A Killer In Crisis: Eve Stranger #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead]
Eve Stranger wakes up in a hotel room, but she doesn’t remember who she is or what she’s been doing. All she has are memories of her father, a gun, and instructions. The instructions tell her to go to a different hotel, take an injection to keep her from dying, and do a job. Room service comes in and tries to kill her, but she pacifies the assailant. She goes to the cops and a doctor, but neither can help her. Elsewhere, the E.V.E project is tested with fatal results.
In a backup story, Eve Stranger is an ace reporter who finds an old lady whose cat stuck in a tree.
Eve Stranger #1 introduces us to the titular protagonist, an amnesiac hitwoman with killer instincts. She can fight and kill with expert precision, but her short-term memory is nonfunctional.
If you’re getting vibes of Christopher Nolan’s Memento starring Guy Pierce and Carrie-Anne Moss, then you’re not alone. Eve Stranger seems to have a similar situation, except she is tasked with killing people every day instead of trying desperately to discover her past. The notes indicating what she should do have a similar feel to how Guy Pierce’s character saved information in Memento, sans the tattoos (for now).
She is a charming character; she has little quirks and mannerisms that giver her more personality than your average professional killer protagonist. This is heightened somewhat in the admittedly weird ace-reporter backup story which attempts to blend classic comic quirkiness with a bit of existentialism.
Philip Bond’s artwork in the main story brings a lot of personality to the table too. Eve is sleek, expressive, and fast-moving. The action is exciting and grand. The color art from Eva de la Cruz is vivid and wild, partly helped by Eve’s hair and lipstick. Liz Prince’s artwork in the short backup story is quirky and minimalistic, and it attempts to mimic the style of old comic strips. Eva de la Cruz provides great color work to this segment too.
Eve Stranger #1 is a fun and interesting first step for this new Black Crown title. It’s premise is fun, it’s character is interesting, and the artwork looks great. There’s not much more you could ask for than that. This one gets a recommendation; check it out.
Eve Stranger #1 comes to us from writer David Barnett, artists Philip Bond and Liz Prince, color artist Eve de la Cruz, letterer Jane Heir, cover artist Bond, and variant cover artist Dilraj Mann.