TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD #3
(Best of the Week!)
"Moments"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Clib's Boy Comics
Writer/Artist: Tom Beland
Price: $2.95 US/$3.95 CAN |
Woe is me, for the Lord will surely smite me for my sin. For I covet, you see. I want what he has... not Lily, no, but that feeling of being blessed with someone with which one can share one's life. Beland brings his relationship to life here, while at the same time making room for the more ordinary, quirky and universal moments in life. True Story is a romance book, first and foremost, but it's also a delightful humor title as well.
Lily arrives from Puerto Rico in Napa, California for a three-day visit with Tom, and to attend Tom's brother's wedding. The pair agrees not to obsess over how quickly the time passes. They worry about their first night together, whether or not Tom's family will like her, and about the whereabouts of the priest who's supposed to conduct Joe and Claire's wedding ceremony.
Given the simple, light tone of his art style, it's surprisingly effective at conveying the quiet, touching moments of the story. The nerves of Tom and Lily's come shining through. The simple tone of the art also instills an air of purity and innocence into the relationship. Of course, it also brings out the hilarity of the real-life weirdness that pops up at the wedding.
You know what the best parts of any wedding are? The bits that go completely wrong. It easy to look back and laugh, looking on them as the highlights of any such event. They make for great stories, and at the time they occur, they can break the tension and just leave one giggling about the sheer goofiness of life. Beland knows this, obviously, and plays it up nicely.
I'll be honest... I've never been one to buy into the idea of destiny, of finding one's one true soulmate. I've observed that love, as wonderful as it may be, is something that two people have to work for. As strong a connection that may exist between two people, Happily Ever After isn't something that just happens magically. Mind you, Tom Beland is slowly opening my eyes to a more fanciful point of view. Beland's anxiety, joy and goofy confusion are infectious, and this story is so touching that it'll pierce the gruff hide of even the most cantankerous grump.
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