Customer Reviews

Loveless, Vol. 1: A Kin of Homecoming

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Writing: A

I liked Brian Azzarello's writing in 100 Bullets at first, but after a story that's gone on many years without resolution, had my doubts about this new book. 100 bullets is like the X-files - the individual self-contained stories are satisfying, but there's a bigger story at hand that develops at a snail's pace and really gets annoying because it's never resolved and eventually becomes so overly complicated that you can't understand it anymore.

Fortunately, Loveless works well as a self-contained graphic novel. Azzarello has also stated that it will only run 50 issues or so (or 10 trade paperbacks), so hopefully this title won't run into the same problem that 100 bullets has. The story is intriguing, but the book still works in an episodic manner, and I love forward to the next trade paperback when it comes out.

Art: A+

Marcelo Frusin is the best thing about Loveless. I loved his work in Hellblazer, and have missed him sorely. He is probably one of most cinematic comic book artists of all time. His linework is simple yet elegant, and incredibly expressive. His layout is clear and smooth. I agree with other reviewers that the flashbacks could have been more obvious (sometimes a flashback is obvious from the beginning, sometimes you have to read it twice), but I did appreciate it's innovativeness.

Patricia Mulvihill, the colorist, deserves special mention. Although Frusin's pencils and inks are beautiful, the final work wouldn't be as breathtaking as it is without her gorgeous coloring work. She has a cinematography's eye when it comes to choosing the colors to complement the story and art, and creates a great mood for the story.

Overall, a great beginning, and given that it's relatively inexpensive trade paperback, it is definitely worth picking up.

Brian Azzarello has added a new on-going series to his already excellent 100 Bullets. Already well-known for his work in Hellblazer, Brian Azzarello's Loveless is a dark and twisted take on the Old West (specifically post-Civil War Old West) is like a hearty stew combining the epic expanse of classic Sergio Leone spaghetti western, Eastwood's Outlaw Josey Wales and the rapid-fire dialogue of HBO's Deadwood. I thought he could never top his work in 100 Bullets, but Azzarello continues to impress as he's taken his gift for dark storytelling and transposed it to the Old West to create a new mythical tale of vengeance, dark secrets, death and sex.

Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming collects the first five issues of Azzarello's Loveless series. The trade paperback introduces the two main characters whose lives will be the focal point of the stories. Wes and Ruth Cutter are the husband and wife whose lives have been torn apart by the brutality of the Civil War in the Missouri territories. The story makes special mention of Bloody Bill Anderson and Quantrill's Raiders --- pro-Confederate bushwhackers whose extreme hatred for Union soldiers and pro-Union civilians brought bloodshed and banditry to a new level in the Missouri territories. It is the aftermath of this guerilla-type war during the Civil War that has forced both Wes and Ruth Carter on a journey of vengeance on all those who have wronged them.

Azzarello deftly interspersed flashback scenes of Wes and Ruth Carter's lives before the events of the Civil War reaches Missouri. They're a happy and deeply in love couple whose only aspirations were to live a modest and peaceful life. This was not meant to be as Wes soon volunteers to fight for the Confederate side and leaving his wife in the care of his brother Jonny. What happens within the story collected in this trade sets up some of the back story as to why Wes and Ruth Carter are now both harder and meaner than they were before the war came to them. Already, there's hints of familial double-cross and betrayal. Secrets kept by both main characters from each other. Loveless is a a dark tale of post-Civil Reconstruction that has never been told in the history books, but Azzarello sure makes it vivid with his storytelling and the excellent artwork by his collaborator Marcelo Frusin.

Frusin's artwork gives Loveless a cinematic look to it. One could almost wonder if he wasn't making storyboards for a new Western film production instead of just a comic book series. From scenes of sudden violence and sex to flashbacks of the same, Frusin's artwork seemlessly matches the words Azzarello has put down on page. The images could easily tell the story in itself if the words were suddenly removed. There's a simplicity and ease to the images in conveying the tale being told.

Azzarello's already mentioned that the series will end around 50 or so issues and will be collected in ten trades. Each trade will contain five-issues. These five-issues will tell a new story-arc in both Wes and Ruth Carter's journey through Azzarello's western tale. The first story-arc is now over and collected and I await for the next trade to tell me the continuation of the Carter's journey through Loveless. A series from Vertigo that fans of 100 Bullets and Hellblazer should not miss.

Loveless is a comic about Confederate women and men before, during, and after the Civil War. The last western comic book I bought was . . . wait, I've never bought a western comic before. But the cover artwork on this series is awesome (particularly #7) and I was compelled to buy and read the series. Sometimes I don't care if a comic has a good story, I buy comics sometimes just out of respect and admiration of the incredible cover artistry. With this series, the inside artistry is exceptional also.

The series is about hate - the serie's title is "Loveless." It is about how violence, war, silence, imprisonment, and prejudices bring about deep hatreds and re-occuring violence. The series emphasizes how evil is not exclusive to the male gender; rather, the women who support the violent parts of their men are complicit. And sometimes the women are as violent as the men. I work hard to avoid hate. But I must confess, if there is one thing I hate, it is the violence, war, silence, and animosity that are neverendingly borne out of the stupidity of hateful reasoning.

The title of this review is a quote by one of the gun runners, trying to comfort a woman who is worried about her imprisoned husband. He is trying to assure her that her fears, about the capacity of harm that hate can bring, are unfounded. But women are empathetic and socially intelligent, and her fears are well founded.

I recommend this book on many levels. The art has a perfect tone for the story. The visual storytelling and scripting are brisk and fluent. This is an "adult" story and not for readers who are unsophisticated, or unwilling to question the protaganists' moral decisions.

A critique of the story so far is that it is too fictional, almost completely excluding any characters with any high level of human decency, compassion or understanding - which may keep it within the bounds of the 'Vertigo' horror genre category, but which keeps the series from being more realistic, historical, or universal. I don't fault the story for not having regular moral endings; I fault it for erring almost exclusively with horror genre endings. There are no Macbeths here taking much time questioning the morality of their violent choices. This series is no Sandman, where at least occasionally there is a hope in hell. I still give the series 4 stars for it's cleverness, artistic beauty, & exceptionally professional execution and uncommonly individual and good artisitc styles (there are two primary artists rotating duties on the book and covers).

This series is rarely about hope or finding answers. In this fictional world, there are no easy, moral 'good guys.' The characters too often stupidly do not rise above focusing on more than themselves and their immediate loved ones - almost always choosing violence as their response to violence.

The series is about how hate creates hate. In the fictional world of "Loveless" there is very little education, limited community understanding, almost a complete absence of the benefits of diversity, and a marked absence of mercy. But I still highly recommend the series to adults because it one of the finest comic books being currently produced.

Brian Azzarello, Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming (Vertigo, 2006)

Despite my overwhelming affection for Preacher, I still feel kind of hinky towards the idea of western comics. I've never been a huge fan of the genre in general, though there have always been specific pieces of it that work for me, rather as there are in any genre. I should have known that, like anything else he turns his hand to, Brian Azzarello can make a western work like nobody's business. For one thing, it's not a Western so much as it is a Southern, being about the antebellum South and the horrors of reconstruction from the losing side's point of view, and no matter what genre he's working in, Azzarello has a knack for coming up with intelligent, thoughtful (if unforgivably violent) main characters, while adding just enough of the classic two-dimensionality to the really, really bad guys to not let you forget that you are, after all, reading a comic book.

For some odd reason, Loveless reminds me more of Fallen Angel than it does of Preacher (or, for that matter, 100 Bullets, Azzarello's current taking-the-world-by-storm series); maybe it's the setting, though no one's going to recognize these two takes on the American South as being in the same universe. Or maybe it's the idea that there's one person, and that person ain't exactly a hero, who's taking on the world, with only a ragtag straggle of fair-weather allies for company. Or maybe it's the reluctant nature of the protagonist's heroism. I don't know, but the comparison is sticking in my mind, and it's a strong one. I hope Loveless ends up with a much, much longer run than was allowed Fallen Angel, I must say. Mr. Azzarello has hit upon another winner. *** ½

This is the second volume in Brian Azzarello's Loveless series and collects issues #6-12. The art chore is divided up amongst three artists with regular Marcello Frusin (Hellblazer) being the the best of the lot, in my opinion.

This volume picks up on the heels of the first volume and the first three are sort of stand alone stories that reveal a bit more about the main characters. The first features former slave turned bounty hunter, Atticus Mann. The story is short but very powerful. We get a glimpse of why Atticus joined the Federal army in the Civil War. The second story features Ruth and provides back story about her going ons while Wes was away in the war. We get a slight glimpse into why her home was invaded by the U.S. Army. And the third tale gives the readers a glimpse into how Wes was captured by the U.S. Army. The last four issues comprise the "Thicker than Blackwater" arc where grisly murders are taking place and how the killer has ties with Wes. I will not spoil the ending but suffice to say, it was unexpected and the book ended with a huge cliffhanger.

Azzarello continues to prove why he is a master of writing dialog. But in order to fully appreciate the story, the dialog must be read very carefully. This is not a book that you can speed through. So far, while I have been enjoying the book, there are NO characters here that I like. Wes is not a hero, neither is Atticus nor Ruth. There is no black and white morality play here and it's hard to tell the good guys from the bad. But this doesn't detract from the story.

As for the art, I am surprised to see Mr. Frusin here only for two issues. I loved his work in Hellblazer and Loveless is not exception, if not better. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the jarring departure of the usual cinematic art provided by Danijel Zezelj. Mr. Zezelj is a good artist but in my opinion, his work is too dark (literally) and most of the times obscure the character's faces and actions.

Other than the minor complaint about the art, I really enjoyed this book. This is one of the best things being published in comics, so go and pick it up.

With Loveless, I thought I was getting a hard-edged, adult Western comic. But I'm not sure it should be classed as a Western at all. The plot involves the return of a Confederate soldier to his home after the Civil War. The illustration and setting is suggestive of Appalachia, not the western frontier. Characters and themes are post-bellum Southern ones, not western ones. Is it enjoyable nonetheless? Not for me, but I wouldn't say it's bad, either. In fact, there are some nice touchs. For example, in one scene, current action is superimposed over a flash-back that occurred on the same plot of land. Maybe if you read comics normally, this sort of thing is old hat, but it was innovative for me, who hasn't paid attention to comics since the early 90s. In general, it is well-enough written and a clearly laid out story. As with much modern entertainment, anger and cynicism seem to be characters' default personalities and go essentially unexplained, but as this is a wide-spread fault, I can't knock it too much in Loveless. The construction of the plot line is a bit hard to follow, jumping around as it does between time periods and characters. It is easy to get things mixed up. And in fact after going over the volume several times, there are still some turns that don't make sense to me. The illustration is adequate for moving the plot along, although I didn't stop to linger over any page. I probably won't get the last two volumes of Loveless, but I have to say that it was successful enough to make me curious about what happens to the characters.

Wes Cutter has lost a war. The United States' Civil War left him on the losing side, deprived of his youth, possibly some of his mind, and his land. Terribly in love with a wife victim of the conflict, a woman whose lust or life (or reckless vengeful suicide drive?) matches and surpasses his own, he starts his own true war, against everybody and everything: Undesired by both old friends and the new Union masters, but somehow able to play both sides and stay afloat (on a sea of spilled blood and corpses), his past and his present unroll inevitably before our eyes, as we ask what his motivations and aims truly are and learn what made him what he is. Brian Azzarello is a master of comic writing and this series just proves it again. The book has many layers, a modern edge that makes it extremely contemporary (think Clint Eastwood's The Unforgiven), a range of very varied characters and a wide web of intrigue, passions, and death. A trademark of his breakthrough series, the wonderful 100 Bullets, was the multi-layered storytelling via the artwork: Often the main story would intertwine with another told only through pictures, at times in the foreground and at times in the background, while whatever dialogue was going on at the moment managed to be relevant to both. This time it's flashbacks, mixed with the present time story in a relevant and pertinent way, making you almost nauseous trying to follow the plot (or is it just the horror the past scenes awake in the reader's mind?). Characters are revealed in actions almost more than in speech, as Azzarello's dialogue, although carefully weighted (no word, no comma is unnecessary), is perfectly natural and the constant superimposing of many different elements makes it poignant and ramifying in its extensions in a dazzling way. As usual, Azzarello's carefully crafted tales are a challenge to read and hook you in irresistibly. In all this the US American writer is aided and abetted by Argentinian artist Marcelo Frusin, of Hellblazer fame (again with Azzarello at first). Frusin is a master of facial expression (his character's eyes pierce deep into the reader's consciousness) and body language, his silhouettes and generous use of stark black and white contrast make him an equal of such great as Mignola and Risso, even though Frusin retain a very distinctive style. This western story only goes to prove that, like any true artist, he can draw just about anything flawlessly. I still do not know if this series intentionally lasted only 23 issues (this book collects the first 5) and surely hope it ends its run as well as it started. One thing I know for sure: I am hooked, and renewed in my very high esteem of this superb creative team.

Brian Azzarello, Loveless: Thicker than Blackwater (Vertigo, 2007)

After the nastiness that plagued the first volume of Loveless, did you really expect things to get better? This is the world of Brian Azzarello, folks, and in this world, things do not end well. The carpetbaggers decided to kill two (or, in fact, many more) birds with one stone by appointing Wes Cutter the Sheriff of Blackwater; no one had any idea he'd actually take the job seriously, least of all Wes Cutter himself. But when a series of murders turns up on his doorstep, what's a sheriff to do? Investigate, of course, but the closer Cutter gets to who's behind the murders, the less sure he is he wants to know what's actually going on here. And, of course, this is Azzarello, and things end about the way you expect them to, but then, that's part of the charm of Brian Azzarello. *** ½

I recently purchased volumes 1,2, and 3 of Loveless. I had high hopes for this series. Vol. 1 was good, not great. Vol. 2 was very confusing. I read A LOT of graphic novels. Vol. 2 of this series was very hard for me to follow. There is a lot of slang and the story line jumps back and forth to different time periods so much that it is very easy to lose track of what is going on in the story. I really think that the story writing came up short as well as the art work in this volume. I really want to like this series. The plot sounds great. I love historical fiction. I will read the series again to see if it makes more sense the second time around. I just hope that history doesn't repeat itself.

The story jumps around a bit but having been warned myself upfront I was able to watch for it and made more sense out of the story line