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Comic Stories About Love & Heartbreak
The long-awaited anthology contains eleven stories exploring characters who have loved and been loved, have broken hearts and had their hearts broken and still love (or long to be loved).
Trade Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Elbert Or
29 books9 followersElbert Or graduated from the Ateneo Manila University with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. He is currently working as a freelance writer and illustrator for various publications and organizations.
He still dabbles in comics creation on occasion, with a number of comics endeavors on his slate, including Cherry Blossom High (as writer), Nautilus Comics‘ teen-oriented comic book series Cast (as editor) and his own pet project, Two Color Truth Theatre. He is a member of Ang Illustrador ng Kabataan (Ang InK) and has illustrated Ang Parusa ng Duwende and Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Mahal na Hari for Anvil Publishing, Fat, Cranky and Full of It for Milflores Publishing. He is also the co-editor of the superhero comic anthology, Project: Hero. He conducts comics workshops in various venues around the country.
(from Komiklopedia: The Philippine Komiks Encyclopedia)
He still dabbles in comics creation on occasion, with a number of comics endeavors on his slate, including Cherry Blossom High (as writer), Nautilus Comics‘ teen-oriented comic book series Cast (as editor) and his own pet project, Two Color Truth Theatre. He is a member of Ang Illustrador ng Kabataan (Ang InK) and has illustrated Ang Parusa ng Duwende and Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Mahal na Hari for Anvil Publishing, Fat, Cranky and Full of It for Milflores Publishing. He is also the co-editor of the superhero comic anthology, Project: Hero. He conducts comics workshops in various venues around the country.
(from Komiklopedia: The Philippine Komiks Encyclopedia)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 15, 2012
Quick read.
10 short love stories in comics form. Most of the stories are passable.
Two are amazing (5 stars):
I'm so Alone by Carlos Reyes and Elbert Or for using parallel storytelling about 4 lives with broken or sad (alone) hearts. Imagine telling 4 beautiful (yet a bit disturbing) stories with only 8 frames each. Brilliant.
Walking by Fidelis Tan and Mary Ranises for reminding us what love should be all about. It's about taking the risk of being in love, telling the other person what you fell, the other person accepting you. Then you get married. You raise children together. You grow old together. One dies and the other one lives a miserable life until he/she dies too. Then your body gets decayed and your grandchildren don't even know your names. Love is about being together in this journey called life. It's living up to your lifelong commitment of to love and to cherish / for richer or for poorer / in sickness or in health / till death do us part. For me, that's what love is all about.
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
10 short love stories in comics form. Most of the stories are passable.
Two are amazing (5 stars):
I'm so Alone by Carlos Reyes and Elbert Or for using parallel storytelling about 4 lives with broken or sad (alone) hearts. Imagine telling 4 beautiful (yet a bit disturbing) stories with only 8 frames each. Brilliant.
Walking by Fidelis Tan and Mary Ranises for reminding us what love should be all about. It's about taking the risk of being in love, telling the other person what you fell, the other person accepting you. Then you get married. You raise children together. You grow old together. One dies and the other one lives a miserable life until he/she dies too. Then your body gets decayed and your grandchildren don't even know your names. Love is about being together in this journey called life. It's living up to your lifelong commitment of to love and to cherish / for richer or for poorer / in sickness or in health / till death do us part. For me, that's what love is all about.
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
October 2, 2011
According to the description at the back, Comics Stories About Love & Heartbreak explores “characters who have loved and been loved, have broken hearts and had their hearts broken, and still love (or long to be loved).” This can be a bit misleading considering how several stories go beyond those themes. Elbert Or’s “Love and Heartbreak,” for instance, serves as the anthology’s driving tale by having snippets of it appear in-between individual stories. It’s an exercise in the usage of symbolic familiarity, only relying on readers’ ability to go through each wordless frame.
Time is perhaps one of the most tackled subjects. “Immortal Beloved,” for example, explores the tried-and-tested premise of love spanning centuries. It deals with how a man, stricken with grief from the death of his beloved, angers the gods, who in return curse him with immortality. “The Present,” written and drawn by Ruben de Vela, sees two futuristic environmental workers as they, after sleeping for thousands of years, continue to struggle with their feelings in a devastated planet Earth.
It is not only the past and the future that the stories explore. Elbert Or’s “I’m So Alone” gives readers a sense of immediacy by telling four stories happening simultaneously. The idea is simple and minimalist (it uses a standard four-paneled page), yet it is so effective that it becomes the most memorable story in the collection.
Special mention goes to horror writer Yvette Tan’s contribution “The Exorcism.” Accompanied by Frances Alcaraz’s dreamlike character designs, the story goes through typical horror territory, but with only a few pages to establish plot and character, the narrative continues to carry itself until its hopeful ending for the two fated characters.
A couple of works turns out to be the most creative of the bunch. “Walking,” which details a conversation between a boy and a girl, brings to life metaphors on love such as “catching a bullet” before going on a romp through frames of what-ifs. My personal favorite has to be “Red String,” the last story in the collection. It literalizes our search for love by having every man’s finger tied with a string, one end attached to his or her soul mate. Whether or not our main character finds out who is tied to the other end of his string is something readers will need to find out.
Despite having a few underwhelming stories, there is much to like about Comics Stories About Love & Heartbreak. If you’re one of those emotionally expressive people who post vague love quotes on Facebook for the sake of making parinig to that other person as a sign of either chumminess or bitterness, then do pick a copy of this. I’m not the emo or the hopeless romantic type, though, yet I still enjoyed it. In fact, you don’t need to be both to appreciate this Philippine-made collection. You can just read for the sake of enjoying the display of ideas scattered all throughout its pages.
(Review first posted on my blog.)
Time is perhaps one of the most tackled subjects. “Immortal Beloved,” for example, explores the tried-and-tested premise of love spanning centuries. It deals with how a man, stricken with grief from the death of his beloved, angers the gods, who in return curse him with immortality. “The Present,” written and drawn by Ruben de Vela, sees two futuristic environmental workers as they, after sleeping for thousands of years, continue to struggle with their feelings in a devastated planet Earth.
It is not only the past and the future that the stories explore. Elbert Or’s “I’m So Alone” gives readers a sense of immediacy by telling four stories happening simultaneously. The idea is simple and minimalist (it uses a standard four-paneled page), yet it is so effective that it becomes the most memorable story in the collection.
Special mention goes to horror writer Yvette Tan’s contribution “The Exorcism.” Accompanied by Frances Alcaraz’s dreamlike character designs, the story goes through typical horror territory, but with only a few pages to establish plot and character, the narrative continues to carry itself until its hopeful ending for the two fated characters.
A couple of works turns out to be the most creative of the bunch. “Walking,” which details a conversation between a boy and a girl, brings to life metaphors on love such as “catching a bullet” before going on a romp through frames of what-ifs. My personal favorite has to be “Red String,” the last story in the collection. It literalizes our search for love by having every man’s finger tied with a string, one end attached to his or her soul mate. Whether or not our main character finds out who is tied to the other end of his string is something readers will need to find out.
Despite having a few underwhelming stories, there is much to like about Comics Stories About Love & Heartbreak. If you’re one of those emotionally expressive people who post vague love quotes on Facebook for the sake of making parinig to that other person as a sign of either chumminess or bitterness, then do pick a copy of this. I’m not the emo or the hopeless romantic type, though, yet I still enjoyed it. In fact, you don’t need to be both to appreciate this Philippine-made collection. You can just read for the sake of enjoying the display of ideas scattered all throughout its pages.
(Review first posted on my blog.)
July 18, 2012
Original post at One More Page
Here's my theory about love stories, or at least, anything romantic: my appreciation level in the story is directly related to the state of my heart while I was reading it. Wow, look at that, me using that phrase state of my heart. But it's true, isn't it? It's easier to appreciate happy love stories when you're happy, and heartache stories resonate more when you more or less share the same state, or have been in that state before and you can relate.
So how exactly did I find this comic book? Well, if the state of my heart was any indication (and I am probably digging a grave for myself by writing this), I liked it. Maybe I'm just really a romantic at heart, or I'm just a generally happy person, or there's something else, but I thought this book is pretty sweet, despite it being "stories of love and heartache". I'm no expert at art, but I appreciated the comics, especially the cute stories in between each major story.
I guess this is one of those books that show different facets of love, and how things can work out or how things may not work out. It's a very quick read, and I finished it in one sitting, but I didn't feel as if I wanted more. Perhaps the reading was enough to satisfy the state of my heart then.
My favorite part in the entire anthology is the last story, Red String, about a man who has been looking for his soul mate by looking for whoever was tied to the other end of the red string on his finger. I don't know about you, but I found the last part quite...hopeful.
Okay, maybe I am just a happy person. :)
Here's my theory about love stories, or at least, anything romantic: my appreciation level in the story is directly related to the state of my heart while I was reading it. Wow, look at that, me using that phrase state of my heart. But it's true, isn't it? It's easier to appreciate happy love stories when you're happy, and heartache stories resonate more when you more or less share the same state, or have been in that state before and you can relate.
So how exactly did I find this comic book? Well, if the state of my heart was any indication (and I am probably digging a grave for myself by writing this), I liked it. Maybe I'm just really a romantic at heart, or I'm just a generally happy person, or there's something else, but I thought this book is pretty sweet, despite it being "stories of love and heartache". I'm no expert at art, but I appreciated the comics, especially the cute stories in between each major story.
I guess this is one of those books that show different facets of love, and how things can work out or how things may not work out. It's a very quick read, and I finished it in one sitting, but I didn't feel as if I wanted more. Perhaps the reading was enough to satisfy the state of my heart then.
My favorite part in the entire anthology is the last story, Red String, about a man who has been looking for his soul mate by looking for whoever was tied to the other end of the red string on his finger. I don't know about you, but I found the last part quite...hopeful.
Okay, maybe I am just a happy person. :)
July 19, 2010
Being a romantic myself, I adored this collection. The play on the colors of white, black and red were all very fine in telling the tale of the characters whose lives have been changed by love. Really, a great read.
June 9, 2011
i adore this collection the eleven characters fantastic and their stories....
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews