“Both Eric and Shelly’s deaths and their previously idyllic life together are revealed to us throughout as flashbacks. O’Barr’s gothic monochrome artwork is absolutely stunning and the variation in his style from visceral, busy and angry in the more violent scenes to beautiful, spare and dreamlike in Eric’s reminiscences of Shelly is extremely powerful in conveying the conflicting emotions of anger, love and grief. Similarly effective is the use of splash pages, interspersed between the chapters of the story and containing some of O’Barr’s favorite poems and lyrics, including Arthur Rimbaud, Joy Division and The Cure (whose distinctive frontman Robert Smith surely served as part of the inspiration for Eric’s own appearance).”
THE CURE 