By Kelly Gaines
Good news everyone! Sloan is alive and well, possibly homeless, and asking the police to turn a blind eye to the rogue superwoman that blew up his home. His wife and kids are fine too- if anyone was wondering. On to important matters. Eternity Girl #3 continues Caroline’s graceful slide into what I assume is complete insanity. How else do you justify the desire to end all existence forever? There’s something eerie about a determined and motivational dialogue geared towards the ultimate mass murder. It’s the same passion and righteousness read in the lines of the Justice League, and somehow, it makes you root for Caroline. Sympathy for the devil? Maybe not. But it’s sympathy for a unique kind of darkness, one that is equally inviting and terrifying.
Issue #2 left us swirling in the chaos driving Caroline to her rope’s end, and maybe she’s passed it, but the ripples are severe. Unable to sit through a bad comedy show with the only friend she has left, Caroline shows how insignificant a straw must be to break the camel’s back. She storms out of the venue and catches a ride to her former boss’s house. In a rom-com, this would be the hilarious low point before everything works itself out. In Eternity Girl, the scene ends with Caroline leveling Sloan’s house. Full disclosure, I was certain Sloan and his family had just been murdered in cold blood. Apparently not, and I’m happy for them, but I do wonder If I missed some small detail that could have explained how they survived the destruction. In either case, Sloan gently tells the police to fuck off and calls in a more effective backup.
Enter Never Man. Never Man (who goes by Rick on his Rick days) is a retired hero familiar with the complexity of the Alpha 13 program. Sloan recruits Never Man to witness the chaos Caroline has caused as an incentive to help him bring her down. Without catching glimpses of the otherworldly conversations about existence and chaos as the readers do, Sloan is smart enough to know danger when he sees it. Like putting out a fire you started, Sloan has a calloused fixation on ensuring that Caroline is unable to hurt anyone again. Sloan clearly knows more about Caroline’s abilities than he originally let on and seems to have never intended on helping her fill in the blanks. Sloan makes the logical decision- neutralize the threat before it gets out of hand. It’s simple math, a cold calculation, and somehow it plays in synchronicity with Caroline’s feelings about herself.
What comes next? As much of a treat as watching Caroline barrel towards total annihilation is, I’m ready to step farther outside the philosophical. Eternity Girl has been a trip of a read. It’s heartbreaking, depressing, and stunningly written. The style of the language compliments the story’s tone with an intuitive talent that can only be pulled off by a skilled writer. #3 brought us closer to the cliff, and I’m hoping #4 pushes us off. I’m not ashamed to say Caroline’s nihilistic new creed is magnetic, and I am very excited for the next chapter.
Score: 4/5
Eternity Girl #3
DC's Young Animal