Review: Bingo Love (Image Comics)

Would you consider yourself a lucky person? For me, I see luck as a combination of perseverance and timing. Sometimes one more than the other. We have all heard of “beginners luck”, and we all have our own feelings about how real that is. But one thing is for sure, whenever we get that BINGO moment and finally win, be it our first time, or millionth time, winning has a way of making all those losses melt away.

When we think of luck, most of us think about the quick events that physically happen right before us. Such as a falling tree missing your house, or you winning the lottery, and those events are hard to miss. But this comic is the story of luck in a more subtle form.

“Lucky in love.” Have you heard that term before? The best kind of luck in my opinion.

Bingo Love is one of those rare love stories, the kind of story where the odds are stacked against you, and you know you’re playing a losing game. It’s about a story that forced two people to play a different game, one they learned to live with and one that did have some wonderful moments, but one that wasn’t for them.

When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-’60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage. From TEE FRANKLIN (NAILBITER’s “THE OUTFIT,” Love is Love) and JENN ST-ONGE (Jem & The Misfits), BINGO LOVE is a touching story of love, family, and resiliency that spans over 60 years.

Sometimes, a great story will make up for mediocre illustration. But not to worry here, this comic has wonderful relatable characters and equally as wonderful writing. Even if we didn’t personally live this life, we know these people! People who sacrifice, people who deserve their true love but might not be able to have it, people who are just like you and me.

But what if…

What if we lived a whole lifetime making the best of what we have, and then… BINGO!

Winning is winning right? Even if that win takes a lifetime, and even if that win doesn’t last long. Well, this comic is that story. A story of loving, losing, dealing, and eventually… winning!

Originally this comic was announced as a crowdfunded indie campaign but it’s success found its way into the interests of Image Comics. It is created by Tee Franklin who is a Black, queer, disabled comic book writer for Image Comics. She hopes to pave the way for more marginalized comic creators and is the creator of the hashtag #BlackComicsMonth

The entire story is wrapped up in one beautifully packaged volume with additional stories and illustrations by other artists and writers as additional pages after the story. It’s a wonderful addition because after the beautiful ending, we get to see glimpses of other short stories of their love together, which softens the realization of the final pages of the main storyline.

So, are you feeling lucky? Well, it doesn’t take luck to pick up this story. Just a little perseverance and timing. I’ll even help you with a link to digitally download HERE.

Let us know if you have read this story, and what you thought of it in the comments. And we will catch you next week, same Nerd-Time, same Nerd-Channel.

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