An engaged couple holiday at a coastal beach town – and then a strong wind sends a metal sign flying the chap’s way, decapitating him! That old chestnut, eh? Why do all these stories start the same way!? I’m just joshing of course but the laydee decides to… Stay (oho!)… in the town and have the… Stay (ohhh twice!)… that her dearly decapitated planned her to have anyway – I guess we all deal with grief differently? She meets a local eccentric called Paco who, after finding out who she is, decides to cheer her up.
I hoped Stay was going to be better than it was – the premise is unusual and original, and was what grabbed me in the first place – but, despite being unpredictable, it’s not a great story. Nothing happens! The woman simply does ordinary stuff on holiday: swims in the sea, eats ice cream, goes to a bar, has dinner, etc. She cries once. I guess it was an interesting choice not to have her break down or tumble into bed with Paco but writer Lewis Trondheim gave us nothing instead.
The protagonist is a completely indistinct woman while Paco is unlikeable from the outset – pissing in a jar and throwing it at a dog like a shithead – who doesn’t improve over the course of the narrative.
Hubert Chevillard’s sketchy art is very beautiful and I loved his use of shading and colours to give us some amazingly lit panels. And there are some sweet, quiet moments of pathos and melancholia here and there. Ultimately though Stay doesn’t work as an entertainment – it’s too dull – or as an arty exploration of grief – it’s too distant and incongruous; it’s a good-looking, but very dull, slice of life comic.
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