Atom Eve #1

Image Comics

Writer: Benito Cereno

Penciler, Inker: Nate Bellegarde

Colorist: Bill Crabtree

Mary Kay creates a super-soldier...

The hottest not-real redhead this side of those weird E-Surance commercials gets her own series in Invincible presents: Atom Eve. Invincible writer Robert Kirkman hands the reins to buddy Benito Cereno to tell the story of Eve’s shady origins. Apparently, Eve was engineered by the Pentagon to be the ultimate weapon. Her “father”-creator, the mysterious Dr. Brandyworth, gives baby Eve away at birth to save her from being used as a government operative, but Eve’s budding career as a superhero threatens to bring her into contact with the Global Defense boys again…

Writer Benito Cereno fails in his attempt to give new life to Eve, probably because he’s distracted by the fact he’s named after a Herman Melville novel. It’s a hallmark of Kirkman’s work that each character speaks with their own unique vocabulary, and the absence of this trait weakens Atom Eve. Eve uses phrases like “gah!” and “c’mere you,” which one might hear among college guys, but not among pre-pubescent girls. Cereno does find interesting ways to use Eve’s powers, however, and her uncertain relationship with Dr. Brandyworth holds the reader’s attention.

Nate Bellegarde’s pencils are the biggest weakness. He has a strange fascination with teeth that makes Eve and company look like escapees from a Steven Kellogg book,* and teenage Eve lacks any of the sex-appeal Invincible penciler Ryan Ottley gives her. Lord knows, when I buy my comics, I expect at least the same titillation I get from internet car insurance ads.

Worth the money? Only if you’re a die-hard Atom Eve fan. Even then, you may be disappointed.

*author of Pinkerton, Behave, Prehistoric Pinkerton, and Pinkerton’s Scratch n’ Sniff Housebroken Bonanza.