Mail Order Bride — Mark Kalesniko

Monty, a lonely comic-shop owner, expects his Asian mail-order bride to fulfill his stereotypical fantasy, but she turns out to be much more complex than that in this sharp and affecting look at their prickly relationship.

The creator of Why Did Pete Duel Kill Himself? returns with an even more powerful graphic novel. Monty, a Canadian comic-and-toy-shop owner and a pathetic 39-year-old virgin, expects his Asian mail-order bride Kyung Soo to fulfil his female Asian fantasy stereotypes: obedient, hardworking and loyal. Tall and accentless, Kyung turns out to be much more complex than Monte is willing to accept. This sharp and affecting look at their prickly relationship is told over 264 elegant, touching pages in this original graphic novel by Disney animator Mark Kalesniko. Kalesniko adroitly juxtaposes Monty's non-sexual, juvenile obsessions with his objectification of his bride, drawing a direct line between loneliness, consumerism, and how the need for order in one's life compromises the approach to matters of the heart.