Love Everlasting #1 (Review)
Image Comics
Love Everlasting follows the small town girl of Joan Petterson and her confusing adventure with love. As she lives through multiple fairytale love stories, they start to blend in, and she needs to figure out what is real anymore.
Words by Tom King
Art by Elsa Charretier
Color by Matt Hollingsworth
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Love Everlasting follows Joan and her perception that she has finally found true love, only for it to start over again. We see her go through three stories, each ending at the happily ever after part. With each new beginning, the love from the previous tale becomes harder for her to forget.
With Lover Everlasting, writer Tom King moves away from usual superhero thrillers and into time jumps and romance. His story crafting keeps the readers guessing what is happening with Joan finding love and why it keeps changing when she is asked to be married. Using the different periods helps King establish new relationships and keep them separate.
Charretier’s art is the standout feature in this issue. She can blend and morph it to the changing location and time to fit the theme and stories. With her unique pop art style, each section is similar but different in tone and appearance. What stands out the most in the issue is how Charretier gives each version of Joan different personalities and styles.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Lover Everlasting is a phenomenal first issue but with some flaws. One of them is how expressive the art is but constrained by the repetitive panel layout on each page. Beyond that, the issue establishes the main character, conflict, and theme from the start. With the conflict set, King and Charretier can explore multiple stories while allowing Joan to figure out what is happening to her.