Another Sixteen Screams For Halloween: Day 6 (Love Everlasting)

(Spoilers for the comic follow. I urge you to check it out yourself and go in blind for maximum effect, as I did.) 

What is love? 

There are two animes which have love as the ultimate motivator of awe-inspiring power. In Symphogear, the titular transformation pendants activate by tapping into the part of the human brain which is the source of love and affection. In Madoka Magica Rebellion, love is a power source greater than either hope or despair which rewrites the universe itself upon the whim of one fucked-up magical girl who captures God herself. Love has multitudes. It can be a thing of beauty which brings about the best in us. It can be a bloodstained banner in which terrible things are done in the name of it. Love is at the center of what I read today, and what I will talk about in brief with you. 

Love Everlasting is a comic book about trying to find love, and the slow realization of what it is doing is worth the entry fee. Its protagonist Joan is caught in in whirlwind romance after whirlwind romance, but not by choice. Joan is bouncing from time to time, romance to romance, story to story, a cowboy shooting her at the end every time. She can try to defy her fate, try to accept it, but in the end the cowboy always comes. Love is everlasting. Whatever karmic destiny loop Joan is caught up in, whatever the comic might say about it being caused by her mother, it all feels like ambiguous metaphor to me in the end. I'm out of my element here as I'm not a comics critic (hi Sean, I'm trying my best) but taking it literally is not the approach here.

The comic, like love, is equal parts awe-inspiring and terrifying. Its art style and truly poignant moments of true romance do warm the soul and tug at the heart strings. It can also turn on a dime and have truly unsettling moments. Not just the parts where Joan kills people, but there's a bit in the second volume where she has a nervous breakdown and the panels themselves fracture into a 24-panel grid, which is not something I've seen before. The second volume in particular is a great slow burn, as it doesn't jump around. It stays still, focusing on one relationship in particular. Joan gets married, has children, and lives a full life despite it always being 1963. It is a loveless marriage, but if love cannot be everlasting, time is. The absolute gut punch of the final issue (for now) is something to behold, as you come to the same realization Joan is and practically lose your shit along with her.

Blood and gore, ghosts and goblins, slashers and spectres... All are pretty scary. Love, though? Damn, can love be scary sometimes.