Saturday, November 28, 2015

Comic Review: The Complete Love Hurts (Horrifying Tales of Romance by Kim W. Anderson) TPB from Dark Horse Comics

THE COMPLETE LOVE HURTS TPBWriter: Kim W. Andersson
Artist: Kim W. Andersson 
Cover Artist: Kim W. Andersson
Genre: Science-Fiction, Horror, Fantasy
Dark Horse Comics
October 28, 2015
Format: FC, 240 pages; TPB, 7'' x 10''
Price: $19.99
Age range: 16
ISBN-10: 1-61655-859-8 
ISBN-13: 978-1-61655-859-8
Lovelorn supervillains, psychopathic online daters, murderous reality TV show stars, and heartbroken cowboys, samurais, and astronauts star in this massive tome from Swedish comics creator Kim W. Andersson—making his US debut! Andersson delivers a shocking series of short stories about love gone horribly wrong—romance comics with brutal, terrible twists which show that, no matter who you are or what you do, love can be one deadly bitch!

* Winner of the Swedish Comics Academy’s highest honor!
* Into by Peter Snejbjerg!

Love, infatuation, rejection, disappointment – all are very human emotions we can relate to. Kim W. Andersson takes all of these and more and runs right off a cliff while being chased by creatures of the night in Love Hurts: Horrifying Tales of Romance. Adultery, young love, obsession, crushes, dating, marriage, children, having to leave a partner behind, envy, betrayal – the stories of varying lengths touch on all of these with deliciously warped fingers. It’s downright impressive how well he blends romance and love with the macabre and never seems to use the same twist or punchline twice.
Every story yanks the carpet out from under your feet, but never quite in the same way. The amount of themes he uses to a highlight the emotional aspects is also mind-bendingly fun: horror movie tropes of who lives at the end of a killing spree, a dark fairy tale setting where a woman deals with a prince who can’t decide on a bride, a woman reliving a first date over and over. Even the shorter vignettes give you something sideways and impactful, including a couple bent on attacking each other for a surprising reason to new parents showing off their little girl. Absolutely nothing is sacred, and there’s plenty of humor to go with the ‘what the hell.’ Despite the title, it’s not all romance, either. I’ll never look at a teddy bear every again and there’s a zombie/dark magic story that brings home the importance of family in an unforgettable set of pages.

Honestly, writers of all types can take a lesson from this book because the narratives are so tight, so forward-moving, so relatable, yet so memorably twisted, it’s a prime example of how to craft a short story. Every tale is unique, visceral, and strong – I only mention some above others because that’s what happens to be at the front of my mind. I’ve reread this three times now and can’t truly put a finger on any offering that doesn’t fit or serve the book well. The art is vivid, expressive, and adds to the outright insanity. Love Hurts is one of those rare collections that is strong from start to finish. It grabs you by the throat, plays tonsil hockey with you, and when you start to relax, it pulls away to reveal that you’ve actually fallen in love with an alien that has designs on your brain. It kept me laughing, left me a little disturbed, and made me want to recommend it to everyone.

5 lovelorn sheep




3 comments:

  1. This looks really fun! Also, I like your blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does! Thanks for the love! Hope you stick around. We have a lot of fun in our FB group too. You can eat moonpies and drink Kool-Aid 24-7 there

      Delete