In Search of Shirley, Vol. 1

Swiss comics artist Cosey tells the story of Art and Ian, Vietnam vets and childhood pals, and the elusive Shirley, the love of their youth. Art's marriage is on the rocks and he's been drinking and thinking about the past. Ian is a philandering free spirit and canine dentist ready for a little adventure. Their mutual and competitive affection for Shirley brings the two to Rome, where they find her in changed circumstances. She's now an iconoclastic (and very sexy) nun, and the reunion rekindles past emotional conflicts between the three. But Shirley's deepest concern is for a young illegal Vietnamese refugee, and the rest of this story centers on their efforts to retrieve the child from a Thai refugee camp. Cosey's draughtsmanship is impressive, his colors cool and moody and the views of Rome and the Italian and Vietnamese countryside are striking. However, despite the story's complexity, this is a pastiche of conventional themes--lost love and youth, buddies on the road, an enigmatic siren, Vietnam flashbacks--and strains to achieve a sense of seriousness and poignancy. Cosey never really makes Shirley as compelling as Art and Ian believe she is. (June)