In 2009, I was 5 years old. In 2009, the indie rock band The Decemberists came out with a rock opera album titled “The Hazards of Love.” It tells the story of Margaret and William, two individuals who meet at the edges of the forest, falling in love. However, the Forest Queen is upset about the two’s meeting, calling on the ability of the Rake to separate the two lovers. William seeks to rescue Margaret from the clutches of the Rake, calling upon the River to allow him to cross and save his love. In return, once saving Margaret and coming back to the River, the two drown in the waters, upholding the deal of giving their bones to the River. 

It is a story of a self-fulfilling prophecy; this cyclical story that will always be told, the ending always coming true no matter what. It's a reality that, as the audience, you are able to predict from the very beginning, listening to these characters who beg the universe to let them be together but never truly being able to do. 

I wanted to illustrate the scenes sung in the album. All the lyrical elements in all the songs paint vibrant images that act as snapshots of the love between Margaret and William. I want to document that on paper, at first as individual scenes, and in the future, combining them to create a short comic, something that can be looked at while listening to the album, seeing how the images reflect each song. There is a sense of movement that I want to achieve (created through the combination of music and comics), but for now, I’m creating these static moments that I can manipulate in the future, allowing me to artistically participate in this cyclical story.