Humankind's been asking this question since its inception, but the poet Haddaway phrased it best: What is love? Is love biological or spiritual or both? Can it be quantified like a fighter's power levels in Dragon Ball Z? The team of writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Kevin Mellon (and cover artist Erik Jones) don't aim to burden you with these philosophical buzzkills, but they'll still be on your mind as sinister forces seek to control hearts for profit in Lovestruck from Image Comics come September.Clocking in at 192-pages, the upcoming black and white Lovestruck OGN tells the story of Cupid's manipulations in a modern setting. This fellow is far from a cherub, though, and bears more of a resemblance to the theoretical lovechild of Marvel's Wilson Fisk and Akira's Tetsuo than a happy naked angel baby dude you'd want shooting infatuation arrows your way. But I'm focusing too much on a disgusting villain. Lovestruck's replete with beautiful people doing bad things as well.

From Image's official solicitation info:

It's a love story, but not like you think. There's no boy meets girl or star-crossed soul mates. Love is a billion-dollar industry. Cupid's the megalomaniac CEO. And Kali Monroe gets paid to break your heart. Love is all around us. These are the pricks who control it.

Having followed Hopeless and Mellon's work since the 2008 release of Gearhead, Scalped and Wolverine scribe Jason Aaron weighed in with a hefty plug for Hopeless' writing and work ethic in his CBR column "Where the Hell Am I?" last year:

This dude is going to make it. Mark my words. He's got the talent and the drive, and instead of just sitting back and dreaming about it, he's out there right now, working his ass off and paying his dues.

You wanna write for a living? You want a career in comics? Get a bit of this guy's patience and persistence. I guarantee you it'll go a long way.

Check out a selection from Lovestruck below for a taste of Hopeless and Mellon's twisted take on love. You may not learn what it is, but baby, this comic won't hurt you. Won't hurt you. No more.

[Click pages to enlarge]

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