Warning: Anders Loves Maria is Not Safe For Work and has cartoon violence, swearing, nudity, and sex. I would rate it a hard R for content. This comic is not suitable for children, not even with adult supervision.

I first came across Anders Loves Maria on the webcomic podcast The Webcomic Beacon (which makes it a first for comics that I recall having found via podcast). I’m going to lay it on the line. I don’t particularly like ALM’s artwork (just the nude scenes alone are most surrealistic, seeing the art is like a cross of Girly and Ren and Stimpy), the storyline shifts several times into content that is disturbing (to say the least), and the hijinks? They are wacky and are ensuing on a frequent basis. However, despite these strikes, there are two aspects to ALM that drew me in and kept me reading despite my discomfort.

First, these characters are very much alive and are very human. If I were to sum up ALM in one sentence, I’d say ALM is a story about adultery and its consequences (even if the two protagonists aren’t married). Second, the story builds to this betrayal of trust… and does so quite realistically and believably. This is not a story where the guy is an evil bastard who betrays his poor pregnant girlfriend’s trust. The steps to betrayal are taken gradually and are done on both sides. Maria is equally to blame for what has happened, from her actions that led him to being beaten to a pulp when he tried to protect her (before he cheated on her), to immediately before as she let her jealousy of another girl (Tina), and her actions against Tina which drove him into her arms.

This does not absolve Anders of his betrayal, of course. His actions, and his treatment of Tina afterward were abhorrant. Yet even as the starcrossed lovers drift apart, with Anders staying with Tina and Maria with an old ex-boyfriend, it’s obvious that there is no closure here. Anders still loves Maria very much. And Maria feels strange having sex with her ex while pregnant with Anders’ child. It is the combination of characters who truly live and do what they want, along with a semi-realistic storyline (even with wacky hijinks) that kept me reading. As such, I give it a nominal thumb’s up with the caveat that the content may very well offend a number of readers.