At first glance, Love Everlasting looks like a traditional romance comic with retro vibes. It is written by Tom King, illustrated by Elsa Charretier with letters by Clayton Cowles, and colors by Matt Hollingsworth. King and Charretier are currently publishing their comic via Substack.
The Love Everlasting Story
We follow Joan, a young woman who has just moved to the big city, as she pines for George. Joan and George make a great pair, but the only probably is that he’s dating her best friend, Marla. This leaves our main character so distraught that she considers returning home and leaving her new life altogether.
Instead, Joan gets a job as George’s secretary, which only seems to deepen their bond. The situation is complicated because Marla is also dating another man simultaneously. Joan is a reasonably sympathetic character. Even though she wants a relationship with George, she does not openly pursue him, and she worries that he is dating her friend. George is the first to act on his feelings when he attempts to kiss Joan after working late one night.
Eventually, things fall into place. The other man Marla is dating proposes to her, and it is revealed that George broke up with her many weeks ago. George and Joan can finally be together. They fall into each other’s arms, and all is well.
…Or is it?
We transition into another story about Joan, but she is in very different circumstances. You will quickly realize there is more to Joan’s story than meets the eye. Joan begins to crack under the weight of her ever-changing reality. She knows something is not quite right. Eventually, she is confronted by a man who points a gun at her and tells her the cryptic words, “Love is Everlasting.”
The next two issues of Love Everlasting dive deeper into the mystery that Joan finds herself in. This book is worth checking out if you enjoy romance stories with thrilling elements. King and Charretier are doing something relatively unique right now with this story.
The Art
The art in Love Everlasting reminds us of many retro artists and those who had a more modern look with a retro style, like Bruce Timm. The team often makes use of panels that also act as word boxes and give a feeling of urgency and weight as you read through the comic. Charretier has a stunning and seamless style that makes it easy to become engrossed in the story quickly.
The colors change based on the tone of each story, and Hollingsworth does an excellent job using them to set the emotion and feel of each section. When depicting a western, the palette is earthy with sepia tones, and when shifting into a 60s groovy vibe, we have brighter tones and more purple coloring to complement each story.
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Check Out Love Everlasting
If you are interested and would like to check out Love Everlasting, you can do so by subscribing to King and Charretier’s Substack. The first three issues are available, with more on the way! Using substack to publish a comic is a new strategy, but it appears to be working very well for the Love Everlasting team.
