Kill6BillionDemons II: The Successor's coming will be followed by 108 burning threads

[Weimann]

Seeing that page, it's interesting to see the way Cio was drawn when she was supposed to be a creepy, quasi-insectoid devil and not some dark sexy imp. I wonder if Abaddon planned for this to be the relationship from the get-go or if this was a different direction he decided to take. I'm kind of surprised, it really doesn't feel like this current Allison has any of the old one left in her.

The changes in Allison that have occurred during the comic's run, and particularly accelerated at the start of this most recent arc, are pretty interesting. On the one hand, I agree with you that the "current" Allison has made a pretty big leap from where she was previously, without clearly showing the trajectory. Her characterisation has not been very fluid, and while the current flashback covers some parts, it's one of Abbadon's weaknesses as a writer that makes it somewhat difficult to pick the comic up, I find.

However, I think the problem lies with the choppiness of the changes, not with the scale of them. It's true that few things of the "old" Allison seems to remain right now (even if we do see her retain a few habits, like putting on lipstick). But I think that's indicative of just how fake the old Allison was. She focused all her attention outwards, on presenting an image, and forgetting herself. I mean, even when she was trying to sleep with Zaid, the primary purpose was to check a box on a list, to be able to present as "not virgin".

Now, when she's developing abilities with a focus on herself primarily, it's not really strange that what emerges is something completely different. Training and learning and developing her abilities is what's helping her gain the confidence she was previously trying to gain from external approval. This also comes with a healthy measure of introspection. Previously, she rejected attraction to Cio because she wasn't attracted to females, as if her presentation of her identity made such feelings impossible. Now, when Cio eats plums all cutesome, she's confident enough that she doesn't need to negotiate her feelings with her sense of identity. It's a pretty different Allison, and if you thought the old one was funny then I can see the issue, but I do think it makes sense. It also plays into the Asian idea of martial arts training as honing not only the body but also causing spiritual and personal development, which seems to fit the setting.

And, frankly, if you look deep there were hints of this side of Allison previously as well. I mean, she might not have a transformation sequence or a cat, but she's starting to become a pretty magical girl right now.