Wuvable Oaf 4
Ed Luce and Mark Herzog
Goteblud Comics
5.00
Earlier in the week I found a thick package from Ed Luce in my mail box. Big packages from Ed always make me excited! You went there for a couple seconds in your mind; didn’t you? A big package from Ed always means a new Wuvable Oaf is mine to read!
Last issue Oaf and Eiffel were in the middle of a date having dinner in the latest pretentious restaurant helmed by Eiffel’s pretentious ex lover Hammond. Hammond’s master plan was to get Eiffel back by sabotaging the date and ruining any chances of Eiffel having a new relationship before one could start. Luce more than makes up for the wait for a resolution to the cliffhanger ending tease with just over 40 pages!
So how can I describe Wuvable Oaf to you if you don’t know anything about the series? Oaf is a big, and I mean big, hairy guy with a kind soul and a shy demeanor. He was once a wrestler but his heart wasn’t much into it. He’s had a number of bad dates and break ups that are shown in either flashback scenes or clever single page illustrations. There’s a small assortment of incredibly dear and memorable friends in Oaf’s life. His hobby and alternate means of income in crafting weird dolls by hand. Oaf is about heart and humor and broken hearts and cats because Oaf has lots and lots of cats. Essentially Wuvable Oaf is anyone who’s had their heart stepped on and has to find a way to carry on with life until one day a stranger catches your eye, like happened to Oaf unexpectedly. Throughout obstacles and hilarious shenanigans, Oaf is gently single minded in learning about and finally meeting the object of his desire, heavy metal band Ejaculoid lead member Eiffel. Eiffel is thin and short, big on attitude, and loud and gregarious. They’re so mismatched that it’s obvious they probably won’t work out yet you can’t help but hope and cheer for Oaf when Eiffel agrees to a date.
Here’s the super duper compressed synopsis of issue 3. Oaf and Eiffel were in the middle of the much anticipated date having dinner in the latest pretentious restaurant helmed by Eiffel’s pretentious ex lover Hammond. Hammond’s master plan was to get Eiffel back by sabotaging the date and ruining any chances of Eiffel having a new relationship before one could start. Why? Ego, baby! Because nothing leaves Hammond’s life unless he’s bored or ends it himself.
Luce more than makes up for the wait for a resolution to the cliffhanger ending tease with just over 40 pagesin the new issue! The definition of arrogance (don’t you have an ex like that?), Hammond makes one last ditch effort to destroy Oaf’s chances with Eiffel. You can see by the cover image that Hammond doesn’t succeed, but what price will Hammond pay for his own cockiness? And how does one of Oaf’s eerily animated weird dolls play into whatever fate has in store for Hammond? Another scene with the boys taking in an art exhibit at a gallery called Precious Bitches after leaving the restaurant will appeal to anyone who’s ever rolled their eyes at contemporary art can appreciate! Just the name Precious Bitches alone is hilarious, and then there’s the assortment of urban denizens ogling the magniloquence (hey, I wanted a synomym for pretentiousness) masquerading as art! Luce looks to have amused himself and me by drawing many of the people in the crowd in different artist styles. I see figures a la Bryan Lee O’Malley and maybe Chester Brown. Luce isn’t commenting on the other artists in my opinion, just having fun as an artist. Cat lovers will love the outcome of the Eiffel vs the cat tribe stare off back at Oaf’s apartment. I melted at the genuine tenderness and affection Luce created between Oaf and Eiffel as a prelude to their lovemaking. I use that word purposely because on the morning after it’s clear these two characters are truly smitten with each other. That makes me want to jump and cheer! Too bad Eiffel’s band mates who arrive to pick him up don’t look very happy to see Eiffel wrapped up in Oaf’s goodbye embrace! Looks like there’s some tension ahead, men! And now the waiting begins again.
As always, Luce’s art is a big delight! I’ll say something again about Ed’s art again. Any comic artist starting out by working in black and white needs to look at Luce’s work in Wuvable Oaf for inspiration on creating textures and mark making for variety and visual interest. His efforts with character expressions and body language are top notch too. Even with making the cats have distinctive personalities. And attention to details such as revealing Eiffel has a little furry patch right in the small of his back. I think I’ve fallen in lust with Eiffel just for this.
At the top of this review I mentioned how thick the package this came in was. Ed was very generous and added an extra three copies of Oaf 4 for giveaways! Just leave a comment here to enter your name for a copy. You will have to register first if you haven’t already. I promise your information is private and will only be used to contact you if you are a winner. Your comment may not appear right away, but it will be published. Winners will be contacted by the email address provided and asked to provide a mailing address. I reserve the right to choose another name if you do not reply within 72 hours. Sorry, contest open only to US residents and contest ends April 16th at 11:59 Eastern.
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