Comic Review: Lovestruck

Issue: Lovestruck
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Kevin Mellon
Cover: Erik Jones
Publisher: Image Comics

If Lovestruck gave me anything, it is my new favorite curse, “Jesus Tits”. That alone would be worth the time I spent reading it. Fortunately, the new curse is just a bonus — the onion ring in the large order of fries that is Lovestruck.

Lovestruck is, plain and simply, about love. Not the altruistic emotion that inspires poets and saints, but the stuff that sells. Love is a business. Love is a commodity. Love is power, and all you need is love if you want to win.

We are introduced to the business of love through the eyes of our protagonist, Kalli Monroe. She’s your typical incredibly gifted punk rock photographer, minding her business and doing what she does best when everything goes up in literal flames. Then she realizes it isn’t the world that is on fire, but her. And for some reason, the lead singer who was ignoring her during the entire photo shoot believes she is the love of his life.

Nothing is making sense, even when she meets Max, a man afflicted with the same fire starter gift as she. But when Max starts to explain the company that he works for, Kalli is definitely certain she has lost it. Until Max proves his point by helping a couple of strangers fall in love.

Kalli meets the big boss, none other than Cupid himself. But this ain’t no chubby, flying baby with a quiver full of heart shaped arrows. Cupid doesn’t care about the altruistic joy of love anymore. He’s grown greedy over the years and wants more material pleasures.

Soon enough Kalli is assigned with a group of people bestowed with the gift to help others fall in love. Under the direction of Cupid and his right hand man, Ovid, they find themselves helping to bring down corporations and decide who the next president will be, all through the power of love.

But when Kalli discovers that there is a catch to this new found gift, she must decide quickly whether to follow through with her destiny or cut her ties loose and run.

I dig this comic. We already know that sex and love sells. But to find out the person hawking these wares is none other than Cupid himself? Brilliant. It’s one of those classic, “Why didn’t I write this?” premises. But I am glad I didn’t, because I am quite certain I would not have been able to craft the story so cleverly as Mr. Hopeless.

The image of Cupid is horrifying. One can’t expect a serious comic to try to pull off the classic flying baby image of Cupid successfully. But this Cupid was almost too much. There were times during the reading that I would stop and just stare, attempting to figure out the mechanics of the device that held Cupid up, what each instrument was for, and then deal with the bone chilling reality of Cupid’s situation.

I did feel the gang of misfits Kalli was assigned to was a little too much. There wasn’t enough time dedicated to character development for each member of the ensemble cast. I found moments in later chapters wondering why a stranger was given such an important piece of dialogue to share, only to realize it was one of the main characters.

However, when back story was given, it was done thoroughly, making the events that unfold in the end all the better.

If you like your humor on the dark side, your view of love is cynical at best, or you just like reading a cleverly written comic, Lovestruck is worth picking up from your friendly neighborhood comic book store.

Rating: 4/5 Stars