The Philippine Online Chronicles

When a book opens with a scan of a restaurant receipt, you know it’s going to be about reminiscence. Keepsakes like bus tickets of your longest trip together, concert tickets where you first met and the receipt from the gift you bought for your first anniversary, mementos that signify longstanding memories that will last you through the years, no matter how painful the heartbreak was. Stereotypically, girls would be the culprits of this kind of memory hoarding, but so too are a rare breed of "sensitive" guys, the type who offer countless mix tapes and poems to the target of their affection.

Author and artist Jeffrey Brown pins this all down in his book AEIOU or Any Easy Intimacy (Of Us). He chronicles the normal cycle of a relationship via his own relationship with Sophia, a co-worker at a video store. He does this, however, without schmaltzy embellishments and blown-up proportions. No heavy drama, no hysteria, no explosive arguments, just the delights of having someone to share the world with, sweet silent moments and unspoken fears and discontent.

Brown’s drawings may come off as juvenile or off-handed, but this raw style actually complements the siege of emotions that lurk in every line and speech bubble and panel. We see Brown light up with excitement when he learns that Sophia actually likes him. He doesn’t say anything--his face tells you his excitement, as well as expresses his curiosity and worry. We witness this scale in "The Long Pause before a First Kiss"; the yawning chasm and awkwardness before their lips finally touched. There are no words necessary, the brewing passion is enough to build-up the intimacy we’ve been anticipating.

Sophia appears to be "The Girl" Brown is usually prone to like: a little hint of geekiness here and there, eccentric quirks, and most of all, she actually pays attention to him. The disjointed narrative of little events lends a colliding feeling to the relationship. Both Sophia and Brown gradually unearth issues, emotional or otherwise, and the walls of their relationship eventually crack. You know this is not going to end well.

How you, as a reader, will relate to this work depends on how you perceive the burly world of relationships. If you remain cynical, detesting the holes that show up in every page, you’ll probably put down the book with an exasperated sigh. You can’t help but roll your eyes when Sophia asks Brown “So if you could touch only one part of my body for the rest of your life, what would it be?” and he answers “Your heart,” but for the less jaded reader, the remarkable lyricism of this moment will forever sit in your memories like a cherished childhood memento of your own.

Tragic hang-ups never stop Brown from entering into relationships. He relishes the golden moments of intimacy, the "bouts of passionate kissing" that come in between misunderstandings, sexual frustrations and awkward silences. These episodes of little arguments, thankfully not grand shouting matches, are a sure prelude to a reconciliatory cuddle, which is what Brown would think as a sign of hope in an already fading relationship.

Brown even depicts the joy of just having someone you love around. Sophia tells Brown “This is one of the times where if you weren’t here, I’d hurt myself.” The panel is replete with tangible sadness, with their glum faces and shadows building around them. Brown puts his arm around Sophia as if gnawing the emotional and physical distance that has been growing in their relationship.

Brown chooses to fill the tension in between the panels by taking away the affairs and the uglier side of their relationship. While we see them bicker and argue about sex and other guys in Sophia’s life, Brown makes it all more bearable by inserting more intimate moments, small talks during dinner and more sex. Even though he crumbles at the slightest harsh word or at when he is being ignored, Brown soldiers on. He compromises when the situation calls him to, giving Sophia what she needs: “Well…maybe we can take a step back and I’ll just have to live with whatever you can give me,” he tells Sophia, holding on to the dregs of what-could-have-been and what-will-be.

When AEIOU is put together with Brown’s other books such as Clumsy and Unlikely, these chronicles may seem like a cautionary tale for comic book geeks about the pains and pitfalls of being in a relationship. Yet no matter how dashed his hopes may seem after one catastrophic turn after the other, Brown, and at some point Sophia, remains very hopeful of the future.

Brown provides us with an endearing tale of love and heartbreak. While most romantic stories push to create a fairy tale endings and anti-septic reconciliations, AEIOU runs like a memory that refuses to be let go. We can’t help but see ourselves in their relationship, in every turn, every embrace and every lingering touch. After we close the book, we breathe a sigh of relief, wondering whether we ourselves are doomed to repeat the same mistakes all our lives.

[Image source: Top Shelf Productions. Copyright holder/s maintain appropriate rights.]