Review by Karl Verhoven

In her first graphic novel, Eve won. She saved the world, which is setting the bar very high for what she might achieve in Children of the Moon. In Eve, building on research carried out by her parents and accompanied by her older clone, Eve restored nature to a dead planet, including breathable air, meaning prolonged exposure no longer transforms people into zombies.

The problem cleverly extrapolated by Victor LaValle is that while Eve may have awoken from suspended animation and set things right, much occurred while she slept that’s not easily forgiven, and the android mind in her teddy bear Wexler has much to answer for. The Children of the Moon are a group led by a person who’s suffered, and grew up when Wexler was still programmed for atrocities. Or, as Eve’s sister puts it, “people don’t just snap their fingers and get over the apocalypse”. Furthermore, her parents prepared all sorts of contingency plans, and one of them now threatens the new stability.

If anything Jo Mi-Gyeong’s artwork is even more exceptional than last time. The people are emotionally strong, the technological designs are creative, and the page designs have instant appeal, yet this is never at the cost of sloppy storytelling. Armoured characters have so long been a staple of superhero comics, yet the Children of the Moon are nonetheless brilliantly costumed in white by Mi-Gyeong without even bringing Star Wars to mind.

At first it seems as if there aren’t going to be as many big ideas as there were first time round, and the conflicts will be on a far smaller scale, but that’s not the case. As before, the mixture of well intentioned girl and killing machine is a deliberately awkward fit shaping Eve’s dynamic, and Wexler’s presence influences how Children of the Moon plays out. The ending is bittersweet, but even with a breathable atmosphere it’s a harsh world.

What LaValle proves here is that Eve’s first appearance wasn’t just a great single story, it created a world that’s worth continuing exploration.