Maria’s Wedding (still available, among others from Amazon) is a charming little story written by Nunzio De Filippis & Christina Weir, the same people as the recent Past Lies, and drawn by José Garibaldi, an artist with a decidedly cartoony style, who worked there for the first time for Oni Press.
Joseph and Matthew's wedding photo
In the (very) large Pirelli family, a new wedding is taking place, and things aren’t really going well. Maria is marrying someone her family doesn’t approve of, although it’s probably creating less of a rift than what happened last year: her cousin Joseph’s wedding with his boyfriend Matthew.
Centered on Frankie, Joseph’s brother, and his hopes of meeting again Brenna, Maria’s maid-of-honor, this family tale with a twist is heart-warming and quietly rebellious.
It is interesting to see that the one everybody considers as a rebel is Frankie, while Joseph seems more interested in a calm life and in not making waves. One of the plot points in the story is whether Joseph and his husband will dance at Maria’s wedding, thus possibly arousing the homophobic members of the family.
While not the center of the story, Joseph and Matthew are an integral part of the family and are treated as such by their enlightened kin.
Family discussion
Garibaldi’s art is quite effective, without any big effect, and it gives us varied faces and expressions, which is rather important in a story more about internal than external strife, and solid storytelling. The only less-than-convincing aspect is his handling of hands, but everyone knows hands are really hard to draw.
This, again, is what I’m expecting of a good, gay-inclusive comic: equal, and not separate, treatment of the gay characters. And that’s certainly what De Filippis and Weir offer to their readers, in this story where the characters try to balance their attachment to their family and their personal hopes for happiness. A situation shared by many gay people, after all.
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