Review: TWISTED ROMANCE #4

TWISTED ROMANCE #4
Written by Alex de Campi, Naomi Salman, and Sarah Winifred Searle
Art by Trungles and Sarah Winifred Searle
Published by Image Comics
Release Date: February 28, 2018

As the month of February comes to a close, so does the Twisted Romance anthology with its fourth and final issue!

The first story is called Treasured, and I was honestly so pumped when I noticed that Trungles worked on it. I love everything I’ve seen from him on Twitter and it was super cool to see his beautiful work in this. There’s this art nouveau feel to it, this classic fairytale essence in the artwork that’s captivating.

The coloring is simplistic, allowing the yellows and reds to pop amongst the blues and allowing the art to be the highlight of the work. I loved that the paneling felt clean, as if moving you with a great flow to the next piece of art. The character design and backgrounds are amazing. The intricate details allowed characters to stand out, made settings lavish.

I especially love the splashes throughout the short story. The giant splashes give Trungles room to breathe, gives his work more space for grand ballrooms, for beautiful dresses, for scales upon scales on a twisting, winding dragon body. It’s all so phantasmagorical.

The story by de Campi is wonderful as well. It is a tale that explores an abusive relationship while showing what a healthy relationship looks like. De Campi has the princess save herself from the abuse, has her stay independent even after meeting her king charming, and it ends on a happy note where she can be someone with a job and her own life and get the guy. She doesn’t have to sacrifice what makes her happy and the person she is in order to go out on a date with an old friend.

The second tale is Unbound and it’s my favorite story in this last issue. I probably just don’t read up on enough bondage tales, but I love how Salman writes about it, how it’s this peaceful action that, in a way, sets you free. It feels honest in its portrayal, not just some use for a kink factor or exoticism or raunchiness. It’s a very adorable story about a mechanic sparking a romance with a man who owns a bondage studio and it might be my favorite story I’ve read in Twisted Romance. It’s just so cute.

The last story is Legacies, and it tells the story of a young woman who’s been giving up everything she’s ever cared about to fulfill her destiny. While I’m not always a fan of the think of yourself before your entire nation and marry whoever you want storyline, I do like what Searle does with it and explains how the situation may be better because of it.

The art is also amazing. I like the character designs of the main four, they’re all fun to look at. I like the fashion choices for the characters as well and the magic powers pop well in the panels.

Read Twisted Romance. Oh my god, read it. It’s a great anthology about different kinds of love stories and all of them are very well done. Read it.

The Verdict: 10/10

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