Love Stories To Die For Review
Love Stories To Die For is a new one off comic from Image this month. This one is a bit of a treat for readers though, because it is not only one story, but TWO! Both written by Dirk Manning, story one (cover below) features art by Rich Bonk
Whilst story two (cover below) is illustrated by Owen Gieni
Both stories are incredibly different in their content and tone, but both have the same theme of love running through them, and what lengths people are willing to go to protect someone that they are care; hence the title!
Story one, "Bloodlust: Deceiver of the Gods", is set in 926 AD in what is now seen as modern day Germany, and concerns a group of monks who are being attacked by a collection of monstrous creatures. They use one of their own to trick a group of passing warriors to protect them over the night, by saying they are under siege from thieves. Being men of honour and bartering a night's food and shelter from the monks they happily comply and try to lay waste to the attackers; only to find that it is the monks who are the ones that should be punished. The theme of honour and defending what you believe in fits in nicely with the medieval setting of the story and the artwork from Bonk works well with the storyline to give the overall feel of the comic a rustic charm.
Story two, "Symptom of the Universe", is on the flip side of the book so it does feel like you are reading a completely different comic as you have to turn it over, so it gives the reader chance to separate the two stories because they don't just follow on from one another. This story in set in an unspecified time, obviously in the future as it takes place upon a spaceship which is under siege (once again) from an alien race who have taken over the ship. It is told from the perspective of lovers Allison and Eric, who are holed up in an escape pod waiting to see how their last few moments on the ship are about to unfold before they jettison off into space. Things are not as simple as they seem though, Allison is still waiting to see how her husband, Frank, does during this final battle. He has promised that he will make it back to her, unknowing to the fact the Allison wants to leave with Eric. Her love for Eric is much stronger than her feelings for Frank and this, in the end, causes her to make her final decision about how she is going to spend the rest of her life. I don't want to give the ending away in case you decide to go out and this is comic up yourself.
Personally, I enjoyed story two slightly more; the overall story and artwork seemed to work a bit better than the first one. However, both halves of the comic work well together and it is an enjoyable read.