Love and Capes #2

Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Love and Capes #2 Creator(s): Thom Zahler
Publishers: Maerkle Press
From: USA
Price: US$ 3.95

Judging by the happy smiling faces on the cover on this Christmas edition of ‘Love And Capes’ then things are going pretty well for our young lovers as Mark Spencer, AKA The Crusader carries his beloved Abbey across the wintry sky in the sleigh.

In this second outing from this appealing title Zahler continues to hone his impressive writing skills, and the witty dialogue just leaps off the pages.

The opening scene sets the tone where a concerned citizen believes that Abbey is about the throw herself off a skyscraper roof in an attempted suicide when she is, in actual fact, waiting for her caped boyfriend to swoop by and sweep her away.

There follows a nice narrative leap where we go from zooming through the skies to Mark fretting about how long it is taking Abbey to get ready for a date. Zahler manages these transitions very well and one of the strengths of this comic is the juxtaposition between the super hero world and the world of normality.

This is shown beautifully in the scene where The Crusader and sidekick, Darkblade are perched on the clock tower overlooking the city drinking take out coffee while Mark anguishes over what to buy Abbey for Christmas. The heroic is nicely interwoven with the mundane. The life of a super hero is often superseded by ordinary events such as meeting the parents of his girlfriend.

This edition successfully develops both of the main characters. Mark’s feeling of guilt at not being able to solve every problem develops another side of his character while Abbeys’ jealous nature is also given extra space to fester.

It appears that Abbey has got used to her man’s supper powers and even enjoys the benefits they bring; she even goes as far as to manipulate him so that she can utilise his uniqueness. Ahh will women never change.

It all ends with a big sloppy kiss- fuelled parting scene and the Christmas presents that Mark and abbey do finally decide to give each other are delightful. So as we close the covers we feel a nice warm feel- good feeling ooze over us.

‘Love and Capes’ made an impressive debut and this follow up does nothing to tarnish that impression.

In a Word: Budding.



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