Cover to ‘Heartthrob Season Two’. Art by Robert Wilson IV/Oni Press
By Brandy Dykhuizen. Heartthrob Season Two is bank robbing at its most introspective. Callie Boudreau learning to balance love and crime with someone else’s ticker in her chest. She’s torn, wanting to do right by the world and leave the life of crime behind her, but things don’t often fall into place that easily. You can’t fight who you are.
Christopher Sebela pushes us to ask what really qualifies as “self” — are we the sum of our hardware? Is it our collection of experiences? Perhaps it’s our ability to grow and change over time? With Callie, we still don’t have the answers; she’s stuck, second-guessing her every move.
Callie’s new heart may have extended her life, but it also put a pretty clear expiration date on her time on this earth. What would you do if you knew, more or less, when you were going to die?
The artwork in Heartthrob is deliciously Seventies. The characters peek out from behind massive square-framed specs and straight stringy hair. More than a couple Fleetwood Mac references dot the earth-toned pages, and the wallpaper patterns don’t let you forget when the story takes place.
Overall, this debut is an interesting exploration into one woman’s existential crisis. It may not roll along at the quick pace one would expect from a heist story, but it’s well worth lingering over the pages as Callie maneuvers through her strange world. Heartthrob is back, and ours are all a-flutter.
Oni Press/$3.99
Written by Christopher Sebela.
Art by Robert Wilson IV.
Colors by Nick Filardi.
Letters by Crank!
7 out of 10
Read our ‘Heartthrob Season Two’ interview with Christopher Sebela and Robert Wilson IV here!
