Title:
Loveless (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s):
Brian Azzarello (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source:
Owen Jones (Don't click it, read the review here...
)
Review:
I’m a huge fan of Brian Azzarello, I think 100 Bullets is right up there as one of the best comics of all time. So when it was announced he was going to write a new title, Loveless, about a time just after the American Civil War, known as Reconstruction, thus combining my love of comics with one of the most interesting periods of American history, I was thrilled.
Distributed under the Vertigo label, Loveless is a mature western-style comic with dark themes, set in the southern town of Blackwater. Blackwater, post-Civil War, is an occupied town, meaning the army has a permanent presence to keep the peace. Into this powder keg enters Confederate veteran and Blackwater native Wes Cutter. Cutter is a jaded character, between spending years in a war prison and his wife, Ruth, being gang-raped by Yankee soldiers in their home whilst he was away, he has a devil-may-care attitude that simply doesn’t fit with the new order. With Ruth at his side, pretending to be a boy and hiding in the hills for an as yet unknown reason, Cutter begins whatever plan it is he has in mind, causing mayhem in the process.
From the opening cover, Loveless’ artwork is nothing short of gorgeous. Getting the gritty yet rustic atmosphere necessary for a cowboy story spot on, Marcelo Frusin paints an evocative picture of Blackwater and the characters that inhabit it. His panelling is intelligently varied, offering interesting perspectives on the events unfolding and a novel method of approaching flashbacks (first used in the pairs’ run on Hellblazer) that doesn’t always work, but is very cool when it does. Azzarello is at his best when weaving a tangled tale of complex threads and themes, and Loveless doesn’t disappoint in this regard.
As with 100 Bullets, there is a lot more going on below the surface in Loveless than is first apparent. The main characters introduced are all linked in ways that don’t immediately make themselves obvious and the storyline offers tantalising snippets of the characters’ pasts that leave you wanting more. Loveless, unlike the title suggests, is obviously a labour of love with a clearly planned drip of information allowing the past and present to slowly catch up to the point the story is at. Because it is only five issues to date, very few of Loveless’ questions have been resolved thus far creating an air of mystery that, in its setting, sparkles. The mature themes tag is considered in its use, dealing with situations that bear dark undertones without being unnecessarily graphic or gratuitous. Azzarello’s handling of the conflict, both broad and internal, is intelligent, achieving a believable environment in Blackwater that churns with events from the past as well as a very real now. That the story of Loveless starts seemingly at it’s mid-point is a compelling hook allowing Azzarello to unravel the backstory, which gives us insight into the formation of the characters in the present, and give the story a depth that going from A-B wouldn’t have allowed.
There are some weak points to Loveless that will, at times, leave the reader scratching their head however. First of all the tale is told partly through flashbacks, unfortunately it isn’t always obvious that the scenes are flashbacks. The style Marcelo Frusin uses is to superimpose the flashback over the current scene, like a memory triggered by the place and playing out in front of the character. In some cases, mostly flashbacks that take place inside a building, this device works very well and looks superb – particularly the flashback toward the end of issue #4. However, the rest of the time it’s just plain confusing. Frusin doesn’t delineate the two scenes clearly enough for the flashbacks to work effectively and at times it becomes something of a chore to work out which panel leads to the next one, especially when the panels are layered, splitting the page horizontally rather than vertically. The flashback that crosses over between issues #3 and #4 is probably the most perplexing, I revisited it at least five or six times to figure it all out. This isn’t unusual of an Azzarello script though, 100 Bullets had many moments where ‘what-the-hell?’ was a typical first reaction, and part of the enjoyment is working out the events and putting it all together.
The only other problem is occasionally the dialogue. Unlike most of the popular, classically superhero comics on the market Loveless takes some working out, you can’t just speed through it and nor should you want to. The dialogue is occasionally tough going, between the southern accents and regular wordplay Loveless makes you concentrate very keenly on what is being said, often re-reading parts to grasp the full meaning. It’s not a negative per say, but it will intermittently frustrate any reader looking to blaze through the story.
With this being only the first five-issue arc of Loveless, the storyline doesn’t give a lot away. The main characters are introduced, important plot points from the past are told and we gain some small insights into the motivations of Cutter. It serves only to whet the appetite of what appears to be another cracking yarn by Brian Azzarello that I’ll certainly be saddling up for.
More info:
written by Brian Azzarello
drawn by Marcelo Frusin, Danijel Zezelj and Werther Dell'Edera
