I’m just sayin’…

MARVEL ROMANCE
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Marvel

This amusing collection brings together a number of stories from Marvel’s huge inventory of old romance comics. Now, most of the major companies were deep into producing romance comics, especially between the 50s and early 70s; however, Marvel has been the slowest to dip into those treasures and get some of them back into the spotlight. So I’m pleased to see this book hit the shelves.

Frankly, I have a huge soft spot for old romance comics. That sounds weird, I’m certain; most of the material was trite and bland, and the female leads were generally poorly written ninnies who no sane man would even remotely think about having a relationship with. Looking at the stories now, the heroines were generally vacuous, intellectually stunted, gold diggers, or so whiny and codependent that you’d pay for therapy to get away from them. But those reasons are exactly why I love this stuff.

I mean… this stuff sold and sold well for a long time. And your average superhero fan wasn’t the one buying it. So it gives an interesting look at not only the female buyer at the time, but at just how little the people writing and editing these things understood women. (Not that this has improved immensely as of 2006.) They’re a fantastic relic of a time gone by, and I can’t get enough of them.

Some of the stories in this volume do manage to rise above themselves and become something better, and that’s generally due to some fantastic artists putting together these stories. A trite romance story elevates when put to page by Jim Steranko in his fabled psychedelic style. Gene Colan’s stories have a fantastic gothic darkness to them. John Buscema’s pieces look fantastic. And many of the other stories in the book aren’t ruined by the inks of Vince Coletta, so they have that going for them, which is nice.

My one serious complaint is that the covers that graced the comics most of these stories appeared in are not reproduced here. If memory serves as I write this, there was one cover and that’s it. That’s damned near criminal. Part of what makes old romance comics great are the tremendously overwrought covers. Beyond that, this book is a gas. Check it out.

VALENTINE’S DAY WOULD BE INCOMPLETE WITHOUT…

SEXY CHIX
Written and Drawn by Various
Published Dark Horse

This anthology featuring the talents of women writers and artists is full of well-executed and entertaining material, but it fails to hold together as an anthology and suffers from a severe lack of focus that weighs it down.

To wit: the talent level here is incredible. Gail Simone, Jill Thompson, Colleen Coover, Carla Speed McNeil, Chynna Clugston, Roberta Gregory, and Laurenn McCubbin… these are only some of the names that contributed to this book. But anthologies tend to succeed best when they’re being held together from a thematic viewpoint, and SEXY CHIX is all over the map in terms of tone and story-style. What that does is take a lot of fine material and leave it without a solid foundation and a disconnect in the reader’s head.

Plus, and this ties back to the first book I reviewed, a number of the stories tie back to the topic of broken relationships with men, putting a bit of a male pall on the proceedings, particularly with the lack of a real lesbian POV in any of the stories. Your mileage may vary.

Still, the individual stories that elevate themselves here are worth the price of purchase. Simone’s “Tales From The Shampoo Bowl” got me right in the gut; Coover’s “The Boogeyman” shows a completely different side of a creator who continues to grow and amaze; Sarah Grace McCandless’ “The Art Of Letting Go” not only has incredible art by newcomer Joelle Jones, but brings the heartbreak in spades; and McCubbin’s work with Joyce Carol Oates on “Do You Trust Me?” manages to be both timely and the one seriously feminist piece in the book.

I admire the idea of putting together an anthology like SEXY CHIX more than I like the execution this first time out. I’d like to see editor-supreme Diana Schutz take a crack at a second volume and bring even more terrific talents like Raina Telgemeier, Pia Guerra, Lea Hernandez, and Christine Norrie to the party, and tighten it up a bit. There’s a place for this book, and these talented creators deserve their due. This checks in as an interesting “miss.”

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT?

Modern romance comics generally don’t exist outside of imported manga. “Such as?” you ask…

PASTEL VOL.1
Written and Drawn by Toshihiko Kobayashi
Translated and Adapted by David Ury
Published by Del Rey

Del Rey is putting a huge push behind this new manga- the link above will take you to a site previewing pages from the book. But the book reads as a bit of a mixed bag, mainly because the protagonist, young Mugi, is so spineless that you find yourself wanting to slap him silly with some frequency.

The setup: Mugi, having broken up with his girlfriend because she was moving away, is soothing his broken heart by working at a beach resort for the summer. One day, he meets an amazing young girl named Yuu and falls head over heels for her, but doesn’t make a move. However, later that night, he is duped into going to clean the women’s baths, and he finds Yuu starkers and in the tub. Infuriated, she lets him have it and trots off the beach the next day before he can apologize. Dejected, Mugi goes home to discover that he’s about to get a new roommate; it seems a friend of his father’s has died, and the man’s daughters are coming to live with Mugi and his Dad. Three guesses as to whom one of those daughters is, and the first two don’t count…

PASTEL has moments that are genuinely sweet; Mugi’s intentions towards Yuu are never dirty or wrong. Instead, he has really fallen for her on an emotional level. But Kobayashi undercuts the truth in his feelings by throwing the poor bastard into one situation after another that Jack Tripper would feel completely comfortable in. Flood in the house leaves the only dry place the two can sleep as his bedroom? Yep. The only dry clothes she has are the ones off Mugi’s back? Sure. It’s meant to be funny, and it does amuse, but it feels like Kobayashi doesn’t trust his readers past a certain level of fan-service.

There’s a resemblance here to LOVE HINA, and that series managed to work through its faults and become something better and stronger than what it started with. I think PASTEL can do the same. There are appealing characters and the art is quite lovely. I’m hoping as it progresses, the whole series will feel a bit more natural and let the relationship between the leads develop naturally.

LOVE ROMA VOL.2
Written and Drawn by Minoru Toyoda
Translated and Adapted by David and Eriko Walsh
Published by Del Rey

Hoshino and Negishi are just about the cutest couple you’ll find in a comic or graphic novel today. Toyoda’s simple and sweet tales of their burgeoning relationship are a slightly more sophisticated version of what would happen in a classic romance comic, but it all feels very familiar. The two teens must struggle to truly get to know each other and learn what their growing love is really all about. And little bumps lurk at every corner.

What kind of bumps? Jealous friends. Discussing each other’s personal beliefs in regards to the afterlife. Nosy gossips who put the two under the spotlight at their school. Their first Christmas together (in Japan, Christmas isn’t a religious holiday but one for lovers). Meeting family members for the first time. A first job, taken to learn responsibility and how to properly treat others. All basic things that everybody goes through, but Toyoda handles them with a lack of hysterics and keeps the proceedings focused.

What the book lacks: an updated of what happened in volume one would have been nice. In fact, the back cover doesn’t tell you a thing about the book at all, so if you saw it on the bookshelves, you’d be buying it blind. Plus, there’s one oddity: the book is given an “OT Ages 16+” rating, but aside from a brief mention of sex, there’s no nudity, no real bad language, and nothing that would seem to lend itself to being a book unsuitable for the younger set.

Nothing about LOVE ROMA is earth-shattering, but it is pleasingly entertaining on its own merits and delivers exactly what it promises: a wholesome teen romance that brings the occasional smile to your face.

AS FOR ME…

I love you all. Well, the attractive ones, at least.

See you in seven.

Review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, P.O. Box 26732, Tempe, AZ 85285. You can also find me at Happy Nonsense and The Comics Waiting Room

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