With Tales of Dark Romance in Comics, Love Hurts More Than It Heals

Love isn’t always soft, and comics know it. These dark romance comics lean into obsession, grief, and corrupted devotion, spotlighting new releases and older cult favourites that treat heartbreak as a weapon and a revelation.

Broken Heart Through Sun - Dark Romance in ComicsIn the name of dark romance in comics, some creators enjoy exploring its edges through works released for the season of hearts. When there’s no anti-Valentine’s icon the way Christmas has Krampus, these tales lean on the human condition instead. Rather than crafting a saccharine Harlequin fantasy, what’s presented here cuts deeper.

In the real world, love comes with sacrifice, compromise, and the understanding that some connections aren’t meant to last. That emotional friction becomes fertile ground for storytelling. The result is a slate of works that challenge the idea that love must be soft, safe, or everlasting. What’s offered here are current and upcoming titles that dare to be different, stories where affection and obsession blur, where devotion turns corrosive, and where heartbreak is as transformative as it is devastating.

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Just What A Useful Ghost Offers Is Not Seduction, But Suction

A Useful Ghost turns grief, spirituality, and social satire into one of the most offbeat supernatural films in recent memory. Blending heartfelt loss with possessed appliances and sharp cultural commentary, this Ghost Month standout is equal parts absurd and affecting.

A Useful Ghost Movie Poster
Playing at the Victoria Film Festival Feb 14th, 2026 at The Roxy (2657 Quadra St.) at 2pm. Buy tickets here.

Filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke has crafted a supernatural film that doesn’t just tug at the heartstrings, it suggests grief doesn’t always need to be sucked up. A Useful Ghost (ผีใช้ได้ค่ะ) weaves several tales together to create the ultimate Ghost Month film. Originally debuting in August 2025 for Southeast Asian audiences, it’s now making a well-deserved splash across the international festival circuit.

The film introduces a series of suffocating situations. There is Tok (Krittin Thongmai), who dies at work from chest congestion. Elsewhere, an unnamed academic (Wisarut Homhuan) insists it isn’t dust but industrial pollution choking him. He buys a vacuum cleaner that promptly malfunctions. When Krong (Wanlop Rungkumjad) arrives to fix it, he has no idea he’s about to be seduced.

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Is There Paradaïz with TheNFB in Part Two, When Bread Will Walk Steals The Show?

Surreal migration meets flour-dusted apocalypse in this second NFB spotlight. When Bread Will Walk is the definitive highlight of the shorts program, we’re sure that you’ll reconsider buying Wonder Bread too.

National Film Board of Canada LOGOIn part two of my look at the National Film Board of Canada shorts playing at the Victoria Film Festival,  I turn my attention to one art piece and one very creative riff on the zombie genre. I highly recommend checking out Bread Will Walk, and hope it hits streaming soon. And with the former, there’s more than an existential crisis going on as an individual tries to make sense of chaos theory. After fleeing one world to live in another, this is a work people need to see to be understood. Continue reading “Is There Paradaïz with TheNFB in Part Two, When Bread Will Walk Steals The Show?”

Titan Manga and Five Star Stories. The Anxious Wait Won’t Be Long.

Let’s hope Titan Manga and Five Star Stories remain committed to deliver this lucious saga to the English-speaking masses instead of stalling.

Five Star Stories - Titan Manga EditionTitan Manga
Volume One releasing July 7, 2026
and Two on Oct 6, 2026

Thankfully, the Five Star Stories manga is still going strong in Japan. Even though it has effectively reinvented itself after Volume 12 of the tankōbon release, most people have rolled with the changes. While purists may take issue with the work being referred to as Gothicmade, the shift at least establishes a foundation for where future stories are headed. The scope feels less like a simple continuation and more like a reframing, one where the saga leans into legacy rather than immediate battlefield drama.

Instead of diving into a massive editorial on the changes, I’ll simply say this, as long as sales remain strong, I’m hopeful Titan Books’ new label stays committed to republishing the full Toypress run up to that volume, where it never saw a translation for the English-speaking market, and continues onward into the expanded era of the story. With a possible release of three volumes per year similar to the previous run, it won’t take long to catch up! To note, the English edition was further separated into smaller chapter releases. There are 26 books which cover Japanese Volumes 1 through 10. Volume 11 and onward have yet to be translated.

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Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski Shine in This Thought-Provoking NFB Showcase

The National Film Board of Canada brings a striking range of animated storytelling to Victoria Film Festival. In part one, I take a closer look at Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski, two shorts that confront human duality, moral consequence, and the fragile space between love and harm.

National Film Board of Canada LOGOThe National Film Board of Canada

is presenting at the Victoria Film Festival, and what they’ve got is a wide range of adventures. From making statements about the society we’re in to a fun-filled twist on what a zombie pandemic can look like, even I have to be amazed. In part one, I’ll be taking a look at Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski.

This examination will be broken up into two parts to give the four pieces a decent look at why they must be viewed. And hey, Jay Baruchel is all-Canadian in this piece (you’ll have to read part two for that review), and I have to love the fact he’s broken away from his Hiccup past to show he has versatility with his vocal performances.

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Chinese New year 2026: The Essential Film Lineup You Need to See

The films offered during Chinese New Year 2026 is a mix of fun and action in the only way the leading film likes it. From animated bear sized chaos to desert-scale action, here are the releases worth tracking down.

Chinese New Year熊出没·年年有熊 (Bears Appear Every Year) Chinese New year 2026 2026 may feel late, but there’s a reason for that. In ancient times, the traditional calendar followed both the sun and the moon. That balance matters, especially when studios deliberately time releases to echo ideas of renewal, repetition, and harmony. This year’s holiday slate leans hard into that symbolism. Whether it’s animated bears stuck in a cycle, desert-bound warriors chasing destiny, or families barely holding it together over banquets, these films feel tailor-made for the season. This list highlights what to find, from international releases to local favourites.

熊出没·年年有熊 (Bears Appear Every Year)

The Boonie Bears are a chaotic duo who’ve become one of mainland China’s most recognisable animated exports, though comparing them to Yogi and Boo Boo only gets you so far. They’re operating in a different tonal universe, one where slapstick escalates quickly and logic is optional. Over the years, they’ve been joined by familiar faces like Vick, once an outright adversary, and Warren the raccoon, expanding their world beyond simple bear-on-human mischief.

It’s almost expected at this point that a new Boonie Bears movie arrives every year, often timed squarely for Chinese New Year. That consistency has turned the series into a holiday fixture. The humour is broad, the pacing relentless, and the appeal is cross-generational. With 年年有熊 literally translating to “Bears Appear Every Year,” there’s a strong suggestion this entry leans into repetition, tradition, and cyclical time. If there’s a Groundhog Day-style loop involved, it would fit neatly with zodiac symbolism and the idea of patterns renewing themselves year after year.

镖人：风起大漠 (Blades of the Guardians)

镖人：风起大漠 (Blades of the Guardians)Styled as a full-throttle wuxia epic, Blades of the Guardians sends Dao Ma (Jing Wu), the “second most wanted fugitive,” on what should be a straightforward escort mission to Chang’an. Naturally, it isn’t. Set against the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert, the trailers suggest a Mad Max meets Wild West energy, with bandits, shifting allegiances, and violence erupting from every direction.

The mystery surrounding the mission, and the involvement of the Mo family clan, hint at deeper political and personal stakes. With Jet Li in the cast and international distribution planned via Well Go USA, this one feels positioned to travel well beyond the holiday window.

Hong Kong Chinese New Year 2026 Releases

夜王 (Night King)

夜王 (Night King)Directed by Jack Ng, following the success of A Guilty Conscience, Night King explores Hong Kong’s nightlife through a comic lens. Set around the East Sun Nightclub, the story revolves around Brother Foon, played by Dayo Wong, as he battles a hostile corporate takeover. The threat comes in the form of V-jie, a ruthless CEO portrayed by Sammi Cheng, who also happens to be his ex-wife. Old-school values clash with modern corporate power, but the film frames that tension as comedy first, making it a familiar, crowd-friendly New Year watch with bite beneath the laughs.

双囍 (Double Happiness)

双囍 (Double Happiness)Few films align more neatly with the emotional pressure of Chinese New Year than Double Happiness. The holiday is built around reunion, even when families are fractured, and this film turns that tension into farce. Two incompatible families, two wedding banquets, one hotel, one day. The result is escalating chaos as a soon-to-be-married couple, played by Liu Kuan-ting and Jennifer Yu, try to keep everyone smiling.