A sweet, smart
graphic adventure
Posted:11:50
PM (Manila Time) | Oct. 13, 2002
By Ruel S. De Vera
Inquirer News Service
After Eden by Arnold Arre
(Adarna House, QC, 2002, 254 pp)
AFTER WINNING awards and rave reviews for his groundbreaking comic
book series "The Mythology Class" and the futuristic one-shot
"Trip to Tagaytay," Arnold Arre takes readers in an entirely new
direction with his newest graphic novel, the 254-page "After Eden,"
the first release from Adarna House's new Anino imprint.
Beyond its sheer length, "After Eden" is impressive because of its
charming set of characters and intelligent exposition. At its heart, and like
most of Arre's other works, "After Eden" is a love story, but it's a
complicated one with a wink-wink, pop-culture feel and a sentimentality that's
sincere but a bit cutesy.
The word-heavy novel spins around the lives of Jon, a hobby storeowner, and
Celine, an advertising writer. The two had shared one moment as children, a
moment immortalized in a photograph. A chance meeting after a riot occurs at a
fantasy/hobby convention (yes, you read that correctly) leads to what appears
at first to be a fairly innocuous, somewhat saccharine romance. But then, Arre
throws in a novel, slightly twisted, well, twist.
Greg, Jon's loud-mouthed fanboy friend, and Lea, Celine's bitchy best friend,
conspire to break the couple up. Apparently, the two miss the lives they shared
with Jon and Celine prior to the fateful reunion, and now the two launch a
notably mean-spirited attempt to end the romance and perhaps return everyone to
a time before starry eyes and sweet nothings. Return everyone, in other words,
to a life of collectible card games and shopping sprees. The fact that Greg and
Lea can't stand each other only adds to the fun, as does the presence of a band
called Heaven Sent, which is actually made up of pretty angels currently
playing cupid.
Obstacle course
The plot winds its way through an obstacle course of near-misses and successful
gambits by Greg and Lea, as well as a quick look at the lives of two other
friends, gaming addict Michael and stuffed toy-collector Cathy. But the meat of
"After Eden" is how lovebirds Jon and Celine are torn apart by people
they trust -- and then the hijinks really begin.
To be honest, there has never been so much crying in an Arnold Arre comic book
until now. Just as he pumped up the dosage on the sugary romance, he also upped
the ante on the emotional confrontations and breakdowns, displaying a knack for
such scenes he hadn't shown before. Furthermore, he keeps the plot running
briskly and the dialogue snappy, no mean feat for a book that's more than
250-pages long. Besides, trust Arre to turn a pop culture-pervaded courtship
into a battle between heaven and hell.
Arre also successfully captures
the zeitgeist of two different cultures: the fanboy culture of sci-fi, comic
books, fantasy and games that evokes a certain degree of otherness for the
uninitiated; and the flashy, unrelenting, competitive world of the ad industry.
Arre approaches these worlds with a sincere understanding as well as a
discerning eye
The art is vintage Arre; strong and simple in its black-and-white lines, but
also humorous and somewhat whimsical in its individual portrayal of characters.
Arre throws in scenes that brim with surreal visual references as well as
scenes in homage to fantasy and sci-fi. The cover and the pinups also prove
that while Arre's work looks good in black and white, it looks fantastic in
color.
Handsome
As far as his characters are concerned, Jon and Celine are handsome lead
characters; soulful to a fault, pure romantic hero and heroine material, or, as
one extra calls them, "the mushiest couple on the planet." For my
money, it is the supporting pair of Greg, with his funny hair and exaggerated
expressions and Lea, with her naughty eyes and capacity for bile, that help
make "After Eden" the vivid, catchy experience that it is. Try not to
laugh too hard at the twosome's flashback sequences, or when they get stuck in
a bar. While the book is actually a tale of three disparate romances, it is the
central, threatened pair of Jon and Celine that propels "After Eden"
to its honestly sentimental but visually grabbing climax. Arre orchestrates
that denouement and the subsequent endings with confidence and maybe a smile or
two.
"After Eden" is an important next step in our own comic book history
because of its size, its narrative strength and its original flavor, proving
that Arre continues to hone his skills. It also feels like an intensely
personal work for him. He melds different worlds with his talent to craft
another graphic adventure to be proud of; a book that's unabashedly romantic,
one that says that fanboys and yuppies can find life-long love after all.
Available at leading bookstores and comic shops.
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