Black Wade: Franze & Andärle. The wild side of love [Hardcover]

I can understand exactly what Franze and Andärle mean when they say that their style is; nifty and thoroughly in the details. This precision makes the world of Black Wade incredibly rich and one that you will want to revisit often.

The opening is well scripted with a backstory that deftly gives you an understanding of Jack. A young man, engaged to the luscious Annabeth, but filled with forbidden desires for more masculine curves. Jack has great strength of character and integrity, but he is no match for the merciless pirate who captures him and subjects him to all manner of wicked, nasty goodness. Black Wade is a swarthy, likable rogue with much lustrous hair and beard. I'd like to give him pats. He also has rugby player thighs. These are the very best kind of thighs to have you understand! heh.

The art is incredibly beautiful. The tension and lust between Jack and Black Wade is palpable and so incredibly hot. I think my favorite panels are of Jack when he is sleeping early on in the book and having some rather erotic and lickable dreams! I also liked the images of Wade lolling about in his room, ship, bath and bed. All of them! He is just lush. The whole book is so gorgeous and it is difficult to narrow it down to just one or two images. The emotion conveyed through the color is also a large part of what makes this such a memorable read and the moody, dark palate used in the picture of Wade on the bridge illustrates this point beautifully. Or, when Jack and Wade are in a clinch in one of the final cabins scenes the red is simply to die for.

This is absolutely a must have and has to be one of my favorite reads I've purchased this year. It has everything, dashing heroes, star crossed romance, bad guys, knee breeches, ships, rope, leather boots and more swashbuckling that you can shake a stick at. Clever, beautiful, utterly romantic and total 5 star plus read.

So, I liked it. Just a bit.

A very well produced and presented gay comic. Unlike some which were rushed, with scenes becoming confusing and sometimes incoherent, it is very well sequenced, yet leave plenty of room for the reader to exercise a degree of imagination. Very good story line which I really liked. It can be described as hot but not done "over the top" so as to numb the reader or in effect becoming boring. In the main stuck to the fantasised story line and not just obsessed with sex; which many gay comics trapped themselves into. At the end, though, leaves one or two questions which seem to point towards the strong possibility of a continuum - part II? Is Marak going to just accept the situation or do something imaginative? or is it that Black Wade and Jack lived together happily ever after?

Age of sail pedants, abandon ship. But everyone else, climb aboard for a fruity and surprisingly touching naughty-cal romp. (Yes, I know. I'm shameless.)

It's a predictable story, and anyone who has read any m/m book involving pirates will not be at all surprised with the plot. Black Wade is another "have him washed and brought to my cabin" type, and yes there's a fair amount of rape portrayed in this story. And for those of you who really dislike "rape turns to love" are going to want to stay away. But I have to say, it's not a one-sided thing, as Wade begins to love his captor, Jack Wilkins, just as much as the other way round.

But really, it's all about the drawings which are very beautiful. I don't have much knowledge of Graphic Novels but I really liked the look of these pictures. I'm used to the frontispieces and the introductory pages being showcase pages with all the talent on show, but the quality is pretty much standard throughout, it's not "one quality for the front and a lower quality for the panels." There's a particular emphasis on lighting, which I really liked, the way the lanterns in the claustrophobic cabins cast light on naked flesh or half clad bodies. Yaoi this certainly isn't. The men are manly men-and if Jack is a little lighter in build and height than Black Wade, it doesn't mean he's girly in any way at all.

It's very sexually graphic and there are male members everywhere, so not a book to be found by your grandma-and yes, everyone has washboard abs, but there are hairy chests and scars to be found, even if all the crew are hot, half dressed and horny. Can't say I blame them. I very much doubt that the ship is accurate, or the sails but I didn't buy it for that, after all. However, it's not all sex, there's an exciting fighting section, and a terrible storm (which gets Wilkins out of his captivity.)

For a sexual novel, which it doesn't shy away from being, it certainly "does what it says on the tin" as it were, and it's a keeper for me, for that-and for the stunning artwork.