Helioscum #2
Comic, Juli Majer, 20 pgs, shop.ddoogg.ca, DDOOGG, $10
What do you do when an all-consuming love goes sour? Juli Majer’s Helioscum explores having something or someone all to yourself, that all-encompassing, jealous, controlling kind of passion that is betrayed in the slightest glance, hint of affection, or, in this case, beam of sunlight in another(‘s) direction.
“Is the sun a whore?!” Helioscum’s narrator demands possessively. The biggest whore in our galaxy! That star shines on everyone. In a fit of petulant despair, Helioscum’s protagonist turns fully away from the glow of the sun and, weeping, flees to the deep dark earth beneath the ground where they meet a new friend.
The story is punctuated by a photo (?) of eight mysterious worm egg marbles on the inner jacket. These jelly-like membranes — are they alive?? Please, please tell me they are not — linger in my mind while reading, following the main character from sun drunk to sun baked. Majer’s yellow sunbeams are caustic and cake on the characters skin. The sinewy pinks and rusty brown tones for the comic’s second half are unsettling. The comic is as much a narrative journey as it is a journey through colour. It is disgusting, but extremely fun, if you enjoy feeling queasy.
Helioscum #2 is the perfect zine to give to that one friend you have who completely vanishes into each new romance, resurfacing only to bitch about their relationship woes, and clinging desperately to you when the shit finally hits the fan and their intimate world finally, inevitably crumbles.
