feature Comic book review - A thing called truth

A thing about truth is the story of self-realisation of two very different women through the course of a road trip across Europe. It is full of lovely banter between its charming leads, innovative in its art style and I couldn’t just put it down till I was finished cover to cover. This rom-com comic is a must-have on your bookshelf.
Writing : Iolanda Zanfardino
Art: Elisa Romboli
Age Rating: 15+
Where to get it:
Vol 2: Their Kicksarter campaign.
Vol 1: Image comics website.

Plot

Dr Mag Träumer is a genius scientist with a messy personal life, Dorian Wildfang is a working-class woman. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, their lives collide bringing them together and ending to go on a road trip together! Where will this trip take them?

Story & Characters
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The story starts with Dr Mag and Dorian, jumping across from one part of a bascule bridge to another. The story then jumps into the flashback. The pacing of the book is relentless. You have to give special props to the writer who made the book's script really tight and quite frankly made it an absolute riot to read so much so that I feel the writer should win an award for this. The twist and turns in the story are quite deftly handled and the characters are quite well-rounded.

Both the characters of Dr Mag and Dorian are both incredibly charming and endearing. Being flawed makes them all the more relatable to a layperson. The arc of characters in the first four issues is the best part. They fight initially and then become great friends and then lovers. Dorian is probably the best character in the book. She doesn’t have a lot of money, but she has her way of operating with the world. Dr Mag is a brilliant scientist who wants to the do right thing and has a big mission to cure a certain disease. She is organized, methodical and very risk-averse. Dorian on the other hand lives like every day is her last one. There is an introduction to the villainous characters, with cameos sprinkled throughout each issue and I will look forward to them in future issues.

Art & Inspiration
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The art of "A thing called truth" has cleanly drawn and defined lines. Landscape shots are gorgeous and very realistic. Lettering is done extremely well to support the heavy dialogue, sometimes both for exposition as well as their banter. The colour palette is bright and playful. It brings a lot of energy to the book while the story moves at a brisk pace. The switching of art styles every time they enter a new country, the choice of songs are great too and add an extra dimension to the story!

The book draws its inspiration from a lot of sources, especially a lot of movies. However, the story is fresh and the book makes its own choices in terms of how the characters would react to a certain situation which makes it stand out the most.

Final Verdict
A thing called truth is beautifully illustrated and expertly written and by far a top book in the genre of romance. It will tug at your heartstrings and is full of genuinely heartfelt moments. The story is extremely sweet and has all the ingredients to become a rom-com classic one day. I sure want volume 2 on my bookshelf

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