Lovesick, written, drawn and lettered by Luana Vecchio, was one of the greatest miniseries of the last few years. The book introduced Domino, a dominatrix who killed willing men in her Red Room for online spectators and made big money doing it. Domino battled with a murderous nest of incels as she was also reunited with a former lover, causing her to grapple with her self-confidence and the power dynamics between them. It was the perfect blending of ’70s-style grindhouse horror and romance and it was amazing!
Now, Vecchio returns with the equally fantastic Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #1, which flashes back to when Domino was a 12-year-old girl named Madeleine, and even though the world was simpler then, it was still filled with horrors.
The book manages the near impossible as it truly makes you see the world from a young girl’s point of view. As a man, I’ll never truly know all the things women endure through life; not only the physical changes, but what they have to struggle with in so-called “civilized” society. After reading this issue, however, I feel that I have a better understanding of how the world can be oppressive to girls, how things that seem innocent on the surface (like a kind word from an adult man) can be something as dangerous as a straight razor.
As the issue progresses, you feel a deep sadness for Madeleine, for all girls, because the world constantly makes them feel ashamed simply because they exist. Boys body-shame them for being too fat, too thin, too small-chested, too big-chested, etc. while the adults constantly demand perfection from them. Worst of all are the older girls who tease the younger ones with sexual terms and teasing that the young girls don’t understand.
Image Comics
I found it incredibly sad because the young girls, still sheltered by childhood and unaware of such things, are slowly having their innocence chipped away by these external forces beyond their control. This is the subtle horror of the book, that adulthood creeps up on you alongside the anxiety that you’ll become someone you’ll hate.
Added to this existential horror is the discovery of a dead body and a monstrous old pervert lurking around the ballet school Madeleine attends. Set amidst mid-winter, with snowstorms constantly sweeping the countryside, there’s a chilling atmosphere of dread throughout. Every time Madeleine walks home from school, bundled up in so many layers she nearly disappears in her mound of clothing, you wonder if she’ll be harmed by some seedy pervert or aggressive boy who’ll take their frustrations out on her.
Vecchio’s art is impeccable. No one so perfectly renders the beautiful and the bizarre like her. Her art laces even the most innocent scenes with tension and her style is quite unique, at times feeling like a wonderful blend of top-tier manga work and dashes of classic artists like Frank Frazetta, who drew women both powerful and lovely.
What I love most about her work is how she shows the ruthless hypocrisy and symbolism of religion, how so-called “believers” see the sins of others but never their own, and how they treat prayers as currency and guilt as a reward. If you pay enough of one and feel enough of the other, you’ll live a good life, right? And never question anything. Well, Madeleine begins to question a lot towards the end of the book and you see the beginnings of her Domino personality form. It’s so interesting seeing these early years of Domino’s life and I look forward to seeing Madeleine continue her evolution to greatness in future issues.
Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #1 is another Luana Vecchio masterpiece, filled with existential dread and real-world horrors all wrapped in magnificent artwork.
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