Image Comics 2018
Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Donal Delay
Coloured by Omar Estevez
Lettered by Rachel Deering
Philo has found love. Well, he’s found the Cupidae, anyway. And he’s decided to interrogate one. This goes exactly as well as you’d expect, so now ALL the Cupidae are coming for him, with thousands and thousands of tiny arrows.
Last issue Philo and some guys at the bar were approached and given a drug that promised to find them love. Oh it let’s Philo love alright in the form of the Cupidae where in the bathroom one is currently ready to kill him. Surviving this encounter however sets him on a spiral downward as he is determined to get to the bottom of why that even happened. I have to give major props to Justin because at first I was tentative about premise and thought it would be way too comedic horror type of stuff. Then after last issue I thought it might end up being too much a straight comedy though I should never really doubt Justin and what his plans are I found myself completely into this.
The dialogue that we see here and mainly between best friends and the genuine concern that he took unknown drugs from some guy at a bar and then hallucinating the whole Cupidae encounter as part of trip. I liked that his flatmate at least was really concerned about the drug angle because to me that kind of response is the sign of true friendship. The Cupidae thing well that’s going to take a lot more convincing and that means taking another pill and heading out there to see if it was a one time deal or do they make him see them?
The way that this book is structured is fantastic! I really like the whole ebb & flow of the story and how we get to see things. Let’s face it Philo isn’t exactly a modern man he still has this problem thinking what he wants is what he deserves and he certainly doesn’t think of anyone but himself. So learning that he’s destined to be alone, without love, he wants to know why. He’ll never understand the reasons but that’s not going to stop him from trying to find out and it’s that kind single minded determination that gets him in trouble. Me me me that’s what he’s all about and it’s why he’s all alone.
There is something about the artwork that is really endearing. I mean Philo looks like an exaggerated Jay Leno but then the Cupidea that can go from anger to adorable really make a statement. Donal has made this somewhere between exaggerated and classic and has done it in a way that works extremely well here. The utilisation of page layouts so we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a solid eye for storytelling. The backgrounds we see in use here really work well to expand the moment and the story and bring the right mood to what we see.
What started out as this weird introspective look at a man desperate to feel love is quickly turning into an obsession to find the Cupidea that in return is going to become the fight of his life to survive. Could Philo have inadvertently saved his friends by distancing them? I’m not sure if that’ll be case or if they will show up and help him with his current problem.
Love hurts, love bites, love bleeds (it's bringing me to my knees) in this case all too literally and it’s about damn time someone got their comeuppance.