Sex sells! Thats any kind of sex by the way, be it comic books, MTV videos, TwItter or Only Fans, seems that everyone is concerned with who is having it, how they are doing, with whom are they doing it with, what are they wearing and who isn’t having any at all. Lovesick is not the first, nor will it be the last, comic to feature sex, bondage and a swathe of accoutrements. What makes Lovesick different is that the darkness that surrounds the fragility of the human psyche, coupled with the bravado of facelessness and the personal sexual boundaries that we set ourselves, which makes any deviation from that core taboo.
Domino runs an exclusive underground sex club, the Lovesick Club, where deepest darkest depravities are catered for by her and her girls. The club offers live stream, red rooms and snuff movies. This then is not your usual titillation arena. True there is latex, leather and fishnets on show, but Domino offers that which you can only experience once, albeit by her cruel. knife wielding hand, death and its pleasure.
Italian writer /artist Luana Vecchio has created a dark world of horror-erotica or torture porn, the latter being something of a fan favourite in the movies a little while bak. Taking the writing first; Vecchio wastes not time in setting the scene. There is no preamble, it is straight to the action. Vecchio uses different media types to deliver different. tones of messages, be it the seductive elements of an invitation to join, the purring nature that tantalises her volunteers and the narrative from the chat room which serves to act as the public “normal life” perceptions and world views. There are some uncomfortable language and terms used, though I feel this used to get a reaction out of the reader more than anything.
The art is disturbingly gorgeous. Domino look great in her outfit as do her girls. That is only part of the art though. Vecchio has created a dark world, where dark deeds are all too real. The aesthetics may be familiar, who hasn’t seen a bondage mask for example. The lines have that classic European vibe with a style that looks like a heavier nuanced version of Guilem March’s fine lines. The colors, also supplied by Vecchio are almost monochromatic with one colors used as a kind of coverall over, at times, well-detailed backgrounds. The contrast to this method is the use of red, and as there is some blood spilling, there is plenty of red on show!
This book is not for the faint hearted. With some topics of the books being easily identified, it is the idea of what does consent mean that actually powers the book. The smoke and mirrors aside, there’s no real reason documented as to why Domino does what she does. It will be interesting to see these motivations, possibly hinted at in places, comes to light. With the terseness of the locales, art and script, I would hate for something supernatural to supplant the not-quite-real-world styling of this issue.
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Overall – 5 Stars
Written & Art by; Launa Vecchio
English Adaption by; Edward Caio
Published by; Image Comics