Obituary: Anders Loves Maria

It seems as though we’re starting off 2010 with a few obituaries right away. I suppose this is the time for new beginnings and these artists are ready to start fresh. However, today’s conclusion of Anders Loves Maria has been anticipated by readers for a long, long time. Unlike most comics available on the web, Rene Engström’s comic has a closed narrative structure. Her story, which she began posting in 2006,  has a distinct beginning, middle and end that has been scripted out to some extent for years. To say that its story arc is closed, however, is not to say its structure is simple. Anders Love Maria often jumps between past and present, and between different character’s points of view, making it nearly impossible to decipher as a casual reader. It took several instances of me perusing the website and reading just a post or two before finally allotting myself an afternoon to sit down and read it in its entirety. Only then did I really understand what the hell was going on. Trying to read random posts in this comic to get a feel for the story is as futile as trying to watch random episodes of Lost.

Anders and Maria discuss their relationship in Engstrom's comic.

Anders Loves Maria is a story about love and growing up, but to some extent it is also a story about sex. Because of that, I caution all of you to just assume that most of these links are not safe for work:

The story begins with Anders and Maria, a late-20s couple living in Stockholm, discussing the possibility of having a child. The rest of the story follows the couple over the nine month period of Maria’s pregnancy and all the drama and turmoil that ensues (and let me tell you, there is a LOT of drama and turmoil). Anders is the son of a wealthy shut-in artist, and a relatively successful art photographer himself. He’s come from a very privileged background and as a result, may not have grown up all the way quite yet. Conversely, Maria comes from a much less privileged household in Northern Sweden. Her parents were drunks and her older brother, Johan, is somewhat overprotective. This is probably for the best for Maria, because as the story goes on we come to find Anders is a bit of a fuckup. Sure, he loves Maria as the title would suggest, but that doesn’t appear to stop him from fucking just about anyone who will give him any attention. That’s not to say Maria is entirely innocent, as soon as she finds Anders cheating with her childhood nemesis, Tina, she ends up back in the arms of her much older ex-boyfriend, Björn – but come on, Anders totally started it.

The artwork in Anders Loves Maria is beautiful, and constantly changing. Engstrom uses her story to experiment with visual styles, altering the tone of her strip each time. The first few strips use an incredibly cartoony style with a color palette of brights and pastels. As the story moves on, however, lines become more fluid and less geometric and the color palette slowly shifts from bright colors to something a bit more somber. Occasionally strips are beautifully rendered in watercolors, usually during a flashback but not always. Along the way, Engström plays with a few other styles as well, really giving us a well-rounded view of her versatility as an artist.

As strong as her artwork is, however, this story really speaks to Engström’s strength as a writer. It has pretty much everything you can ask for, it is full of action and romance and humor. The histories of each character are intricately woven together, slowly, so that the audience is always surprised to see how they fit together. There are literally plot twists down to the last page, and the kind of subtle foreshadowing that makes you think back 150 strips ago and go, “Oh. Wow.” While reading  Anders Loves Maria, it is evident that the story is the product of years worth of thoughtful planning and while today’s ending broke my heart a little, it did make the whole thing come together.

The mircacle of childbirth in Anders Loves Maria.

This really is an excellent read, so for those of you who haven’t read it yet, start here and enjoy. If you have finished the story, why not donate any amount on Engström’s website to receive Sex and the Suburbs, a six page mini-story taking place while Anders and Maria first started dating in college? Today has been a little bittersweet, as this has been one of my favorite comics on the internet recently and I am sad to see it come to an end. The final piece of Anders Loves Maria really has seemed to rock the internet this morning. It’s even trending on Twitter! So congratulations, Rene! We all very much look forward to your next project!

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