Yu-Gi-Oh! – A never-ending journey

Hi everyone, it is nice to be back.

While I had originally been planning to write a completely different post, news about the untimely passing of Kazuki Takahashi-sensei, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh, changed my plans.

Having watched the anime series as well as being a hardcore fan of the manga and the card game, news about Takahashi-sensei’s passing came as quite a shock.

I discovered Yu-Gi-Oh when I was around 11 years old. My family was living in Egypt at that time, which made it all the better, as the core plot of Yu-Gi-Oh revolved against the backdrop of Egypt and its ancient history.

The card games themselves were very popular at school. This was great for a kid like me especially since it was a means through which I could find some form of inclusion (against the racism and bullying) among my peers at school. On most occasions, I would be a silent observer watching my peers play and have a riot of a time during lunch breaks.

As I didn’t have the resources to buy the actual cards, I would instead watch the aired episodes, note down the cards used by my favorite characters, find images of them online (thank god for Google), print the images at the library, and then cut them out to have my own deck of printer paper quality cards.

It would take a while before I could join in on some games with my peers. There was some mockery of my cheap deck but that would change once I began winning the games. Slowly, but surely, my victories would become a means to communicate who I was as a person to my opponents. As a result, I would gain friends and a measure of acceptance, through the game, among my peers.

Twelve years would pass until I bought my first actual Yu-Gi-Oh deck in 2017. The actual decks were cool but I still felt nothing could beat the old paper deck I made back in Egypt. Thankfully, I have kept it to this day. The cards themselves are pretty worn out but the memories they hold for me are eternal.

I have re-watched the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series several times. While some may find its plot to be childish or incoherent on occasion, its message and themes make up for all of its flaws. There is a constant callback to the power of memories, especially of loved ones who may have passed away. There is also the strength that one can find in friendship, and through it, the courage to make your own path in life.

The card games, in many ways, mirrored the emotions and reflections of the characters and their personalities.

Altogether, the series provided quite a few powerful lessons for a kid like me who, back then, was struggling with bullying and racism in what was a constant battle to find a place for myself among my peers and as an individual.

After hearing the news of Takahashi-sensei’s death, I came across a tweet that posted the afterword he had written following the final chapter of his manga,

Suffice to say Takahashi-sensei, you succeeded. Atem said it best,

The gift of kindness you’ve given me, and the courage I’ve given you will remain with us, and that will forever bind us together.

Thank you for the gift you have given me and many others around the world through your work, and the characters you brought to life.

There, in the desert, I found a puzzle. Within it, resided a story. A story about the power of friendship, the value of compassion, the strength of courage, and the never-ending journey that is our memories of our loved ones. Thank you, Takahashi-sensei. You remain an inspiration for me in my own journey as an aspiring artist and writer.

Things Fall Apart

No, I am not referring to Chinua Achebe’s debut novel (one of my favorite reads from high school). What I’m here to talk about is when plans go caput, like they did over the last two months since my last blog entry. The feature image of this post is a very good hint as to what may be responsible.

Before you proceed, beware, the Force (for all those Star Wars fans out there) is strong with this post.

A recurring theme of parenthood is the inability to exact on the plans and goals we set for ourselves. You may ask, “What happened? Where were you all these days?”

Put it simply, I became Obi-Wan Kenobi. Holed up in my office, I have spent the last two months reminiscing the glory days…

For almost 8 years, I was a happy man in an awesome relationship. There was peace and tranquility…before the dark times, before my Republic fell against the onslaught and ascendance of an empire led by a baby Darth Vader.

Unlike the actual Darth Vader, this baby Darth Vader is just so much more difficult to handle. Why? Because the chaos that ensues in her presence is accompanied by a forceful load of cuteness and all sorts of mushy feelings.

Nevertheless, our battles have been legendary. Collateral damage was inevitable. The state of my home speaks to that. The battles have taken their toll on my body as well and battle scars have been plenty with the most worrisome being a recurring shoulder injury that set me back from doing any writing or art for nearly a month. Recovery has been gradual but investing in an ergonomic office set up has made a big difference. The rings under my eyes are now a permanent addition to my battle-hardened persona, and with every passing day, I feel more like this guy,

Meanwhile, my partner hasn’t been faring so well either. Setting aside the reality of dealing with teething, baby vaccinations, and COVID scares, a potent combination that screwed up all the routines that I had set in place to assist the two of us, my wife has transformed into this guy (by her own admission),

Stress is a difficult opponent, and looking after a baby can sometimes be awful especially when your time is pretty much out of your hands and serves the whims of a little human being. Mixed emotions follow when you are uncertain if you are actually happy or extremely frustrated as everything that is orderly crumbles to dust.

So, as things fell apart, I realized that it was more important to give my wife as much support as I could (not to say that I haven’t thus far). I’m grateful that I was able to land a job that enabled me to work from home. I can’t say that I succeeded 100% when it comes to helping out. It has been a work in progress as we learn from one another and our individual mistakes but on the brighter side of things, it is an experience that has only deepened our relationship as partners and as parents to our lovely angel.

Treats have been the way to go to deal with the constant stress and any unhealthy weight gain is offset by having to run after our baby daughter. Despite all these difficulties, we have had a few occasions to celebrate. Most notably, my first purchase of a car. A Mazda, my very own Razor Crest, that will serve as our family transport as we explore the endless boundaries of the galaxy that unravels in the wake of our daughter’s growth.

Today, I feel very happy to get back on the block and write this post but I can’t be certain as to how “back” I actually am. Fingers crossed that things do settle down over the next few weeks so that I can hit my groove again. If not, that is alright as well, because nothing is more important than family…actually, scratch that, nothing is more important than you, baby Lord Vader.

Here’s to seeing you all again next week, with a new hope, and a new blog post to boot.

Moving from Science to Drawing

Drawing is tough.

It is even harder when you have a toddler to keep an eye out for. I got out of that particular fix once I moved to Calgary and I was able to allocate office space for myself at my new home. All of this took well over three months (between December to February), so drawing had to be on the backburner for a while (another reason for the lack of follow up posts in The Art Corner).

Now, having eased into a working routine this month, I was ready to go crazy with my art and keep up with the good vibes I had with my previous drawing of an eye back in November.

Unfortunately, the restart began with me careening into a major roadblock. Suffice to say, it took a lot of effort to overcome this obstacle. To relate this story, I need to revisit my childhood memories. Back then, I used to draw A LOT (art competitions, drawing classes, and a large stash of comics and kids magazines kept my creative juices flowing). What defined my work was the clarity with which I was able to approach whatever I wished to draw. I enjoyed the process.

Unfortunately, growing up has its toll.

In my case, drawing became less of an active interest by the time I finished my secondary education and it was science galore once I started university. It wasn’t until I began my doctoral studies that my continued passion for writing stirred my long-forgotten love for drawing. With every story I worked on, I really wanted to bring the worlds of my imagination to life on a piece of paper.

Long story short, I had to hit the drawing board again.

As I sat down to restart my drawing adventures this March, it became very obvious very quickly that my mindset needed a major shift. It wasn’t a case of, “I can’t draw!” Rather, after 12 years at university, my mind had grown accustomed to a strictly logical thought process. This had its fair share of benefits when I had to solve physics problems and what not but it didn’t translate well into my art process.

Incorporating a systematic approach to my art helped me easily build on specific skills such as the ability to deconstruct images into basic geometric shapes and objects. This was great for getting the basic structure of my subject, but when it came down to molding these geometric shapes to match reality, I found myself spending more time critiquing the details as opposed to getting my drawing done. This made even simple drawings and assignments very taxing. I realized I was thinking too hard, and needed to “let the art flow” and “loosen up.”

That was easier said than done, especially when it had to accompany a huge shift in mindset. Logic doesn’t follow very smoothly in art and part of drawing is to learn to be ok with restating and imperfections. That was a tough nut to crack for me.

Ironically, having a toddler running around in the house helped in this aspect. By the time I sat down to draw every evening, I was too tired mentally to engage as a critic. Rather, the process gradually shifted to just putting pencil to paper, being relaxed with my approach, and most importantly, being OK with it.

This made the difference. Moral of the story, “Keep it simple. Look, hold, and draw.”

So here we are with the pieces that I got to work on recently:

This involved an assignment on learning to draw by looking at your subject as opposed to the paper. The (Left) is a classic example of me failing to be loose, and the (Right) when I succeeded. Next up is to add more definition to the feet by capturing its contours.
A product of my frustration. I needed a mental break one night, and just tried something ambitious: a rough sketch of a portrait that came up on my Facebook feed (Permissions obtained from Irina Akulenko). I didn’t care about how perfect my linework was, just kept restating and restating in what was an enjoyable 45 min drawing session. Gonna keep working on it to perfect it.

Dealing with Change – Redefining the present

Growing up in Madurai, India, I didn’t know much about the outside world beyond my hometown. When I was 10, my family moved to Egypt. We would spend five years there before moving to Sudan. Once I completed my secondary education in Sudan, I would depart to Canada for higher studies. Meanwhile, my family continued to travel around the world to Sierra Leone and UK, before finally returning to India.

The near-nomadic lifestyle my family adopted had its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. On one end, I obtained the best resources available for my education. Experiencing different cultures widened my perspective and helped in my personal growth as a young adult but it was also difficult when I had to confront cultural differences as I became exposed to multiple others.

On the other hand, moving from one place to another was not easy. For every hello, there was a goodbye. I did not like that. Suffice to say, completing my doctoral studies in Edmonton last year, the looming reality of a move to another city was not an exciting prospect.

Having lived in Edmonton for nearly twelve years, I did not want to leave. Newsflash! I had grown to dislike change. Some of my most cherished memories from university, like meeting my best friends and my wife, all happened in Edmonton. All of this made Edmonton, a second home of sorts. So moving, even if it were only three hours away to Calgary, was a difficult pill to swallow.

I wanted to resolve this issue and I found my solution in the most unexpected of sources: my baby daughter. She has the power to induce what I call an oxymoronic reality. In watching her grow and looking after her, she makes me feel that years have gone by when in reality no time has passed at all. Einstein’s relativity can take the backseat when it comes to her. In fact, daily life is a dynamic endeavor with her in the picture and change is the new normal.

Now they say that with age comes a reluctance towards change. Ironically, change is the defining theme to my daughter’s growth. It comes in a multitude of forms like separation anxiety, teething, learning to walk, etc. One way or another, I had to get used to it.

Weirdly enough, when push came to shove, I found myself willing to confront whatever my daughter had to throw at me head-on, without any uncertainty on my part and especially if it meant her happiness and comfort. It is in that spirit I realized, spending the last few months juggling between a one-man unpacking team and father, that change is not harmful. Rather, it helps maintain a healthy relationship between one’s past, present, and future.

Farewells and new beginnings will always be a part of this and I found comfort in knowing that whatever is lost to the past lives on in the present that I get to experience. My past made my present possible.

All this reflection brought me back to a quote/personal motto of mine back in high school, “Cherish the past, live the present, and happily anticipate the future.” Funnily enough, it is only now that I have realized the true meaning behind this statement. Better late than never!

Having now moved to Calgary, there is much to anticipate for the future, not to mention whatever new problem my baby daughter will throw at me and my wife tomorrow. In all of this, I take my misgivings in a positive light and focus on what is most important: the present, where I am now in pursuit of my dreams, growing alongside my baby daughter, and indulging in the changes that will be wonderful memories to cherish in the future.

Monster Party in the Monsterverse Titanthology

I am a huge fan of Godzilla (Gojira) and a sucker for anything that involves giant monsters causing widespread destruction and havoc. We can add giant robots to that list as well.

Needless to say, I was hyped when the monsterverse hit the big screens with: Godzilla, Kong, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Kong (GvK). Godzilla: King of the Monsters is my absolute favorite as we get to see most of the franchise players of the monsterverse play a role in the story. An added bonus was the unforgettable experience at the theater and the sight of my wife, who grew up watching Godzilla in Japan, well up in tears from pure nostalgia.

I’m not ashamed to admit it, but it all started with this 1998 abomination for me. I found my way to the real material after that.

Post Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021, amidst the pandemic hitting its peak (and continues to go strong), I was craving for more monster material to digest.

I was very happy that they were able to recreate the epic “eat your vegetables” moment in Godzilla vs Kong.

I eventually found out that Legendary Comics did exactly that in their release of the Monsterverse Titanthology graphic novel. That is what I will be reviewing today.

The best part of the Monsterverse Titanthology is that it perfectly caters to new readers of the Monsterverse as well as fans who wish to discover the backstories of the two titular characters holding up the franchise: Godzilla and Kong. The Titanthology was released in June 2021 but its contents actually bring together previous released graphic novels (that slipped under my radar) in Skull Island: The Birth of Kong (2017) and Godzilla: Aftershock (2019) in one volume.

The tone and pacing of both stories vary. This is a positive as it keeps the reader hooked moving from one story to another in what is essentially a shared universe. Yet, despite the shared universe, there is also a lot of contrast in the backstories of Godzilla and Kong and if you are a fan of stories that reference and work off of inspirations from ancient mythology, the Titanthology is a perfect treat.

One of the best aspects of the movie series was the world building. There were so many cool elements such as the hollow earth and ancient civilizations interspersed in a story that is grounded, not by the pure spectacle of the monsters, but by the human experience when confronted with this reality. The movies had their share of flaws but when it came to pure entertainment factor they ticked all the boxes for me.

Now, while the movies could only show so much, the Titanthology provides a lot more by building on the mythologies and worlds introduced in the movies while spinning them within various cultural subtexts. This makes for an intriguing and interesting read made even better by incorporating a journal or mystery file element to the stories. Altogether, the Titanthology adds to the history of its titular monsters and their motivations, prior to their appearances (in the films), and their climactic confrontation.

With that said, for any Godzilla or Kong fans out there, this is an anthology you don’t want to miss. The Monsterverse is still going strong with two television series concurrently in development and hopefully more movies too! A few more graphic novels have also been published since the release of the Titanthology including GvK Kingdom Kong and GvK Godzilla Dominion which serve as specific prequels to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, so make sure to check them out as well.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few buildings worth of monsterverse resources to pillage.

Observing traditions in a multi-cultural family

Growing up in a Christian family in India meant we had a slightly different schedule of festivals to celebrate throughout the year compared to our neighbors who were predominantly Hindus. That didn’t stop my family from engaging in a few of the Hindu festivals and traditions.

Indian culture is a multifaceted entity with thousands of unique traditions and customs present in the country. A lot of these traditions, while built within a religious foundation (Hinduism), are often interpreted as setting the norm for daily life, especially surrounding family. When my family left India, all the way back in 2001, my parents strived to maintain those traditions at least within the circle of our own religious beliefs. As I grew up, those religious beliefs were molded by my personal experiences in life.

So, there I was in Christmas 2021, singing along to the Gunter Kallmann Choir Christmas playlist while packing up our apartment with the help of my baby daughter. This choir was a favorite of my grandfather’s and the carols brought back nostalgic memories of celebrating Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ home.

Draped over the chair, in the opposite corner of the living room, I recognized the veshti I had worn just a few weeks back when we had celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

One of the most popular festivals in Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and is celebrated between mid-October and mid-November.

I had cooked a traditional feast for my wife and daughter (who indulged as much as possible for her age) while wishing family and friends to share in our joy, much like we would later do on Christmas Eve.

These celebrations were followed by several others, this time from my wife’s side of the family, who are Japanese. We observe our last meal of Toshikoshi soba on New Year’s Eve,

Toshikoshi soba is a noodle dish eaten on New Year’s Eve, and isa customary practice to let go of the hardships of the year, represented by the soba noodles that are easily cut while eating.

followed by Nanakusa no Sekku or the Festival of Seven Herbs, on January 7th.

Nanakusa no sekku is a custom where one eats seven (nana)-herb rice porridge to ward off evil and celebrate longevity and good health.

A week after that, we would once again come full circle, by celebrating Pongal, a multi-day Hindu harvest festival observed by Tamils in India.

Pongal celebrates the first harvest of the New Year. The festival is named after the ceremonial dish “pongal”, which means to boil or overflow, prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk with jaggery or raw sugar.

What was the point of all of this? Why celebrate so many different festivals of varying origins?

The answer has to do with my struggles to find the best of both worlds in balancing my cultural norms with those of others I grew accustomed to while living in Egypt, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Canada. Now, as a father, I wished to create a family tradition for my baby daughter that was open-minded, contrasting to the chaotic nature of discussions in the name of religion, while providing a platform honoring and respecting people’s religious choices and faith.

By integrating these different festivals and celebrations, I wish to create an environment that would hopefully allow my daughter to embrace different cultures and respect their traditions, as she grows up. Christmas, beyond the religious stipulations, always represented happy memories with family. It was a period of time when we could all come together, revel in trivial pursuits and games, and just be happy for each other. 

That emotion of familial joy became permanently affixed to many of the other celebrations my parents had observed, outside of our religious circle, in festivals like Diwali and Pongal. Diwali, for me, was just a different kind of Christmas, and Pongal was a different New Year’s celebration. Together, they both meant being with family and being happy. Growing up, I realized that just because my family identified with one religion didn’t necessarily mean I couldn’t embrace or observe the traditions of another faith. To that end, I met a perfect partner in my wife who shared the same opinion.

While we can’t guarantee what our daughter will remember about how we celebrate the holiday season, I’m happy that we have started a dialogue of sorts where she could explore at her own pace the similarities and differences that various faiths have to offer. As she grows older, we will support her desire to explore the world in her own way whether it meant celebrating Hindu festivals, learning the meaning behind Shinto rituals and traditions, or simply lighting up the Christmas tree in the living room.

In the meantime, Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 provided the perfect ending to our journey in Edmonton (for me and my wife) and the beginning of a new adventure in Calgary. In the years to come, I hope to continue engaging in this open dialogue with my daughter as we observe traditions from both sides of the family.

Through it all, I have one hope for her: that she will one day grow to remember, much like her mother and father, that by embracing something new and different you are not losing yourself but expanding and learning on what you already have.

A Fresh Start in 2022 – Updates and Changes to the blog!

Belated New Year Greetings to all my readers!

It took a while but I finally have my own office up and running in my new home in Calgary! Along with the new home and the new year comes a fresh start for The Pensive Reverie.

The tail end of 2021 saw me take a considerate break from writing of any form. Starting a new job, being a father, finding a new home, etc. meant I needed to step away for a while. In retrospect, this turned out to be for the best. It provided me fresh perspective on how I wish to develop this blog in the long run.

The Pensive Reverie lacked a definitive theme. The blog’s original tagline, when it started back in 2016, read,

A journey through the occasional thoughts of a free spirit…

Back then, I had just completed my MSc. degree and my thoughts were, for the most part,

Scattered…

Six years down the road, I have found my calling.  Looking back at all the posts, the answer was always there. Writing is my passion and I’m fortunate, during these rough times, to have found employment in an environment that idealizes this passion.

I now spend my day as a science writer. After my day job, my evenings revolve around my efforts toward becoming a full-time author and artist while spending time with my family.

I want The Pensive Reverie to be a direct reflection of the same. While I haven’t made too many changes to the overall appearance of the blog, there were a few tweaks and updates that were facilitated behind the scenes.

Here are the changes:

(1) I will no longer share my posts on The Procrastinating Scientist, my science blog, here at The Pensive Reverie as I wish to keep the two blogs isolated.

(2) My weekly posts will now solely focus on the following topics:

  • My adventures in life as a father, writer, and just another guy stumbling along towards his dreams (Slice of Life),
  • My journey to become an artist where I will share my artwork (Art Corner),
  • Fun reviews on things I love: books, games, movies, anime, etc. (Locke’s reviews)

(3) There will also be a new category of content called 100-word stories, where I will write short stories based on random and inspiring pictures I find online.

My published works will remain accessible as always. The social links on the sidebar will now direct you to the blog’s Twitter feed and Facebook group.

I have also added the Instagram link to my art, a venue where I hope to build my portfolio.

With big plans for the future, I intend to continue engaging with all of you in earnest over the many years to come, here at The Pensive Reverie where I will be,

Writing my journey one thought at a time…

It’s the new tagline.

I will see you all again this weekend with a fresh new post, as we play catch up from 2021, starting with “Celebrating Hindu Festivals.”

Two months of surprises, new jobs, new city, and 2022!

The past two months had several surprises in store for me and my wife. It just had to start on a sour note with our baby daughter falling sick early November (right after my previous post).

Cue the domino effect and a month long hiatus from writing.

Much of November involved my wife and I taking our baby girl on multiple visits to the pediatrician. Thankfully, all is well now. We are back to the norm that is constitutive of our family life: trying to keep up with our baby girl who is “cruising” in her intent to explore the world. We are so happy that she made a full recovery. Growing up with our baby girl has been so much fun!

Despite the rough start, November concluded on a high note when I landed a full-time job as a science writer for LabX Media Group. Shortly afterward, my wife obtained an offer to pursue her doctoral studies at the University of Calgary. These developments left us rocking.

With 2022 just around the corner, December has been all the hustle and bustle. I had my onboarding process at LabX, my wife had her doctoral applications to complete, and together, we had our impending move to our new house in Calgary.

With all of this going on, writing and art had to take the backseat. Initially, this was frustrating as I had gotten tired of the whole on and off process. In retrospect, it all worked for the best.

After nearly 12 years in Edmonton, 2022 will be the start of a new chapter in my life in a completely different city (albeit, just 3 hours away from Edmonton). Much more on this in a future post!

Stepping back to see the bigger picture of my journey over all these years was important. Getting a full-time job has also been a huge relief and has provided fresh perspective and motivation for my future dreams and ambitions.

There is much I have to plan for and I can’t wait to get it all started. Big changes are pending for The Pensive Reverie and The Procrastinating Scientist in 2022. Not to mention, I am looking forward to our new house in Calgary, as I get to customize my own office space for art and writing.

Amidst the boxes currently piling up in our living room, and our impending move in two weeks, I will be away from the blog for a few more weeks. Fingers crossed, it will be a smooth transition during winter.

My time away has left a long list of prospective posts on standby, and there is so much I wish to share with all of you like the remodeling of the blog and its appearance, finishing my graphic novel and starting the concept art, and more!

For now, thank you so much for your patience and views on the blog, despite my time away!

Belated Christmas greetings to all and advance wishes on a Happy New Year!

Getting back into Art – Drawing an Eye!

Life is a balancing act. For me, that boils down to juggling my day job as a freelance science writer and my nighttime adventures as an aspiring comic book artist.

It took me more than a decade to realize my passion for writing and art. In retrospect, its funny I didn’t catch it earlier especially when the answer was staring me in the face.

I love writing. It started off with personal projects and now I’m wrapping up the final script for a graphic novel that I hope to publish sometime in the distant future. Art was more an on and off companion since my childhood.

Now, I’m ready to really get into it, and polish my knowledge and skills. I still have a long way to go and there is much to learn. Having made a specific section called “Art Corner” in this blog, I hope to utilize it as an art journal of sorts where I can post my weekly progress.

You have got to start with the fundamentals, and so I started off with this course on Udemy:

The first lesson was to draw a realistic eye, as best to our ability as possible. I would then draw the same eye, at the end of the course, as a means to gauge my progress.

I’m a pencil and paper guy but with my recent foray into comics, I have also been interested in picking up digital art. So I did two eyes!

The one on the left is obviously done using pencil and paper, and the one on the right is an ongoing struggle in my digital foray.

I hope to keep up with my weekly projects and post consistently! Feel free to critique the hell out of it in the comments as it helps me even more. And, don’t forget, follow my art journey at LockeInArt on Instagram as well!

Reviewing Mercy & The Fade Out

It was in 2020 that I had my last in-person comics haul at Warp 1- the friendly neighborhood comics and games store at Old Strathcona -before pandemic restrictions set in.

Little did I know that a year would pass until I actually got to read the comics I had purchased, thanks to an onset of events like the pandemic, working from home, completing my doctoral studies, looking for employment, and becoming a father.

As my baby daughter slowly settled into a manageable routine, I found pockets of time to catch up on all the reading I had missed out on, starting with,

Mercy – Mirka Andolfo

Any surprise on the tone of the story is thrown out the window as Mirka Andolfo’s graphic novel begins with a bang. Monsters are on the menu, and they are on the hunt for humans. But, these monsters are unique as they are hosted by select humans and are fighting for their own survival.

The prelude sets the stage for the characters in the present timeline, many of whom are haunted by events of their past that may or may not have something to do with the origins of these monsters. Wracked by guilt, these characters spend their present lives trying to reconcile their feelings with their actions in the past.

On the opposing side, we have a potent mix of personalities between Lady Hellaine, the titular character with a secret that she must protect, and Rory, the innocent little girl who believes that Hellaine is her mother. Set within the streets and tight-knit community of Woodsburgh, a small mining town close to the Canadian border, Mirka Andolfo’s story treads the path of the gothic horror genre with the town being victimized by a heinous creatures killings its citizens. The story revolves around finding the connection, if any, between these disturbances and the engimatic Lady Hellaine who has just arrived in Woodsburgh.

While the plot is a little predictable, the art work and the glorious color palette make up for the flaws. Slap in some religious symbolism, and a greater focus on the monsters we confront in human nature as opposed to the physical monsters themselves, Andolfo’s story provides a surprising and refreshing ending that leaves one wanting for more. It is essentially a horror story that questions what it means to be a monster.

The six editions of Mercy have been collected into one volume Mercy – The Fair Lady, The Frost, and The Fiend available in stores and online. If you are a fan of Victorian gothic-horror, this is one series to check out.

The sequel Merciless is set to arrive in 2021, though there may be delays due to the global pandemic.

My personal rating: 8/10

Shifting from the Victorian gothic-horror set piece, and moving forward in time from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, our next story brings us to the streets of Hollywood in,

The Fade Out – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips

I love film noir so I didn’t hesitate in picking up this title, and the graphic novel delivered in all departments.

Enter Hollywood, 1948. Our main character is Charlie Parish, a writer stuck in the sets of a noir film that is plagued by endless reshoots in the aftermath of an up and coming starlet’s death. It isn’t a normal death by any means and suspicions abound among the cast as to who is responsible.

The Fade Out is unlike the usual mystery plot and there is much more to it than the generic murder story. What I really admired about this graphic novel was the research done by the writer to capture the atmosphere of Hollywood in 1948. Real life background events such as the Red Scare, a widespread fear for a potential rise of communism, World War II, and the Pearl Harbor bombings continue to torment the American psyche and are described near perfectly through Brubaker’s characters. Film is instrumental in allowing the public to immerse in a happier world, and the plot unravels much like a film within a film.

We, the readers, get to indulge in the underbelly of the film industry and witness its darker sides. All of this through the literal and figurative glasses of the main character Charlie Parish, who is somehow connected to the death of the starlet. Charlie himself is unable to recollect his connection to the murder. Feeling morally obligated to get to the bottom of the mystery, and disgusted by the industry’s attempts to sweep the story under the rug, we follow our disgruntled writer on his journey to discover the truth.

What makes the story click is not the usual cliché of solving a murder mystery. Rather, it is the reality of how vulnerable and powerless the common can be facing against authoritative institutions that determine and are crucial to one’s way of life. Charlie faces this very obstacle, fighting against the industry that is responsible for his paycheck, and the decision he makes in the end confronted by this oppressive power leaves the reader stunned.

The Fade Out is one graphic novel you don’t want to miss.

My personal rating: 10/10