“Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”
To literary lovers, the opening prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a well-known, and much-loved, Elizabethan sonnet. Val Wise alludes to this masterpiece, and the resulting bloodshed, in the title of her ShortBox Comic Fair offering, In Fair Verona. Rather than two households, our story follows two girls, both entering the service of the Princess of All Blood. Unlike in Shakespeare’s famous iamb, both women are not alike in dignity; one is there to be tortured by the Princess, and the other to be cherished. As their stories intertwine, their relationship becomes a last shred of hope for both to cling onto, whilst in the clutches of uncertainty.
The cover of In Fair Verona immediately caught my eye; how could it not, with its depiction of a full-grown woman in utero – especially as the ‘utero’ in question very much resembles a bust of the great bard himself, William Shakespeare. The strangeness continues within, with the two women depicted curled up on either end of the page, sketched delicately, with nymph-like features. The ladies in question could not be more juxtaposed; one with fair, curly long hair, and the other with raven hair and darker features. As they are rowed toward a remote castle on an abandoned island, the oarsman hides his face, as he sinisterly hints at their fates in rhyming couplets: “one she takes for a wife, the other for a play-thing. Shant know which until their tended by the ladies-in-waiting”.
The story only gets more disturbing upon their arrival. Both women are herded like animals into the castle, forced to bathe naked in front of the ladies-in-waiting, and are fitted with demeaning jester outfits. The Princess of All Blood really does treat the women as if they are her playthings, caressing them and abusing them in equal measure, even putting a muzzle over the fair woman’s face when she displeases her. The scenes are hard to read, as our blonde protagonist is starved and forced to dance for the pleasure of others, whilst raven-haired Verona is tortured less explicitly, moulded into the role of the Princess’s wife, poked, prodded and dressed to suit the Princesses ever-changing desires.
I have to give a huge trigger warning for torture, gore and implied SA throughout the entirety of In Fair Verona. For such a short comic, there was a lot of blood and dark subtext. It was difficult, and painful at times, to stomach how intrinsically the pain of our protagonists was etched upon their features. A little lightness that provides some respite is the implied romance between the blonde protagonist and Verona, in which they lovingly curl up together and escape the clutches of the Princess, even if it is only in their minds. These scenes are drawn more gently, committing to the flower fairy aesthetic, with beautiful twining borders. In contrast, the darker backgrounds and harsher pencil lines absolutely bring the reader back to unforgiving reality with a bang.
In Fair Verona is absolutely intended for mature readers and should not be a comic that is picked up lightly. However, for those willing to delve into the world of tragedy and darkness, the twisted world that Wise has crafted is well worth taking a peek at, shuddering, and counting yourself lucky that it’s all made up. In Fair Verona is available to buy digitally exclusively from ShortBox Comics Book Fair this October.
Val Wise (W/A) • ShortBox Comics Fair, £6.00
Review by Lydia Turner