Fangs (Review)

 

Drawn and written by: Sarah Andersen

Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Release Date: Available now

Fangs is a comic strip compilation from Sarah Andersen, the cartoonist behind Sarah's Scribbles. The central premise of the book is that a vampire and a werewolf are dating. It starts with their meeting, and offers up glimpses of what their relationship is like. 

While it was being released as a webcomic Fangs mostly stuck to a one story per strip structure, and there is no story arc to speak of. The relationship between the two lead characters gets more serious as time goes on, but that is more as a means to explore different aspects of what their dynamic might look like than evidence of a conventional story line. Elsie (the vampire) and Jimmy (the werewolf) are likeable people, with a clear chemistry which shines through across the pages. They make a couple couple, and the main drawer of Fangs is seeing how their personalities mesh with one another. 

Whether or not Fangs is something to purchase falls down to a couple of simple questions. Do you want to read a slice of life relationship comedy about funny couple situations with a supernatural twist? Are you okay with that being largely unconnected snapshots rather than something more akin to a novel? If the answer to those questions is "yes", then this may be the book to you. If you're still not convinced then read a page or two online, if you find yourself satisfied with just that, then don't get this book. If you find yourself wanting to read more, then go for it. 

Fangs is a pleasant book (with a touche of the macabre) about interesting characters being a couple (while also being creatures of the night) . If that's the type of comic which appeals to you, then you might want to check it out.  

Ever After (Review)

Drawn and written by: Olivia Vieweg

Published by: Graphic Universe

Release Date: 01/09/2020

Ever After takes place in a zombie apocalypse. The main characters, Vivi and Eva, leave their home settlement after events dictate they can no longer stay there, and travel across the country to find a new safe settlement in which to live. 

Ever After is a look at the idea of a zombie apocalypse through a lens which it isn't often shown; serene beauty. The sky is often golden, the trees are green, and the fields are lush. There are pages which just stop to show off the landscapes surrounding the characters, and such scenes are one of Ever After's key strengths. The vibrant, natural world is contrasted against the human characters, and the location in which the book starts. Unlike the lively countryside close by, the settlement has a cold, deathly, pallor to it, and the humans themselves have a sickly appearance to them. There may be death all around, but in the outside world, life carries on, while the human dwellings appear to be stagnating.

This dichotomy speaks to the core lesson which Vivi comes to learn, that the apocalypse isn't the end of the world. At the start of Ever After she has suffered a great tragedy. This loss, and her part in it continue to haunt her throughout the book. Learning to move past that tragedy is as much a part in her learning to survive as getting over her initial inexperience of life outside the walls which previously offered her shelter does. Unlike in other zombie apocalypse fiction, Viva and Eva do not overcome the world around them by recreating some semblance of their old life, they learn that accepting and adjusting to the new reality is what is needed in order to thrive. This is what distinguishes Ever After from other, similar stories. 

In Ever After, Olivia Vieweg has created a story which ties man's survival in a zombie filled world in with the process of dealing with grief. It is only when the characters accept what they cannot change, and appreciate their new surroundings for themselves for what they are, they are are able to move on and create a good life for themselves. Ever After is therefore is an optimistic story, one in which hope never went away, it just looks different now. This is a comic for anyone looking for a zombie apocalypse which is just a bit different than the ones we have become used to over the years. 

Don't Go Without Me (Review)

Written and drawn by: Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Published by: ShortBox

Available to purchase now

Don’t Go Without Me by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell is a collection of three separate stories; Don’t Go Without Me, What is Left, and Con Tremor, Con Ternura.  Each one of these tales takes a different look at connections formed between different people; exploring the ways we connect with others. In Don’t Go Without Me, the main character finds herself stranded in a parallel world, lost, and looking for her girlfriend. The world in which she finds herself is a perfect representation of the uncanny; the beings she runs into are a perfect blend of familiar and strange. In What Is Left, the lone survivor of a ship which ran on brainpower wonders through the memories of the woman whose brain was at its core. She never gets to interact with the person behind these memories, but still gets to know a sense of her through them. In Con Temor, Con Ternura a people who built their civilisation around a sleeping giant prepare themselves for the day that giant will wake up. They believe that this will bring about the end of the world, and in this end time they reach out for one another; for some final sense of closeness. 

It may be something of a cliche, but the word “bittersweet” is the most fitting way to describe the stories present in this collection. In Don’t Go WIthout Me the main character gradually loses all sense of herself, but is still moved forward by the strength of her connection to her girlfriend. In What Is Left, a woman lives on for just a bit longer after her death in the form of the memories she leaves behind; someone else is able to “see” her for the last time, but also the first. Finally, in Con Tremor, Con Ternura, a community of people react to their impending end by truly coming together as one. In each story there is a terrible situation and the characters involved feel a lot of pain, but there is a light which cuts through the pain, loneliness, and confusion each of the characters feel. That light is other people, and the connections we form with them. 

That’s what this book is about really; connection. Valero-O’Connell’s beautiful shows how important we are to one another, how we can inspire each other, and how we can comfort each other. Valero-O’Connell doesn’t spend time explaining the mechanics of how someone might get lost in another dimension, and the mechanics of “person’s brain powers spaceship” isn’t given much more than a paragraph; the reason being they aren’t what matter here. These concepts simply serve as the vehicle by which more intimate ideas are explored.

A sense of human connection breaking through darkness is further exemplified by the way that Valero-O’Connell has coloured the book. For the most part, each story is told in varying shades of one or two colours that are used predominantly, if not exclusively throughout each individual entry. Don’t Go Without Me is told in pink and grey. In What Is Left is coloured pink and blue. Con Temor, Con Ternura has the most variety in its colour scheme, but even if mostly sticks to a pink and blue format. The same character is coloured multiple ways to tap in to a variety of emotions to great effect. For example, in Don’t Go Without Me, the main character is lost and alone. By highlighting her in a different colour from the background she’s in, Valero-O’Connell pinpoints her sense of isolation. In What Is Left, the energy of the woman whose memories power the ship is drawn in pink, contrasting against the cold blue of her surroundings; a scheme which is perfectly fitting for a story about a character whose memory is kept alive in the vast expanse of space. In limiting the palette she has used,Valero-O’Connell is using colour to draw the reader’s attention to the thematic elements underpinning the book. It is a great example of how when it comes to colouring, sometimes less is truly more. 

Don’t Go Without Me is a beautiful book which is equal measures of sad, and uplifting. Valero-O’Connell utilises classic sci-fi/fantasy ideas such as parallel worlds, and spaceships to remind the reader that no matter how far into the unknown we go, what ultimately matters is how we relate to other people. The characters may be lost, their lives in danger, but this book never plunges into despair because of the relationships they build with other people. The end result is a book which is contemplative, earnest, and hopeful.