Love and Capes is a delightful, light-hearted comic about romance. Described as a “heroically super situation comedy,” it describes the romance between Abby, who runs a bookstore, and Mark, who fights crime as The Crusader. The comic begins at the point when Mark reveals his secret identity to Abby (a smart move since we are spared many “Oh Mark, you’re here, you just missed The Crusader” type antics). The tone is set by the bright, blocky, Jetsons-style art. This is all fun, with just a hint of retro to it despite the presence of cell phones.
The first few issues of Love and Capes are pretty basic. They are cute, but they rely on stale ideas. Women take a long time to get ready for parties! Women are insecure about their husbands’ exes! These jokes are stale at best and sexist at worst. Luckily, by the end of the first issue, the comic has found its footing and we start seeing character development. The comic does a great job with letting relationships reveal themselves and develop naturally, and as it does so the comic gains a bit more depth and the characters become much more interesting.
This is best exemplified in the relationship between Abby and another superhero, Amazonia. Abby is intimidated by Amazonia, but they aren’t fighting over Mark. There’s no suggestion that Abby thinks that Mark is cheating on her or that Amazonia is trying to get Mark away from Abby. Amazonia makes Abby feel inadequate (Amazonia is buxom yet skinny, wears a skimpy costume, and has superpowers, so I get it). Amazonia also represents Abby’s concern that Abby can never truly share the superhero part of Marks’ life.
As time passes, Amazonia bonds with Abby’s sister and then, very gradually, and thanks to copious consumption of alcohol, she bonds with Abby. Their friendship develops in a natural way that is lovely to see. It’s nice to see that kind of character development in a sitcom-inspired comic, and I love the interactions between the women once they start to connect.
Because the comic runs beyond Abby and Mark’s initial courtship and into the more committed levels of their relationship, it has a mature quality to it. Mark and Abby deal realistically with parents and siblings and closet space and rent. They also deal with doppelgängers and time travel. Although the tone is usually light, they do have to confront loss and failure sometimes.
This is a gentle comic with minimal plotting and angst. It’s about relationships, not just the one between Mark and Abby but also the ones between their families and friends and co-workers. There aren’t any horrible people in this series (The Crusader tends to fight his battles off-page). The comic does suffer from a lack of diversity (Mark’s best friend is black and Abby’s employee is gay but otherwise there’s mostly straight white people running around). Other than that flaw, the characters represent a of different ages and personalities who annoy each other, support each other, and date each other by turns while fighting evil and bookstore rent increases.
Reading this comic isn’t incredibly exciting, and it’s more amusing than roll-on-the-floor hilarious, but it is amazingly comforting. It’s like hanging out with a bunch of your best friends (on a rooftop, with coffee, possibly in Paris or maybe in space). In a time when we are beset by superhero angst, this comic makes me feel happy. I love Abby and Mark’s relationship, but even more than that I love all the friendships and family relationships in this fun, optimistic story about mostly good people who mostly do good things.
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Darn you! I was at a comic con last weekend and an anime convention the weekend before. I have spent far too much money indulging my inner geek lately. I needed that very expensive collectible figurine of my favourite character from my favourite manga. The series is sold out! It was a bargain! Honest!
But, after Bitch Planet and Sex Criminals (both are great), I might be ready for something a little more laid back.
Have you read his Long Distance series? More straight up romance. Also, I love Thom! I’ve been chatting with him at cons for years and he is a super nice guy!
Oh, neat! I want to read this, and I’m glad you warned me about the slow start. Do you think it’s worth skipping ahead to avoid the cliches, or should I read the earlier volumes so I get all the character development?
I’m always psyched to see graphic novel/comics reviews on here!
I *love* this series. Such a well done romance. The best part is seeing all the side characters develop over time. Amazonia starts off as such a stereotype, but you do see her evolve. There are four trade paperback volumes of the series and Zahler has put it up as a webcomic on his site if you wanted to try it out.
I think I used to read this when it was a webcomic, but I gave up on it after too many jokes that relied on sexist stereotypes. It felt like more than a first issue’s worth, so I wonder if when IDW picked it up they edited that down a bit? I do remember loving the twinkie ad parodies.