The Complete Love Hurts Review: Scary But Sexy

Love is a complicated thing. There are times when a relationship can get so bad it’s straight out of a horror movie. In Kim W. Andersson’s case, that’s just the norm in his comic series “Love Hurts.” Dark Horse has compiled all of the comics in “The Complete Love Hurts,” a collection that is well worth getting into a scary relationship with.

The stories in this collection revolve around extreme forms of love, usually resulting is murder or some other form of horror. The idea sounds like it can get old quickly, but Andersson manages to keep things lively.

Some of these stories stand out. One of them is the one about a teddy bear that gets brought to life by a mad scientist and is an attraction at a circus. The thing that makes this stand out is that this form of love is a teddy bear being separated from its owner. This “what if?” story is imaginative. It’s almost like it’s told from the imagination of a child that lost his/her favorite toy.

Another is about a couple making a deal with a devil to bring back their dead daughter. Sadly, that girl is a zombie. What makes this story interesting is that the narrator is the girl who thinks the devil is actually an angel. It’s so morbid that it deserves some kind of reward.

A few of the stories come across as unintentionally funny. One of those is about a giant woman rampaging around a city. The ending is hilarious.

One of the things you’ll notice is that almost all of the stories are only about 3-5 pages long. Since these stories did appear in monthly comic collections it’s understandable. They also work better than the much longer stories. The longer stories seem to drag on and lose their luster as the story goes on.

The artwork looks nice in some of the comics, especially in the earlier. The key here is that they do bring out the gory, creepy imagery of the situation. There are some parts where we see a female character that’s drawn with a giant butt and breasts, tiny stomach and an oddly shaped back. This is rare, but the times it does happen it stands out like a sore thumb.

“The Complete Love Hurts” takes the concept of loves and makes it scary. The stories here are great reading material with excellent art. The longer stories, however, are not being as interesting as the short stories.