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COMIC BOOK REVIEW: It’s Not You, It’s “Sad Comics For Dirty Lovers”… Hugot

 
SadComicsForDirtyLovers-page-001
SadComicsForDirtyLovers-page-001
SadComicsForDirtyLovers-page-001

 
Overview
 

Story by: Rob Cham, Petra Magno, Mihk Vergara, Carljoe Javier
 
Art by: Rob Cham
 
Cover by: Rob Cham
 
FG RATING
 
 
 
 
 
4/ 5


User Rating
2 total ratings

 

Raves


The art is simple yet detailed; Stories can easily evoke feelings; Petra Magno's Beehive Heart

Rants


"Colors" feels out of place; Some people might find the comic depressing


To sum it all up..

People almost never want to be sad. We often think that nothing good comes out from such a negative feeling but every now and then someone proves that wrong. Enter Rob Cham’s Sad Comics for Dirty Lovers.

1
Posted February 9, 2015 by

 
FULL REVIEW
 
 

People almost never want to be sad. We often think that nothing good comes out from such a negative feeling but every now and then someone proves that wrong. Enter Rob Cham’s Sad Comics for Dirty Lovers.

Sad Comics for Dirty Lovers is an anthology by Rob Cham along with the stories from other writers. The book has a collection of seven stories and three of those were also written by Rob.  Each story has its own kind of sadness. Well except for one.

SadComicsForDirtyLovers Image 1Rob’s story “Colors” stands out from every story within the book due one thing. It is the only one that does not dwell on the main theme. It feels out of place and it doesn’t have much impact especially if the copy that you have is in black and white since you won’t see the actual colors. But what really makes it feel like an outcast is the lack of sadness.

“Breakup of 2013” revolves around the usual breakup aftermath scenario. Thanks to Rob’s way of telling the story through his words and illustrations, it makes it easier for the readers to feel the character’s anguish. It was a nice touch on how the illustrations shows the opposite of what it narrates. It’s just the same when we say that we are “Okay”. The collection then goes through a bunch of other stories but the Breakup of 2013 actually ends at the last story “How I Live Now”, serving as the “closure” of Rob’s breakup anthology. Unlike the first part, “How I Live Now” let goes of the narration thus giving of the feeling that the character has found his peace and moved on.

“Un-you” by Petra Magno is also a breakup story. It’s not as heartfelt as Breakup of 2013 but it still can stand on its own. Focusing on the memories left by a past lover, Un-you can still pluck the heartstrings of people especially those who had the same experience.  Another one from Petra Magno is “Beehive Heart” which might be the best story in this anthology. Focusing on the character’s inner turmoil and its effect on her relationships, “Beehive Heart” can easily get you invested on the story and to feel for the character. Petra’s symbolic use of bees and their characteristics on describing people with bipolar disorder is what really sells the story. The story itself was already good enough but with Rob’s illustration it managed to truly express itself. Carljoe Javier’s(Abangan: The Best Philippine Comics of 2014) “Untitled” though poetic and has grace in it was still really short. Too short in fact for the readers to be really invested in the character making it one of the collection’s weak point. “My Favorite Christmas” by Mihk Vergara touches another kind of sadness. It’s narration tells a different story while the illustration also has a story of its own but the former complements the latter accomplishing the mission of sadness.

SadComicsForDirtyLovers Image 2Rob Cham managed to match the atmosphere needed for each story and complement them without overpowering the narration. Each drawing for the stories looked different from each other but they still share a visual connection that allows you to identify Rob’s art. His illustrations can vary from looking very realistic to being a little cartoon like.  Almost everything looked clean with his solid use of lines but it managed to avoid looking too simple thanks to the attention to detail. The balance of black and white is also just right amount. Apol Sta. Maria(Alamat ng Panget) also contributed on the collection with his one-page illustrations that serves as what I’d like to call comical commercials between each story.

There is only one thing that could have improved in the book. Since Colors does not exactly conform with the theme of sad comics, it could have been excluded from the anthology. Also this book might not be for everyone especially for those who try to avoid the feeling.

So far, I think this might be the most “hugot” book that I’ve read. In the end even if Sad Comics for Dirty Lovers evokes well “sadness” it does so in a beautiful way. As it was said on Doctor Who with what’s good about sadness, “It’s happy for deep people.”


Luigi Cabrera

 
Enthusiast of things geeky, weird, and random. He finds peace in writing.


One Comment


  1.  

    Need to check this one out. I love Rob’s stuff. His 01 was fantastic!





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