Broken Frontier

Adam skates through the dregs of society in search of the woman who could potentially be his soul mate.

A recent near-death encounter has left the young evangelist, Adam Chamberlain, desperate for answers. From the day his girlfriend Cassie was publicly and brutally murdered by anti-American extremists, Adam has questioned his place in God’s plan. It was his understanding that God wanted him to be with only one woman—a woman whom he would love above all others. Until his airplane ran off the runway at the Miami airport, where Adam had an enlightening vision, he just assumed that that woman was his dearly departed Cassie. But now, armed with a new hope, Adam is on a desperate mission to find out if, perhaps, Cassie was not the woman God intended him to share his life with.

American Virgin is not the sort of book that every comic fan will or even should read let alone like. There is very little in the way of action, and the plot sort of jumps between faith and "reality." What makes this a compelling book is that it has so far been almost exclusively a character study. Like real life, no character in these pages is flawless. In fact, these characters, especially the more devout, those in the upper echelons of the Chamberlain family, are so flawed that they are borderline (if not completely) pathological. I suppose this is what draws me back every month. What has me wondering why I continue to buy this book is Seagle’s continual assertion that strippers and sex parties are the social norm. I mean, I’m all for adult entertainment, but in my experience, not everyone you meet on the street has a shady lifestyle that includes nighttime BDSM parties and/or orgies. (Perhaps I just hang with the right [wrong?] crowd.)

Actually, the most compelling character of this series is Adam’s wayward half-sister, Cyndi. Kicked out of the house by her father years ago, Cyndi, unlike Adam, seems to be completely comfortable with her chosen lifestyle. However, what Seagle has done to make her interesting is given her back-story a dark mystery complete with bad men with guns hunting her down. Thankfully, Seagle directs the end of the issue more towards Cyndi’s story than Adam’s childish list of would-be soul mates.

For all the above flaws in the story, Cloonan and Rugg adapt the appearance of the book to meet its needs. The first six pages, for instance, are set in a dark room where naked bodies mingle amongst each other with a mysterious yet unbridled sexuality. While it may not be to my liking to see this sort of plot point being overused, the artists use this scene to show that Adam is a lost young man in the darkness, and that he has willingly placed himself there in hopes of somehow making light of what has become his life.

I intend to stay with this title at least until the end of this arc. Seagle’s plot is slowly plodding along, but he has fashioned some interesting characters. And even if the story peters out, the lovely art and the symbolism it carries won’t be lost.