The Object of My Affection is pretty thought-provoking. Even though it’s subject matter is mature I could still see it being at home in something like The Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. The art style is something that reminded me of MAD Magazine making for a clash of worlds. In the end though, the writing’s style and the art’s style find a wonderful balance for this twisted and yet powerful tale. Esmer is a dick. That’s the best way to put it. He meets an internet date for the first time and puts on a hell of an act to get her into bed. He goes from caring and sweet to… well he’s a dick. After treating his date like a savage she chews him out and gets in his face. He fires back that his sex doll never complains which is already a losing argument. Our mistreated date casts some magic on Esmer’s sex doll and gives him a warning. Treat her right or they’ll be consequences.

The rest of the book has twists and turns. Some of them you’ll see coming, others you won’t right away. I mean you should be able to figure out where the story is going after a particular scene, but I won’t spoil that for you.

Overall, the book is very well written. The dialogue is natural and fits the world. I liked the story. I liked the message because the message wasn’t stuffed down your throat. That and even though the reader should have learned something from the comic, it didn’t necessarily guarantee that the main character would.

The art is great. I loved the style in general, but it worked well with the story. You could use this style on a lot of different styles of stories. The line work is simple, but it’s in that simplicity that it’s also very complex and detailed. It looks like an easy style to mime, but it’s not. Aside from reminding me of MAD Magazine, it also reminded me a bit of Adult Swim cartoons.

The Object of My Affection is a quick read, but it’s a good read. I wish there were more comics like this out there. Ones with maturity, but also handling moral lessons. Or just moral lessons handled in one-shots, but without the message being hammered in. To do something like this without the message hitting you helplessly over the head is really difficult to do. The Object of My Affection gets it right and delivers both on the story and the art.

Score: 5/5

The Object of My Affection Writer: PM Buchan Artist: Phillip Marsden Format: One-Shot; Print Website