More Comics Please! Issue #2

More Comics Please! is a space for comic book reviews: think of it like a friend telling you about their latest read! Today’s comics are Eve, How to Break a Curse, and How Do We Relationship? Volume 1.

Content Note: deals with the deaths of parents, murder, and the climate crisis; also contains mentions of deliberate calorie restrictions to impact the onset of puberty

What It’s About

Eve is a scifi story with a tinge of horror and a heaping of hope mixed in about a future in which a young girl fights to restore humanity amidst a world altered by the climate crisis.

What Worked for Me

✦ The art and coloring in this are so wonderfully vivid and full of movement! It really flows well with the story, enhancing its strengths and making the occasional lull in the text still interesting to look at.

✦ This story is genuinely so wonderful and heartbreaking at once. It was innovative and somehow familiar at the same time, which is an impressive feat.

✦ The characters’ relationships all felt very real and nuanced to me, which made the emotional moments all the more impactful.

✦ I really enjoyed Wexler’s dry wit throughout the book.

✦ The prescience of Victor LaValle’s writing about people refuting the climate crisis as they drowned and about the reluctance to prepare ahead of time for a pandemic until after three of them is just– *chef’s kiss*

Spoilers follow!

✦ The character designs were really great; while I would have appreciated some fat and disabled characters in the world that remains, I thought the lean, angular design of the children was helpful at demonstrating the scarcity of the resources, especially when compared to the adults in Osiris.

✦ Oh, how I absolutely loved the relationship between the Eves! It was such a touching exploration of self-love and -care, and I was really moved by the small moments of tenderness between them as a contrast to the horrors of the world around them. I really appreciated that they took time to make a literal space for caring for themselves.

✦ I also really appreciated Victor LaValle ending the story with a push for us to imagine the future without despair, to manifest hope. It calls to mind Mariame Kaba’s regular reminders that hope is a skill we must nurture to create the future we dream of.

✦ I’m not sure if it was intentional, but I loved the way Eve’s mom’s design called to mind the imagery of Rosie the Riveter.

✦ I liked the approach with the mangroves and the thoughtful consideration for how the characters might adapt their environment to the changing world. Very interesting.

✦ I liked the progression of Wexler’s character though the story and how the tale of all the Eves flowed parallel to his increasingly altered behavior and appearance.

What Didn’t Work for Me

✦ I always struggle with comic books that use a lot of heavy black inking. It’s difficult for my brain to process these kinds of visuals as I read.

✦ I found the lettering to be a bit cramped and small, making it difficult to read at times. I would have appreciated a slightly larger approach with more breathing room in the leading.

✦ I think, as with a lot of comics that start out as single issues, some scenes felt a bit rushed and could have benefitted from a little slowing down to let the emotional impact really sit with us.

✦ While I appreciated the tying in of folklore with Osiris and Horus and Set, my attention started to wander a bit with these moments. I’ve always struggled with keeping mythology organized in an understandable way in my mind (which is also why I don’t do well with long running series like Batman!), so this was a struggle for me, but I appreciate the way it enhanced the story and think that a lot of people will appreciate its inclusion!

Overall

I give Eve 5 out of 5 speech bubbles: this was an amazing book, and I want everyone to read it right now so we can talk about it!

This book really carries so much nuance and finesse with its story and its art, and I definitely recommend checking it out for yourself– especially with the sequel out in single issues now and in TP in August! Its timing is also very much relevant to multiple ongoing issues in our lives, and LaValle’s combining of these subjects is appreciated.

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Here are a few ways you can get your hands on a copy!

The sequel, Eve: Children of the Moon, is already available in single issues now, and the Eve: Children of the Moon TP*, collecting issues 1-5 comes out on August 1, 2023!

*New to comic book terms like TP? Check out my page on Comic Book Terms and Definitions!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens, I Walk with Monsters by Sally Cantirino and Paul Cornell, The Low, Low Woods by Dani Strips and Carmen Maria Machado (SA trigger warning), or The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade.

What It’s About

How to Break a Curse is a gentle exploration of relationships and how we can change our views on them. The story and art are cozy and inviting with the inclusion of fae and magic and a very glamorous witch!

What Worked for Me

✦ I loved the whimsical designs in here! The cohesion of the volunteers’ uniforms invited intrigue and lended mystery while also hinting at a broader world. Gave this short comic a very well-grounded sense of world building.

✦ I love that the witch was very glamorous; it was unexpected, and I found it delightful.

✦ The story had a great approach to exploring the ways we come to view ourselves and our relationships; I appreciated the way Mapurl ended the story and flipped certain ideas around to be seen from a new angle.

✦ I really liked the way the Cecily and Wren’s designs complemented one another! The designs also served the characters’ personalities well, too.

✦ I like the ways the creator played around with some of the panel formats to convey certain emotions and memories. I thought the moments where Cecily and Wren were initially discussing their curses were particularly impactful.

✦ I thought the story did really well in showing a gradual shift in the two characters’ relationship, especially in such a short few pages!

What Didn’t Work for Me

✦ The style could be inconsistent at times; this honestly doesn’t bother me too much, but it was noticeable and might throw some people off a bit– or maybe not!

✦ The texture overlaid on the overview of the city threw me off quite a bit and felt out of place with the rest of the comic’s style.

✦ I found the interaction between Cecily and Wren a bit off when they were finally at the witch’s tent. I felt like that moment could have been drawn out just a tad longer to give us more of an emotional impact. Even just a thank you would have helped for me!

Overall

I give How to Break a Curse 4 out of 5 speech bubbles: I really liked it and would definitely recommend checking it out!

It’s a sweet, pick-me-up kind of story with lovely art and just enough magic to make me feel at home.

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Head on over to Mapurl’s website for a physical copy!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Don’t Speak to the Fae, a minicomic by Jade Zhang, Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama, Darlin’ and Her Other Names by Olivia Stephens, or The Beechwood Helm by Letty Wilson (also has a PDF version).

Content Note: This book involves a lot of someone pressuring their partner to have sex when that partner is clearly uncomfortable and not ready. There are quite a few manipulative moments, some comments that feel anti-asexual, and some victim blaming-type language throughout the book.

What It’s About

How Do We Relationship? Volume 1 is, according to the author, a book exploring the kind of relationship that doesn’t begin in a fairy tale kind of way; it dives into the messy dynamics of getting to know someone as a romantic partner.

What Worked for Me

Spoilers follow!

✦ I really enjoyed the fact that no one in this book was blatantly anti-queer. It’s nice to read a book that allows the characters to be wary of it in their lives but ultimately ends up not having to deal with that on the pages.

✦ I liked that Saeko’s mom was super chill about her having a girlfriend. I liked that she wanted to make a good impression on her and was also treating the two women’s relationship as a completely normal thing. I don’t see that often enough, and I was glad for it to be in the story!

✦ The artwork was very cute and expressive. I really enjoyed the way the creator utilized facial expressions and body language to tell the story; it was quite effective in conveying the mood throughout, and there was a lot of energy throughout the pages. The panel layouts were also well varied.

✦ There were some nice character designs in here, and I liked that the creator showed us how Miwa and Saeko looked different when they were younger during the flashback scenes. That felt really realistic to me, seeing younger queer people find ways to change their expression as they age.

✦ I liked that the creator dove into discussions about the fear of losing friendships when coming out. I’ve been out for over a decade, and I still have that concern about what will happen when I come out to someone new or when I push back on some aspect of my identity that someone close to me is wrong about. Our feelings can fluctuate, and this book represented that fluctuation well.

What Didn’t Work for Me

Spoilers follow!

✦ I intensely disliked the way Saeko continuously pressures Miwa to have sex throughout the book despite Miwa making it very clear that she’s not ready for that. It was very uncomfortable to read, and it made me angry that this was portrayed as Miwa being, quote, “a pain in the ass.” She’s repeatedly badgered and pushed into sexual acts that she’s not comfortable with, and that’s not okay.

✦ I felt that Saeko was very manipulative throughout the book. For example, as soon as she learns that Miwa is also queer, she immediately suggests that Miwa has no other options around, insinuating that she doesn’t have another choice if she wants to date a woman, while openly antagonizing her about her presumed lack of sexual experience. These are all red flags for me in relationships, and it’s not something I enjoyed reading. I think Saeko’s character could be very fun if she weren’t dismissive of others’ boundaries and were more respectful of other’s needs.

✦ The relationship didn’t consistently have chemistry to me. I didn’t see a reason for these characters to be together other than proximity and both of them being queer. I think it’s fine for a book to explore relationships that don’t start out the most enthusiastically, and I quite enjoy the trope of relationship-of-convenience when done well, but that wasn’t what I got out of their relationship (for many of the reasons I’ve already stated). I would love to see a book that explores this queer approach to the trope in a more respectful way.

✦ The guys in the book are creepy more often than not. Lucha was kind of cute later on when rooting for the two women, and I appreciated Mikkun’s support later on in the story, too. Tsuruta was just plan creepy the entire time, and the others were, too, at the beginning. There’s also a couple of inclusions of the men asking invasive questions about sex between women; I felt like that was realistic in a way that I didn’t want to read about lol

✦ I didn’t like that the characters didn’t just talk to one another about their issues and boundaries. I think Miwa’s character was designed as someone who has trouble speaking up about her boundaries, and Saeko was designed as someone who ignores boundaries and the need for them. I think this can be a common experience for young college people figuring things out, but as a reader, the dynamic made me uncomfortable when frequently revolved around sex. I think it would have been great to see more frank discussions about boundaries and learning how to communicate them well.

✦ Boundaries were an issue for most of the characters in here, not just the main two.

✦ I felt like Miwa’s character could possibly have been asexual or demisexual, but she wasn’t given a chance to explore those feelings in her relationship with Saeko. I’m not ace myself, so I don’t want to speak for the community, but there were a lot of comments throughout that felt anti-ace to me, which was really disappointing.

Overall

I give How Do We Relationship? Volume One 1 out of 5 speech bubbles: I didn’t enjoy this and wouldn’t recommend it.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just had too many issues for me to overlook. I felt uncomfortable most of the time while reading and had to force myself to finish it. I think the idea the author expressed in the end note was a good one, and I’d love to see more comics that explore relationships after they start, but I just don’t think this one rose to the occasion. I hope we’ll get more of that genre, though!

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Here are a few ways you can get your hands on a copy!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Vampire Blood Drive by Mira Ong Chua, Sora & Haena by Jackbull on the Tapas app, or My Love Mix-Up! by Aruko and Wataru Hinekure!

That concludes this month’s issue of More Comics Please! What did you think of today’s comics? Have you read any yourself? Are you itching to go check these out now? Let me know in the comments!

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