I love me some romance and smooching. I am prone to getting weepy during Romcom’s and during all sorts of mushy emotional lovy dovey stuff in movies or TV. Hell, I can tear up during a commercial if it pushes the right buttons. So I immediately jump at all the ‘love’ comics which don’t get released as much as I’d like them to. When done right though, comics based on relationships and romance can be huge hits. Saga is basically a love story. Monstress has copious amounts of love and smooching stuff. Recent offerings like Bolero (which was really good and wacky) and Karmen (which was amazing not just because most of the comic was about the spirit of a dead girl flying naked around Spain) are examples of when the love stuff is done right. You wanna know when it was done wrong? Tom King’s recent 12 issue debacle of Batman & Catwoman.
My goodness that comic was bad. It looked amazing but we’ve gone over this haven’t we? Beauty does not equal story and like Liam Sharp’s Dragon Pig comic which was just reviewed King’s Bat/Cat was also devoid of plot and mired in a triple time-lined mess which was a jumble of WTF. I couldn’t finish the run despite how great the art was; I think I dropped off after 7 issues.
Anyway, now King is on a new series called ‘Love Everlasting’ and from the covers alone I was in. Then I saw the art…wow. Before I even get into King I have to extoll the virtuosic majesty that is Elsa Charretier. Her work on this book is absolutely stunning and fits perfectly into the tone and look that a romance comic from the 50s or 60s would have. Comic Book Universe, welcome your new Art star. I looked her up and her YouTube channel is chock full of amazing videos on process and story.
This vid is a great insight into failure as she draws Commish Gordon & Bats:
Her entire YouTube channel is a really wonderful glimpse into the process of comic book art so I highly recommend it. Plus, I loooove that French accent. I always wanted to date a French girl. I took four years of French in high school despite everyone telling me to take Spanish. I took it cuz, duh, French girls. Have any of you ever dated a French girl? It was impossible to get them to ever say yes to a date! They’re so ridiculously elusive. Bon jour. Hey there so, what are you…aurevoir. Wait where are you…bon jour. Oh hi, so I’ve got these tickets to…bon soir. Wait, come back.
I remember I was flirting with this French girl for months and she would never commit to a time to meet up then one day I was in Santa Monica and feeling blue. I went to the beach to stare into the ocan and sat down in a random spot. Minutes later the same French girl sat down a dozen feet from me with her female friend. Thank. You. God. Hey! Wow, what a coincidence! Ah, Issac, bon jour. Wait, don’t go aurevoir bon soir, let’s grab a…where did she go? She disappeared. Is she a sorceress? Where’s the smoke trail? C’est incroyable!
Alright King, don’t mess this up. You got yourself another Art star to team up with you and your mishegas, come with the boom bap Tommy! You start in and you see, okay they’re doing little short stories or vignettes; cute. Nothing special, nostalgic. Wait, it’s the same girl but in a different time period, oh boy here we go with KIng and his frikkin’ time lines. Oh, wait, she’s experiencing different versions of herself and she can’t remem – ohh that’s dope. Nicely done King, nicely done.
Everlasting Love puts an emerging artist Elsa Charretier in the spotlight and vaults her into her comic book stardom. Luckily, King meets her halfway and delivers a great fish hook of a premise that has me chomping at the worm for next month’s offering. In the meantime I came upon this article which might explain the mystery of a French woman
She sounds a lot like an LA woman but without the accent and appointment book filled with auditions For the record, I got kicked out of French class in high school when I answered that the verb fournir meant to fornicate. Well, it means to provide. You telling me nobody's providing anything during some good lovemaking Monsieur? I think my French teacher Mr. Henderson put a bad word in with the French girls when it came to me. Yeah, that's it.
Rating: 9.4
Verdict: Pull. Oui c'est magnifique!
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