Rare Flavours #6: The Friends We Made Along The Way

Rare Flavours #6 is the conclusion to one of the best comics of the last year, serving as a stamp on what Ram V and Filipe Andrade have to say about culture and how it is the food around us that helps solidify that culture. With outstanding art and a narrative flow that is as outstanding as it is touching, Rare Flavours #6 proves that independent works that are light on action and do not feature superheroes are just as (if not more) impactful than the typical comics we are used to reading.

Rare Flavours #6 picks up with Mo attending the premiere of his and Rubin’s documentary, with the film finally reaching completion after the shocking ending to the previous issue. In a display of masterclass comic book making, Rare Flavours concludes on Mo telling his own story about food, revealing a history of a dish that he had shared with his now deceased mother. Coming full circle, the anecdotes and personal narratives about the various aspects of culture are now coming to the present, with Mo himself highlighting how a dish helped define the relationship between him and his mother. All of the events of this series are shown to have been a lesson to Mo, showing him how important the culture and history can be, proving that Rubin was correct all along.

While this issue is mostly absent of the ancient beast, Rubin plays a huge part in the impact he had on not just Mo, but the audience that the film is shared with. Rubin made his intentions no secret from the get go, he wanted to show the world how he viewed people, highlighting their histories through the food that they either grew up around or helped bring into the world and make a cultural staple. Rubin proves to be the crux of the narrative even when he is not around, showing how impactful he has been, with Ram V proving yet again that he is the master of his trade.

Andrade’s art stuns as always, showing the beauty and grit that exists in the real world. This is a story of history, culture, and people, and the art is able to capture all of that with Andrade’s unique style lending well to this world. This story is not quite as fantastical as the duo’s previous venture, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr; however, it holds just as much imagination in the way that the different aspects of the culture and the world are depicted.

The final piece of this story is the lesson that the creative team departs upon all of us: cherish those around us and follow along with the parts of life that can bind us together. Whether that be food, a familiar history, or just that deep interpersonal relationship, it is the humanity within us that helps define what we see as culture. Beyond all of the world wars and conflicts, sometimes it may just be as simple as sitting down and having a meal with someone to learn about their perspective on the world.