Love University #1 & #2 Review

by Wes Greer on April 21, 2020

Writer – Allison Channey
Art – Carola Borelli
Colors – Agnese Pozza
Letters – Justin Birch
Publisher - Evoluzione



With everything going on in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is nice to have comics to read and kind of get lost in a world outside of our own where we don’t have to worry about all the woes of our actual worlds. Comics have always been one of the best ways to kind of escape our woes and get lost in exciting adventures and melt away into a land of fantasy where superheroes reign supreme. Well I was very excited when I was asked to kind of step outside of my norm and review a new story from a new publisher that I have never read before. I love exploring different stories and I especially love independent publishers because their stories are all original and new and sometime, I find the best comics come from independent publishers because they have a bit more creative free range. This series is also labeled as a young reader series so it not only appeals to those of us older crowd that love stories of drama and mystery but can also be enjoyed by younger readers who are just getting into comics or enjoy stories like those of the shows on the CW. This story is a great read for all readers.

Love University #1 and #2 focus on a young woman named Lucy Barlow who is just like any other teenage girl getting ready to head off to college. She is trying to really discover herself and try to find where she belongs in the world. She really hopes to fall in love and go to her dream college and along her journey to find herself, she finds out there is a lot more to her then she ever could have imagined as she learns she is a Cupid but unfortunately for her that means that true love for herself is forbidden.  The writing of these two books really sells the dramatic emotions of a teenage girl who wants all these things but can’t have them because of what she is, and the writer does an amazing job really breaking down the character and her emotions. Not only is there the emotions of the main character but these books also deal with a ton of drama and intrigue and the writer does an excellent job of keeping the reader involved with the story giving us and bit and pieces that build up to eventual big reveals that keep us excited. The writer really does a great job as well at keeping the story interesting for older readers just as well as younger adult readers keeping the themes of the story a little more suggestive, but not taking anything over the top. These stories are very exciting and as a diehard comic fan even I found myself wanting to read even more and follow along with this entertaining story.

The art of this issue is actually visually stunning overall. The artwork is done in more of an animation style but not in a goofy cartoon way. All the character designs are beautiful and give the look of realistic real world characters but keeping in an animation style. The art is all very clean and sharp and there is no lack of detail as every panel is filled with just enough to keep them from being boring but also making sure not to over detail and distract the eye. The panel work itself is all clean and sharp and I could not find any issues anywhere in the original pencils showing the artist really gives us their best work. The color scheme of this issue is different from what I am used to but in an exciting and amazing way. The colors used are very vivid and exciting and keep in theme with the story and the original art and help to make all the art pop. The colors are smooth and do not take anything away but instead help sell the art even more as well as the emotion of the story. The lettering is all very clean and crisp and easily read and overall the entire art team does an amazing job making everything flow together and seem as if it is one solid art piece. You can tell there was a lot of love and devotion commutes to the work of these two issues and that is one of the best things you can ask for in the art of a comic series.

With a dramatic and intriguing writing style and an excellent art style, Love University is one of the most fun independent stories I have read in years and although it falls under a guilty pleasure for me, I have no problem admitting it as I feel anyone who reads this series will feel the same way. It’s an amazing tale of someone trying to find themselves and overcoming the things that may keep them from getting what they really want and keeps us intrigued and wanting to know more which is really what I as a reader enjoy in these stories. If you are a young adult reader this series is right up your alley and you can identify with a lot of the themes as well if you are an older reader because we have all found ourselves doing the same and still might do so even still in our lives today, granted we might not find out that we are Cupid’s but we can relate to other obstacles in our lives that have kept us from doing what we want for ourselves. Love University #1 and #2 are available right now to read so please head over to Evoluzione Publishing and read them for yourself and check out their other exciting young adult books.

-Wes Greer
 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside