Fighting the winter blues with links and romance

Courtesy of Kevin Melrose, here's a link to Sequential Tart's Tart Tastes (or "Read This Or Die" - the header still hasn't changed) on comics featuring love and/or sex. You know, just in time for Valentine's Day (which reminds me that I need to do something for the wife). There are some I'd like to add:

• Smut Peddler: Hey, it's smut. Smut is fun. While Denise Sudell lists this and True Porn, she gives them an honorable mention instead of a full-on recommendation, so I think it's fair game. Smut Peddler volumes were my naughty purchases for SPX 2003 and MoCCA 2004. They're good fun. I can't say I liked all the stories in the anthologies (for various reasons), but I can rarely say that for any anthology. Sequential Tart also has an interview with the people behind Smut Peddler this month.

• At the risk of falling into the trap of One Of The Four Books Bloggers Must Talk About, how can I leave Scott Pilgrim off this list? It belongs here simply because of the idea of a girl who is literally running through the protagonist's mind all day. And, you know, it's GOOD COMICS.

• I can't believe no one listed True Story, Swear To God. It's one of my favorite romance-centric comics (even though John Jakala, my blogging life-partner, doesn't rate it so highly). I can't seem to find a direct link for it, but here's a link to the first trade from AiT-Planet Lar (preemptive number things: ISBN: 1-932051-09-0, Diamond: DEC022403). Collecting the first four issues of Beland’s self-published series, TSSTG: Chances Are is the one book almost guaranteed to appeal to that person in your life who is unwilling to give comics a shot. Not only is the book exceptional, but it’s practically guaranteed to have crossover appeal: the art has that comics section feel to it (as Beland’s background is cartoon illustration), the theme is universal (almost everyone has, or has aspired to, falling in love at one point), the book is romantic without having that “chick flick” feel, and it manages to be humorous, honest and romantic all at once. This also reminds me that I still need to buy True Story, Swear To God: 100 Stories, Tom's collection of TSSTG strips.

But I see the criticism that TSSTG may be too sweet for some people. I also really dig less happy love stories. Here are two of my favorites:

• Much, much harder to find: Rat: A Love Story. This is the only comics work by Comic World News columnist Rich Watson that I've had the chance to read, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it. It hits a few of my magic buttons: magic realism, art with funk, smart characterization, and the romance angle. Again, I can't find a site to order this from, as it's out of print, but here's Johanna Draper Carlson's thoughts on it. She writes better than I do, anyway.

While I'm on my Rich Watson love-in, here's his latest column, which looks at a comic Shawn Hoke and I are probably destined to love.

• Also on the darker tip is Christine Norrie's Cheat, a gorgeously illustrated tale of infidelity. Norrie is one of my favorite artists - her linework is clean, and her pages are put together so deliberately that it's tough to question anything as a poor design choice.

So, there's my list. What's yours? I ask because, really, if the Hugh Grant thing didn't already indicate, I loves me some sappy shit.