One thing my mother told me is that you can tell by how food tastes whether the cook loves their work. This is a lesson I took with me throughout life, as I have used this analogy for different situations. One of the earliest analogies I used it against were teachers. Like any adolescent, my early years were not only shaped by my family but also my teachers.

I had certain teachers who you can tell from the outset that it was only a job. Then there were those teachers who loved teaching and they were interested in the well being of their students. They formed personal bonds along the way. Those were the teachers who long after you left school, you always remember. In the first issue of Ken Mora’s Caged Birds, we find one teacher and a student whose life is about to change.

We meet two young friends, Anna where one is practicing how to play her flute, while Anna dances. Soon, Anna lets her feelings out, leaving her vulnerable, which shakes her father to the core, as his core beliefs don’t allow him to be enlightened in a way of thinking. She eventually asks her piano teacher, Mr. George to intervene. She would eventually fall in love with him and marry, embarking on a life-changing journey where her love for music and his eventual love for her intertwine.  As time passes, so does her love for him, as her career takes off, soon George’s attention finds another muse, in Marie.

Overall, a rather exquisite slice of life story that has hints of Lolita and Last Tango In Paris. The story by Mora definitely feels like a guilty pleasure. The art by the creative team is beautiful. Altogether, a story that is inscrutable and hypnotic.

Story: Ken Mora
Art: Gianluca Testaverde, Lancelot Catan, and Martina Rossi
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy