or, well, kill for.
Following on from the cliffhanger ending of the second issue, Eve Stranger finds herself armed with a new BFF (a once-betrayed girl turned King Kong-sized gorilla) and a chance to discover more of the truth about herself. Scribe David Barnett takes the opportunity here to fill in the biggest missing chunk in Eve’s backstory – namely how she gained her skills and became such a deadly weapon in the first place, in flashbacks
The comic’s more light-hearted companion also continues to steal the show – Eve Stranger: Ace Reporter sees a child version of Eve sit down with a Freud-esque psychiatrist to explain her persistent delusions of being the super-spy that we know and love. As to be expected, the tables turn more than once, and this peek inside Eve’s head is frothy and heightened fun.
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The third issue of Eve Stranger continues to impress with its irreverent style – it’s not afraid to show more adult content, such as sexual scenes or exploding heads, but also maintains a sense of high-energy fun that keeps things interesting (here we have the aforementioned talking gorilla, along with some crooning primates and plenty of jetpacks to keep the zany quota high). The flashbacks to Eve’s childhood are especially well done, given that they take up the majority of this issue’s narrative arc. Her scientist father is drawn with compassionate shading, a man who just wanted to save his daughter’s life by any means, even if those means lead to devastating consequences for himself and all involved.
This saga continues on into the present-day storyline as Eve searches for herself, leading to a fantastic cliffhanger that looks set to entice new readers into the further adventures of the series. I for one will be happily awaiting the next instalment and hope you will be too.
Eve Stranger #3 is available digitally and from comic shops.
