Ares & Aphrodite #5 Review

Ares & Aphrodite #5 is all about the big day and the fate of Will and GiGi’s bet from issue one.

ARES & APHRODITE #5
Writer: Jamie S. Rich
Artist/Inker/Colourist: Megan Levens
Editor: Charlie Chu
Publisher: Oni Press, Inc.
Cover Price: $1.99

Previously in Ares & Aphrodite #4: Will and GiGi return to Los Angeles and the wedding is about to begin.

HERE COMES TO WEIRDLY CONFIDENT BRIDE

Ares & Aphrodite #5 is the big day! Will and GiGi’s clients are getting married, but writer Jamie S. Rich is not going to let it all happen that easily. The first seen pages are mirrored plotlines – Will with the groom and GiGi with the bride. Rich does a nice job turning the paradigm on its head. The groom is quite nervous as the fateful moment approaches, as a reflection of Will’s own apprehension about asking out GiGi. The bride s youthful and confident and utterly composed on the eve of this momentous occasion, just as GiGi is certain that she and Will are never going on a date except for that one issue when they drove up to Big Sur.

Readers don’t see much of the wedding in Ares & Aphrodite #5 because it’s really all about the reception! In the previous issue Rich cemented the idea that Will and GiGi make up a fully functioning human being – they complete each other in the great literary tradition – and we get the opportunity to see a little bit more of that. A rat has snuck into the reception and in order to keep all clients happy Will and GiGi – but mostly Will – has to make this person go away with disrupting the ceremony.

Will gets the chance to play the chivalrous hero once more in taking care of the aforementioned trouble that mars the second half of Ares & Aphrodite #5. While he is certainly in emotional distress (although Will skates clean through another issue without getting his car vandalized – but we do get a cute joke about it), his cowboy-lawman act has definitely peeked GiGi’s interest and seems to be a promising development for the date that is now certainly happening in the next couple issues.

In amidst the chaos of Ares & Aphrodite #5 Will and GiGi do get some sweet moment together, that feel like a reward from Rich to readers for the interruptions they are constantly peppered with. For almost half a song they get a chance to dance together and we get a return to the verbal sparring that characterizes the protagonists’ interactions. The quiet, lovely moments have been few and far between for the couple in the narrative.

This issue has been the culmination of a bunch of threads that Rich has had running from the start. Ares & Aphrodite #5 leaves readers on the precipice of the payoff for the two titular characters. It reads quickly because there is no time wasted on any scene or any action, everything is important and Will and GiGi are funny.

Jamie S. Rich has delivered another great issue with Ares & Aphrodite #5.

EVERYONE IS SO PRETTY

Ares & Aphrodite #5 has Megan Levens on art duty doing a lot of lovely work. The entire issue is focused on a wedding, so everyone is dressed their best. Will and GiGi are stunning in keeping with the series to date, but even characters that have settled in the scenery get the opportunity to be striking on panel.

Colours and shadows are aptly employed throughout Ares & Aphrodite #5 as the narrative moves from inside to outside, day to night. Naturally, they are indicative of the passing of time, but they also speak the moods of the characters. Inside during wedding prep everything is bright and white suggestive of the characters and their moods being under scrutiny, for the wedding itself there are a lot of red and oranges reflective of the high emotions and the belief in love and the reception is a lot of long shadows with blacks and blues as Will and GiGi must take on deception and bad guys. It is subtly done and really adds a lot to the issue.

Levens has done beautiful work on the series from the beginning and Ares & Aphrodite #5 is no different. It’s very, very pretty.

THE BOTTOM LINE: GOOD STUFF

Ares & Aphrodite #5 is the culmination of many things that have been seeded in earlier issues. It’s a rewarding read with some really sweet scenes and is certain to leave readers wanting more right now!