By Cat Wyatt
Things took quite a turn in the last issue of Death of Love. We were left with Philo staring down at a very dead cupid, while the rest of the cupidae immediately realized that Binky was dead. That’s not exactly a situation I’d want to be in, considering how deadly those little guys apparently are. Then again, I’m sure Philo would rather not be in the situation either (though it was his pride that caused this whole issue to begin with…).
Thanks to the conclusion of the last issue, I’m sure you can guess how this one begins; with Philo staring down at a big (okay, not that big) gory mess. Now Philo has to clean up a mess that nobody else can see, and he has to do it without getting caught by the rest of the homicidal cupidae. Yeah, good luck with that.
While the cupidae know that Binky is dead, they don’t seem to know the exact location he died at. So it’s more like their connection to him was severed, rather than any form of telepathy. That is good news for Philo. Well, mostly good news. They still know Binky is dead, so they’re still out looking for poor Binky and the guy that took him out.
Which is how Philo gets busted dumping Binky’s body in the dumpster (really dude? I get that you’re pressed on time, but still…).After taking a shot to the hand Philo does manage to win that fight as well. It would seem that while these guys are vicious and pretty good shots, on the whole Philo has the size and strength advantage.
Remember how I said that the cupidae didn’t know where Binky died? Well, that is true. They do however know what part of town Binky was last in, and they know that an ‘Offlister’ lives in one of those houses (I can only assume that is the term for those doomed to never find love, but I’m actually not certain on that) which apparently makes that house the logical choice to flock around. I’m sure you can guess who that Offlister is.
Unsure of what else to do, Philo desperately runs to Bob’s place, hoping for help. Sure, the last few times Bob didn’t believe him (can you blame him?), but Philo is pretty much out of options. Understandably Bob still thinks that Philo is strung out on drugs, and the sudden appearance of Philo’s injury really doesn’t help things – especially considering Philo is refusing to be taken to get medical care (red alert, anyone?).
While Philo hasn’t been able to convince Bob of the truth, he was able to convince him to go over to Zoe’s shop for more help. Granted, I’m pretty sure Bob was planning on having Zoe help him with an intervention or Philo, while Philo was hoping to get them to believe him. Either way, both guys were pretty content with the plan, so that’s a plus.
I actually love the following set of events. Everything happens from a normal perspective, meaning no cupidae are shown; thus giving us a good idea of what Bob and Zoe are seeing. Suddenly we see glass break, Philo running around, getting chocked, stomping on things, and so on. Without seeing what he’s responding to, it really does kind of look like he’s having some sort of drug induced fit…so I can see why they’re concerned and upset.
Especially Zoe, since Philo just trashed her shop. Zoe is understandably pretty ticked and unwilling to listen to anything Philo has to say. Which is why Philo probably felt justified in slipping the cupidae drug into their drinks.
Now I just want to say that Zoe’s vent at Philo is one hundred percent justified, even though they were wrong about what was going on. Philo had zero right to do that to anybody, let alone the only two people that make time for him. He really does seem them more as objects than people, especially Zoe, and she was fully in her right for letting him have it. I was actually a little disappointed when she stopped.
Granted, she stopped because she had her first cupid sighting. As did Bob - who had been silently staring at one for quite some time. Remember how cupidae don’t like being seen? And how the first one reacted to Philo seeing him? Well this scene more or less plays out like that, but with less dodging. Bob is okay, but only because Philo and Zoe intervene (I’d hate to think about what would have happened had he somehow gotten this drug by himself).
This has been such an interesting series. I’ll admit that I find myself loving to hate Philo. Sure, he’s the protagonist of this series, but that by no means makes him a good guy. He uses his friends, thinks he’s owed a relationship and sex for being nice to a girl, and in general thinks the world revolves around himself; which makes the bad bits that happen to him pretty satisfying, as opposed to tragic and horrifying. It’s actually a brilliant play on the writer’s part. I’m curious to see what happens now that two people have been pulled into the mix. What will they do next? For that matter, with now having to split the drug three ways, how much more do they have left? Will they have to try and track down more? I’m going to assume that the cupidae will remember what happened, even if these three lose the ability to see them.
Score: 4/5
Death of Love #3
Image Comics