Though it may not be as crime-orientated as we’d expect from this collaboration, Sean Phillips’ art remains impressive despite the lack of action, with his blend of facially expressive characters and murky surroundings. For a piece of crime fiction, there is rarely any tension towards the dangers the two lovers go up against. Even the book’s opening, with a small meeting in rehab where the addicts tell their perspectives of each other’s stories, never goes beyond them being a joke, let alone showcasing the actual tragedy out of their addictions. With this problematic protagonist at the center, you have this lone voice that doesn’t have much to say about the world around these flawed people. Despite her self-awareness, Ellie is rather unlikable in her motives and although it is explained at the conclusion, a lot of her backstory is told through a common problem in Brubaker’s work: the over-extensive internal monologue. For most of the story, Ellie is always about having romantic ideas about drug addicts, in particular the many musicians she name drops, leading to this shallow assumption that great art can come from substance abuse. Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast!Īs funny as that title might be, it not only sums up what’s wrong with its central character, but the book in general.
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