
Ablaze Publishing 2019
By Mirka Andolfo
Localisation by Marguerite Bennett
Lettered by Fabio Amelia Arancia Studio
The spicy daily adventures of Angelina (a voluptuous angel) and Damiano (a mischievous devil) continue! Mirka Andolfo brings to life a Heaven (and a Hell) filled with humour and lovable characters, as only she can, in Un/Sacred.
Oh I have to admit that these are pretty brilliant. These meaning the segments and the overall book itself of course. It does remind me of Little Annie Fanny that were in my father's Playboy Magazines, which is a huge compliment by the way, and the humour is delicious and timeless. The lovesick pair waiting until marriage because that's what Angelina wants and Damiano being so in love with her that he's actually willing to wait it's just incredibly endearing. I absolutely adore the way Mirka's mind works because she understand that being sexy, voluminous or busty doesn't mean that sex has to be involved. Flirting, relationships and everything that comes with it is so incredibly fun and funny when it's seen this way.
This doesn't have your traditional story & plot development which to me is even more impressive when you think about it. That we get such a complete moment in these vignettes is stellar writing in my humble opinion. Not to mention that the sexual innuendo and double entendre that we see throughout is the kind of humour that I usually make myself. Also while I have never gone to a restaurant and done what he did, it's on my bucket list, I laughed hysterically at the whole thing. Which of course comes back later in another form, another story. Who knew that this was going to be one of the most incredibly charming and sensual books around?
That we see some of Angelina's friends be extremely jealous of her as we do, Michela for example, take those little potshots so she'll feel better about herself is what happens in real life among friends lol. While I have never talked to straight men about porn or the actors/actresses in them and if any of them would ask for an autograph if they saw them out in the real world. All of these little vignettes tie together in the long run or at least they have these references later on. It really is some of the most wonderful writing that takes great skill, talent and ability to pull off as well as Mirka does.
The interiors are phenomenal! They have that cuteness and edge to them that mixes the sensuality with the mundane so that the overall effect continues to delight. The linework that we see is superb and how it's varying weights are utilised to bring out the attention to detail is marvellous. Also I like how we see backgrounds being utilised as well and how they help to bring us this depth perception, scale and that sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a stupendous eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely delightful. The way that we see the hues and tones within colours to create the shading, highlights and shadows is extremely well rendered.
There are a number of times in this book alone where I wanted to laugh until I pissed a little. And when those moments occur you know that you ware reading something that is so well thought out, executed and delivered. Signed, sealed and delivered I'm yours. The writing, the pacing, the characterisation here is so good and shows so much talent that's only matched and furthered by the fact that Mirka's does the interiors as well. Ablaze doesn't mind taking risks and the choices being made by Rich are extraordinary so you need to make sure that you and your shop are getting these titles.