It could almost be taken at first glance as an illustrated children's book. But no, the protagonist of this story is a young woman who is leaving a tired relationship and is leaving images of herself -- either in photographs or simply her lover's heartbroken memories -- behind, both in (and slightly out of) fashionable lingerie.

That's pretty much the extent of the plot of this hardcover volume from the Blab! picto-novelette line from Fantagraphics. The text is simply the young woman's farewell note, in which she succinctly explains her reasons for scampering off in the early morning light as he slumbers in unknowing afterglow: "I am leaving you because our love has already left." Each page boasts an illustration of her modeling various tasty bedroom outfits, and each page carries a brief phrase from the book-length note. (Don't worry, the book is only 32 pages long.) But hey, the purpose of this Walter Minus publication isn't really the note so much as the art, which presents our green-eyed beauty in a half-cartoony, half-realistic pop-art style. She pouts, she scowls, she smiles coquettishly, she poses in artful angles to reveal every half-dressed nuance of the body he's lost.

Of course, the note also informs her lovelorn ex what she's left behind -- and what she's taken with her.

Darling Cheri is not a graphic novel so much as it is a brief vignette. It's not for readers looking for action, suspense or character-driven plotting; it's slim slice of cheesecake that briefly sates the senses and is gone.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
14 October 2006