![]() There is a great point made in Alexander’s review that something feels ‘ borderline exploitive’ about the whole thing. The end just sort of stops too, and I guess I’d rather that than a drawn out ending but it also just seems like trying to make a mic drop without having said anything that memorable. Which is often an issue with graphic novels feeling a tad rushed but this would have benefitted from a filler issue full of unease instead of jumping directly from “huh, this is awkward and cute and I suppose probably going to go poorly” to “holy shit this went poorly.” While this is a more frightening story, I think the buildup to obsessive terror was better executed in Anya's Ghost. The emotional gaslighting turned violent rage comes up really quickly in the final issues without really having had much time to breathe. I’m cool with not getting how the mechanics work but, there is a backstory that feels as empty as the rest of the house. Which, fine, is me wanting the book to meet my interests instead of just meeting it at what it is doing, but it also heavily points towards this in the early issues before tossing that aside completely. The problem is the shift is so abrupt and feels like it skips over a lot of other aspects that would have been more interesting to explore, such as who this ghost is, how their existence works, etc. Not surprisingly though this turns into an abusive relationship where the ghost becomes obsessive and their attempts to keep her happy and locked inside turns quite toxic and threatening. ![]() Things get…romantic, which is kind of fun at first. Ro finds herself drinking too much wine and unable to create until the ‘ghost’ (the story gets into how this isn’t an ideal term for them but they settle on it for the sake of needing one) starts to chat her up and they form a cute and unlikely friendship. To be fair, the plotline about struggling against the blank canvas and feeling like you can’t tap into your creative side is something that resonated with me and I quite enjoyed here. This edition collects all five volumes, which do get off to a great start and have so much promise but by the time it starts to wrap up it feels rushed and a bit unearned. It is heavily reliant on pop-culture references, which I will admit to enjoying because I too think About Time is a favorite movie that nobody talks about enough, and it is definitely a story “in the vain” of creepy horror (but also romance?) but it doesn’t register as very fresh. Unfortunately it never quite lands and while it is thrilling and shocking, something felt a bit off about it all. The Me You Love in the Dark by creative team of author Skottie Young and illustrator Jorge Corona has a great premise and interesting ideas with a recently successful artist buying a haunted house in the middle of nowhere to ‘ find a new voice’ for her artwork. I’d like to start by saying the art in here is marvelous.
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