Most of what I've read from Andi Watson has been limited series, so to see Love Fights on issue five and still very much in the opening stages is not the pacing I've come to expect. However, Watson makes this pacing work, and probably the best result of the slower pace is that the relationships feel so much more real. Change in life and relationships is gradual, even when you get something like love at first sight and especially when you see work life and friendships change, and Watson is doing a fantastic job of showing those gradual changes. While the readers are picking up on each turning point, the characters just see it as a bad luck in a given day. This also means that Watson is free to spend time on smaller fights between the characters, rather than just the big melodramatic blowouts that serve as shortcut characterization in many comics.
There are three big turning points in this issue, from a reader's point-of-view. As usual, the balance is between Jack and Nora's careers and Jack and Nora's romance. And, as is increasingly becoming the norm, each aspect of the lead characters' lives affects another aspect. Watson has cleverly created a plot wherein Jack and Nora affect one another's careers, which puts strain on their burgeoning relationship, and the machinations of Jack's jealous cat are almost unnecessary given how much drama this already puts in their relationship.
What I really like about this is that the payoff comes in believable character expression. Jack and Nora have their date this issue, but it's an affair fraught with tension and anger from other sources, not the least of which is a really rotten day that Jack has had. Watson makes Jack a bit of a jerk, but he's a sympathetic jerk given all that has happened during the day, and the fight that results between Jack and Nora is terrific. It's based on real stuff, and comes complete with realistic dialogue, from patronizing to unkind remarks, a little playful banter and some sincerely tender moments. It's the kind of thing that makes the reader really want to see the relationship work, because we can see that even in bad times, these two deserve each other.
Though the romance is obviously an important part of a book called Love Fights, there's plenty going on that isn't directly related to the romance story. It's no surprise that Watson, a comics industry vet, can give a sort of warts and all portrayal of a career as a comics artist, and this issue has some really interesting stuff with his career. The friendship/hatred relationship with his editor, the hack inker who ruins his work but still comes off as somewhat sympathetic thanks to his revelation that he really needed the work to feed his family and the brutal portrayal of what happens to Jack's artwork all make for a rough day and nice external pressure on Jack's relationship.
As always, Watson's art is top-notch. He does an impressive job of portraying Jack's beautiful pencilled two-page action spread as well as the butchered version, and I continue to love the ghostly imaginative figures that show us what Jack or Nora are thinking. It's similar to what Waid and Ramos did with Impulse, and goes back further to being a sort of manga touch, and it works very well in this context. In addition, Watson's minimalist style retains the same very expressive style, particularly when it comes to portraying Jack's annoyance or Nora's worry, both of which get pretty good workouts in this issue.
