Last Song #3: Sad Stuff & Messed Up Punk Lovestories

There’s a pain to this book that completely heals me. By the time it arrives to this third issue, it’s more than ever about how real and difficult the relationship between Nicky and Drey is, and the kind of internalized homophobia and mental health issues that drive people who love and care so deeply to a point so resentful and so far. It’s not just that Interlandi has made me believe every line of this comic and I feel myself just like a fan of this fictional band even if for the things they go through, it’s even more, it’s also that I’m in love with how the characters we got to know in the first two issues has exploded here and got into some real tense conflict. Some really f-cked up sh-t. Some sad stuff. Some love story.

The mixed-media style between fictional interviews, headlines, scenes between our characters and some jumps in time carefully and beautifully handled has reached here some expressive high point, in which the tension of the story is always present. And all of that is there from the majestically tense-fake collage cover till the last page. Cantirino’s art has always seemed to me as a perfect fit for Last Song, but it’s in this issue, with some splash pages, concert crews, lyrics over distorted images, contrast of narrative tones and images showed… that I feel has reached a good measure of getting simple where it needs to be simple and fanzine-ish, and complicated and textured where it’s due.

The whole issue is rough and an emotional rollercoaster that focuses more on character relationships and conflict, and less on some of the other issues established in #1 and #2, like addiction or anxiety. It’s all still there, just with the lamp moving rapidly to highlight different conflicts, emotions, moments intertwined. The set-up grows, complicates, and gets to a difficult ending that will make you want to read #4 ASAP.