Head

Here is the story of Adam Chamberlain, a passionate youth Evangelist preacher who believes in destiny, true love, & saving oneself for their destined true love. & Adam has found his own destined true love in Cassandra, a sweet girl who is currently away working for the Peace Corps in Africa. But Adam can't deny it: he's young, he's horny, & he can't wait until their wedding day. But their wedding day shall never come, as Cassandra is kidnapped & slaughtered by a mysterious group of terrorists. & Adam finds himself consumed in grief & confusion & thirsting for ice-cold, immoral revenge. This fragile situation & Adam's damaged emotions are handled with maturity & depth. As a starting note---before any grim tragedies---Adam is a likable Evangelist. He preaches without being preachy. He's honest & true & never condescending as I feared he may have been (we all know how outrageous some religious folks can get & how biased some literature can be). He gently explains the good within Christianity's laws & why he believes in them so strongly. But Adam soon finds his foundation crumbling. Cassandra was his destined true love---his only true love, the only one he could ever be with--- & she was butchered in cold blood like live-stock. Will Adam forever be alone ( & subsequently a virgin)? Will Adam seek sweet, violent revenge? Will he turn his back on his powerful morals in his rage & loneliness? These are some genuinely intriguing questions & they are given some genuinely intriguing answers. & American Virgin proves to be a truly compelling character-study. As for the art, I'm not much of a fan for it. It seems almost sloppy, with dull colors, but it does its job in conveying emotion well enough. The covers on the other hand are superb. The first few bear an enchanting strangeness, & Joshua Middleton's are lush & beautiful eye candy. Overall, American Virgin is one of the most thoughtful, endearing narratives (graphic or written) that I've read in a long while, & if you long for rich characterizations in your stories you should give it a hearty try.

I think this is the best Vertigo debut since Y the Last Man, and Sandman before that. I cannot recommend this book enough. Cloonan's art is beautifully married with Seagle's characterizations. Best series I've read in a long time.

You might expect a book, about a young evangelist who preaches abstinence, to just ruthless trash Christianity. And surprisingly, it doesn't do that. Instead, this book is a character study on what happens when someone's deeply held convictions get turned on their ear by circumstances well beyond his control. It's well written, well drawn, and unless your someone who gets offended by the thought that maybe the Bible can't be the answer to everything (or lots of drawn breasts), you will enjoy.

I grew up in Church culture and still has faith in God and I have to say really liked even loved this book. It a beautiful discussion about commonly accepted dogma(s). Tho I found some of the character's behaviour a little odd like the mother's reaction to the death of here son's girlfriend even if she was that horrible of a person in the Church she wouldn't have been so blunt but way moor manipulative. That's a small point nothing to get hung up on. Especially since the art's so great.