Written By: Alex de Campi, Sarah Horrocks, Magen Cubed
Art by: Sarah Horrocks, Magen Cubed, Katie Skelly
Published by: Image Comics
Just in time for the romantic month of February, Image Comics brings us a short series that deals with that age-old balance of pain and pleasure. Romance. I will never be shy to say that this is a subject I often think about, and like my other thoughts, I find romance is always made more interesting with a slight injection of fantasy. Our modern world of social politics keeps us in a state of always dancing, always juggling our facades, always looking over our shoulder for that one dark secret that will come back to haunt us. While everyone is different, there are themes in romance that any human being can relate to, a truth that some may choose not to look in the eye.
I simply adore the artwork of Katie Skelly, and I don’t think I could ever pass up a book she worked on. Her art is inspiring on a personal level. Particularly the way she can balance tasteful maturity with expressive cartoon characters. There is a juxtaposition in her work that ever so perfectly matches the tone of the story de Campi wrote. A woman takes a visit to an odd sort of business that promises to put an end to her husband’s affair, and in a noir fashion no character ever divulges too much of their past or their present. With each exchange of words readers are encouraged to take note and attempt to gleam meaning from each passing phrase as they turn page after page.
I honestly do not want to share too much of the story because the premise itself says it clearly enough, but I can say I found this a very entertaining read.
The three short stories in Twisted Romance, each with their own twist on romance, are engaging and stimulating thought exercises on what it means to want and be wanted. Sometimes we are asked to give too much and sometimes we are surprised when we realize we gave too little. For any reader who is mildly entertained by character relationships, I can recommend Twisted Romance without worry. I only hope the rest of this miniseries continues to be as deeply interesting as these stories proved themselves to be.
