And so to the final release from the latest clutch of Latvian publisher kuš! comics’ mini kuš! minicomics (catch up with our most recent reviews of the series here). Ukranian artist duo etchingroom1’s ‘A Box of Candy’ (mini kuš! #130) is described as “a short story about the heartache of falling in love” with the additional advisory statement of “But remember, never give up on your dreams.” A message that feels rather bleak in its optimism given the winding romantic road we are taken down in ‘A Box of Candy’.
Here we have an unseen protagonist reflecting on the harsh pain of unfulfilled love. Initially things are told from a personless perspective, narration emerging from empty rooms and spaces but this absence of form somehow linking us all the more firmly with our unseen main player. A trip past a candy store however shifts presentation, as these sometimes maudlin, sometimes hopeful meditations on their object of desire take the form of chocolate boxes.
It’s candy packaging, then, as comics panels, tracing the ups and downs of a relationship that may or may not be entirely one-sided in its realities. There’s an element of the unreliable narrator here but in placing events within the trappings of symbols of affection etchingroom1 detaches us from the interpretive standards of body language or visual characterisation, and invites us to dwell on the stark wistfulness of the character’s emotional journey instead.
Watch out for an ending that is so abruptly candid that you will find it difficult not to smile through the on-page pain. Not one perhaps for a Valentine’s Day read but nevertheless another good example of the experimental nature of the mini kuš! range.
etchingroom1 (W/A) • kuš! comics, $7.95
Review by Andy Oliver
