Death of Love

I can’t read most of Justin Jordan’s work. It’s purely my fault; his comics are well-done, but he’s often exploring violent topics, and I’m too squeamish. For some reason, though — perhaps because the violence here is committed on small, silly-looking mythical creatures — I enjoyed Death of Love for the modern way it takes down a certain type of whiny entitled guy complaining about the “friend zone”.

Philo is a self-described “nice guy” and friend to Zoe because he hopes that she will eventually go out with him. After a failed attempt at learning how to be an “alpha male”, Philo is approached by a pimp-looking guy named Eris who literally offers him a red pill to see the world as it is.

After finally getting drunk enough to take drugs from a stranger, Philo finds out the pill works … and shows him the Cupidae flying around shooting at people. When they find out he can see them, it’s all-out war.

Donal Delay does a fabulous job drawing cupids as both cute and menacing bastards. Since much of this collection is slapstick, violent battle, it’s great that he can convey the exaggeration in suitable fashion. But it’s the characterization, of Philo finally hearing what he needed to know about his self-centeredness, that gives this story about feeling vengeful for missing out on love its surprising depth.

Also included in the collection are the Doctor NerdLove columns that ran in the back of the issues, an important commentary on the state of relationships today. (The publisher provided a digital review copy.)