The Me You Love In The Dark: How To Escape From A Toxic Relationship - A Review By Andromeda1001
By Andromeda1001 17 Comments
The Me You Love In The Dark: How To Escape From A Toxic Relationship - A Review By Andromeda1001
Another blog covering Skottie Young's works, and this time: The Me You Love In The Dark. I must say, I wasn't really expecting that much about this comic at first, but was gladly proved wrong after finishing. The story follows the life of an artist named Ro, who's having creative blocks. She then decides to retreat from living in the big city to an old house in a small town. Ro tries to find solace and inspiration, but without realizing what's within the house and how's not what she expected.
The story begins with Ro, who's trying to find some inspiration for her next works, which leads her to a supposedly haunted house:
The problem is that there's indeed something waiting for her. In the beginning, Ro tries to paint, but she ends up failing everytime:
And for her surprise, she isn't alone in the house:
One of the problems of isolating yourself is opening your heart to things that might or might not be good for your mental health in the long term. Ro, by doing that, becomes sort of emotionally unstable, something which usually causes you to experience intense and fluctuating emotions, lasting to maybe a few hours or even several days at a time. It doesn't help that a demoniac entity is also there to help out those problems grow even further. Even then, Ro slowly still creates a bond with the entity:
Without realizing how toxic this relationship could be, Ro then starts to develop some feelings for the creature, and eventually ends up falling in love with it:
This, of course, doesn't endure for too long. The toxic traits of their relationship start to appear soon, becoming something scary for Ro:
In a toxic relationship, you might consistently feel drained or unhappy after spending time with your partner. Ro herself started to even dread the thought of seeing it, instead of looking forward to it as she did in the past. Not to mention behaviors that also might stem from jealousy or lack of trust, both suggesting a need for control that can contribute to relationship toxicity. In the end, Ro was able to free herself and came to her senses, finally breaking the chains around her:
In most cases, these attempts at control can even suggest abuse. Just like in my Twig's review, I would change or add a few things:
- More moments showing how toxic their relationship can become.
- More into Ro's psych.
- More about the creature's background.
- More characters.
- More issues to fully explore the theme
Main Points:
What can I expect as a new reader?
Again, if you're new to Skottie's works, don't worry. Even though the overall tone of the comic is dark, it's still very easy to understand.
Is it an interesting comic?
If you want comics that explore themes like depression and so, then I say yes.
Is it easy to follow?
Like Twig's, it's just five issues. Pretty easy to read it.
Is the art good?
At least above average, in my personal opinion.
Is the storyline good?
Yea, it's very interesting.