Ro Meadows is trying to find her creative spark, but instead finds a ghost. Is it friend or foe? And how does it affect her artist’s block? Find out in The Me You Love in the Dark #2 from Image Comics!

THE ME YOU LOVE IN THE DARK #2

Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Editor: Joel Enos and Kent Wagenschutz
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 8, 2021

Previously in The Me You Love in the Dark: Artist Ro Meadows rents a large, rambling house that is said to be haunted. She has artist’s block. A fantastic room with huge windows serves as her studio where a canvas sits, blank, night after night. Ro chides “the ghost” for not at least starting her music and pouring her some wine. A few weeks later, she hears her music playing, and in her studio, there is a glass of wine waiting for her. Her phone rings, and her assistant at the gallery gives her a not-so-gentle hint that she needs to start producing something. Inspiration still has not hit, and in frustration she starts throwing things and wonders out loud if she should give up being an artist. A voice tells her not to. She runs outside briefly to gather her thoughts. But when she goes back in, her studio has been tidied and someone has written an apology on her blank canvas.

GETTING A GRIP ON HERSELF

The Me You Love in the Dark #2 opens where issue #1 left off – an astonished Ro is face-to-face with a dark figure in her house. It asks if she is okay, and her confused answer is so realistic. The figure finds her odd, and she thinks that’s funny, coming from a ghost or whatever it is. (It doesn’t consider itself to be a ghost.) Ro is pretty shaken, and the ghost urges her to go to bed and even walks her to her room

Ro locks her door and thinks she should just get out, but stress takes its toll, and she falls asleep against the door. The next morning, she gets up and goes through her normal routine, all the while looking around, but not seeing anything. Finally, she asks the ghost if it is there, and it says, “If you like.” She asks how long it has been here, but it deflects her, explaining that its story is too long and complicated. But it is interested in her. Ro talks about the bright, happy art she did that had been so popular, but she felt disconnected from it. She came here because she felt a connection and thought it might reach her art. It hasn’t yet.

She continues to work on her painting and one day has an idea. The ghost prefers it to be dark. She turns off the lights, pulls down the shades, and lights a few small candles. Painting in the dark gives her a different perspective and finally she has an idea – to paint a picture of what she thinks the ghost looks like.

MAKING SENSE OF THE UNSEEN

The art of The Me You Love in the Dark is moody and expressive. I like Ro’s mix of terror and fascination. It feels real and believable. It’s one thing to hope for some kind of ghostly inspiration, and another thing entirely for it to show up. Her facial expression slides from doubt to skepticism effortlessly, then bounces back to trying to suppress the fear that she may be going mad. It’s very much a modern take on the Gothic romance tradition.

By daylight, things are different. Ro has a chance to grab hold of normalcy like a climber clips onto a rope. She eats breakfast and has some coffee before addressing the ghost. We see it a little, inhumanly long fingers reaching out to light a candle, even pouring a fresh cup of coffee into Ro’s smiley face mug. But we also see the change in her as she gives in to her imagination. She knows nothing about the ghost, but it has done a few kind things for her, and the idea of painting it captivates her.

BOTTOM LINE: STRANGE AND INTERESTING

The Me You Love in the Dark #2 is eerie, but it starts to make the turn into the romantic. What is the ghost? Is it benign or even friendly? The questions are captivating.

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