COMICS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART

Two heirs to a comics franchise find love and low-stakes drama in a small Nova Scotia town.

Quiet Miriam works in a down-and-out comic-book store to save money for college. Cute rebel Weldon walks in one day and buys a painting depicting the Marvel-esque TomorrowMen. Awkward sparks fizz between them, but it’s soon revealed that they’re the heirs to a years-old family dispute. Miriam’s grandfather helped create the TomorrowMen but signed a bad contract with his co-creator—Weldon’s grandfather. The two men spent the rest of their lives in a legal battle over the rights to their characters, which eventually resulted in Weldon’s father’s taking the creative helm and Miriam’s mother’s accepting a settlement. Even though the issue is largely settled, both teens still feel the need to exorcise their family demons, at least long enough to delay their happy ending for a few hundred pages. The family drama and resulting tension between Miriam and Weldon never feel substantial, with little risk involved for either of them; misunderstandings work mostly to beef up the plot and are tritely brushed aside in an underwhelming climax at Comic-Con. All major characters are white. The narration feels flat and strained throughout, with none of the rich color and movement that explodes out of the superhero genre that provides this story’s backdrop.

Read a comic instead.