Description

In An Army of Lovers Will Be Beaten by Bernie McGovern, we meet a peaceful blue race that has been fooled by a power-hungry baron to make war against a constellation of stars. Our main character, Lt. Buckley, is a war hero who haphazardly killed one of the star of the constellation, and is given a week’s vacation to the sea-side port of Catalpa. Instead of escaping the war, Buckley finds himself surrounded by those scarred by violence and trauma.

The cast of a half-dozen characters in Bernie’s story weave in and out of each other’s lives. Buckley is quickly reunited with his ex-wife, Beverley, who is now a sex worker, and romantically involved with Buckley’s rival, Ray. A fellow soldier, Turtledove is drunk and destitute at Major Willow’s tavern. Willow and his over-sized mouse, Pebbles had both lost loved ones at the hands of the murderous MP, Lichi, and a mystical llama lurks around everyone’s dreams.

In this first volume, Bernie uses paintings, and theatrical tricks to set the stage of our drama and to introduce all these characters and their sad stories. Flashbacks, poetry, songs, and puppetry are all tools to tell this compelling story of war and healing.