The Me You Love in the Dark #5

The Me You Love in the Dark #5

Image Comics 2021

Written by Skottie Young

Illustrated by Jorge Corona

Coloured by Jean-Francois Beaulieu

Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot

Ro can no longer ignore the connection she feels to her unique housemate—or the extreme and intense danger that relationship could hold for her.

Oh well how is Skottie going to top himself over the events that unfolded last issue? That was my initial thought going into this book and I have to say he found a way. This is without a doubt one of the most bizarre and interesting books that we’ve read in quite some time. This demon, and I’m sticking with that because I am not sure what else to call it, that is attached to this house really does a number on Ro. I mean sure her paintings are magnificent and she should do a gallery showing with them but this creature is scary. I don’t mean in the physical sense because what Jorge does doesn’t terrify me when I see it but it’s more along the lines of the idea of this creature that terrifies me. It is like an abusive relationship where you can’t just up and leave and you have no way to break free until pushed to the breaking point where you do something that seems impossible. But can you ever truly break free or destroy this thing made up of your nightmares?

I am so very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are impeccably rendered. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job with how we see their personalities evolve and change. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we are caught up in the delicious horror of it all.

I am thoroughly enjoying the way that we see this being structured as well as how we see the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking how we see the layers here open up new avenues to be explored and the ending, final page, is one that asks so many questions. This adds so much depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.

The interiors here are rather nicely rendered. While the linework doesn’t frighten me the way I wish it did, it does however do a marvellous in setting the mood, tone and feel for every single moment that we see. The backgrounds enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story incredibly well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a magnificent eye for storytelling. I really am impressed with the placement or how items are used as props and even her painting area it all has this amazing effect on the reader. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a mastery of colour and how to maximise their effects.

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There are some exquisitely tense moments strewn throughout the issue that really just grab you and don’t let you go. As disturbing as the moments are it is also mesmerising as well and I have to say the boys do a phenomenal job with this. The writing is crazy good and creepy and the characterisation is spectacular while the interiors bring this all to life with aplomb.