Marriage is one of those institutions that is not for everybody. It is one of those things we all grow up seeing, even if your parents were not married, many of us at least know a married couple. The institution itself has been idolized for centuries, especially in every religion. Where in Catholicism, divorce for the longest time, was considered a sin, as it took Henry VIII to create the Anglican Church to get divorced from his first wife to marry Anne Boleyn.

Recently, the portrayal of marriage has taken a different turn, one in which more realistic portrayals have entered the bloodstream of popular culture. These portrayals have had some scholars and fans even wondering about yesteryear tv shows and movies, if certain shows hid certain attitudes and played laughs for actions. The most famous of these points is Honeymooners, where some believed Ralph used to beat Alice, which was an accepted behavior at the time. This brings me to Graham Chaffee’s masterfully told To Have and To Hold.

In the opening pages, we meet the typical bored housewife in Kate Ross and her curmudgeon of a husband working a dead-end job, Lonnie Ross, whose marriage is troubled. Kate has been cheating on him for months and Lonnie aims to find out who, what, where and why. This eventually leads Lonnie into hatching up a robbery, with someone from work and an old friend. By story’s end, a few more betrayals, and two pivotal deaths, leaves no one unscathed.

Overall, it reminds of those old 50s pulp movies, that makes you wonder who really is the most devious character in the story. The story by Chaffee follow some familiar tropes for story structure but bends them at right times to create something fresh. The art by Chaffee presents facial expressions at the very best I have seen. Altogether, an excellent story that shows you the thin line between love and hate gets razor sharp when it comes to crime and money.

Story: Graham Chaffee Art: Graham Chaffee
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy