For many reasons, I think the most layered storyline in Heartbreak Soup is Ecce Homo (pgs 137-152). The title references a biblical phrase that frequently labels paintings portraying Jesus wearing the crown of thorns. While I have difficulty understanding how this biblical image relates to this particular short comic, I acknowledge that it at least adds to Gilbert’s running tally of biblical references (which perhaps do more to comment as a whole on Heartbreak Soup than individual stories.)
Motifs more easily recognized and applied are images of love and death that undercut almost every other frame. We discussed in class how characters from other comics appear in Ecce Homo, even ones drawn by Hyme. While I can’t recognize who these characters are, I can recognize that they don’t appear in any other stories in Heartbreak Soup. This ensemble effect is interesting, almost like a celebrity cast has visited the set of Heartbreak Soup for some season finale (hence the Sophia Loren reference.) Yet, since I don’t know who these “celebrities” are, I have trouble drawing meaning from their presence. Many other background images, however, easily provide layering that affects every reader. The juxtaposition of the many skeletons (138, 2. 143, 6. 146, 6. 147, 3. 148, 7. 152, 6.) to the many floating hearts (138, 2. 138, 3. 139, 3. 144, 4. 145, 5. 146, 1.) heavily weight the Love and Rockets subheading. Frame 143, 6 is the most blatant in its imagery, as the skeleton appears as a sheriff, beside a man with devil-like horns and a fused bomb.
Many character’s behavior supports this imagery, and furthers the idea that love and death are in the air and are affecting how everyone acts. Heraclio, though married, runs around with his accordion telling the women they’re all beautiful. Another man, also married, fools around with Tonantzin in the woods, and the uptight and overly-serious Ophelia dances away like a free-spirit. Love spirits have seemingly taken over these character’s typical actions. In terms of death, phrases like “Now isn’t he the lady-killer already!” (141, 5), “Why hasn’t anybody killed you to put us out of our misery?” (146, 6), “Just you and a beautiful corpse in there all alone…” (148, 5) and the reminder that “Manuel was shot dead by yet another (deranged) lover…” (142, 2-3) imply a strong causation between love and death. After analyzing the motifs this way, one could argue that Gilbert chose Ecce Homo as the title to support this causation, using Jesus’ sacrifice as love and his crucifixion as death.
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I also noticed the abundance of death-related language in "Ecce Homo", as well as the unusual amount of death imagery. You mentioned the skeletons, but the entire story seems much darker and more sinister than the preceding stories, and the chapters that follow are similar in style. In my opinion, "Ecce Homo" marked a turning point in the book; the rest of the stories seemed more serious and somber in tone than the ones at the beginning of the book. I am not entirely sure how this change in style relates to the biblical reference in the title, perhaps because Jesus' crucifixion was a turning point in the history of Christianity? Regardless, I really enjoyed your thoughts on the reading.
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