Manga Review: Paintings of You

[Floating_Sakura]

Paintings of You
Story and Art by Mia Paluzzi and Chris Delk
Published Iris Print
Genre: Boys' Love

Paintings of You is the story of a young art student and painter, Claudio "Claude" Verges, who is already being critically acclaimed for his work and hailed as a genius. His reputation as a painter is growing so quickly that he transfers to a new art college in an attempt to remain low-profile, but to no avail. His new classmates greet him with the same level of enthusiasm as all the critics before them -- all except Benedict Conner, who sees what Claude has known all along: Claude has no passion for his art, and what is an artist without passion? Just a painter, of course.

Obviously, the solution is to unlock Claude's natural passion, to give him something to love, something that will inspire art -- but everyone seems to have different ideas about who his muse should be. Claude's hilarious, tiara-sporting interior design roomie Hero Dantes and his boyfriend John (and John's rag doll, "Honey") think that Benedict’s best gal pal and stellar sculptor Beatrice is just the one to get Claude's artistic motor running, and they enlist Benedict’s help in their match-making operation. There's just one small problem: no one bothered asking Claude!

The story makes use of a tried and true formula -- "he said, she said, we assumed" misunderstandings -- and as a result, it could have easily fallen prey to cliché and triteness. However, witty dialogue, thoroughly lovable secondary characters, and frames filled with so much motion they almost seem to move keep the story going and demand that the reader keep pace. Plus, it always helps to have a character who says what I always say to myself when I'm reading stories like this: "Well, did you ask him?"

The art style is quirky and unique -- kinda like a comic book, but not -- the story is believable, and the characters feel like old friends. Perhaps the most defining feature of this book is the fact that it is never static. The storyline, the characters, and the art itself all display continuous motion. The frames pop with physical activity and the situations aren't allowed to stagnate. As a former film major, I kept imagining what it would look like on screen with voices delivering the sparkling (oooo, Hero likes that) dialogue. I found it enjoyable from beginning to end.

The book is due to be released in June, but copies are available for pre-order from Iris Print and Amazon.

Here is an example of the artwork (and my favorite character, Hero Dantes,) if you're curious:



Reviewed by: mjules
Proofed by: anitra
Edited by: Firedog

Order Paintings Of You from Amazon.com!