It was awesome reading your analyses, fauxtrot and gketter! I don't really have much to say other than what's already been said, but I will say that I enjoyed it immensely! Fantastic slice-of-life that has it's moments of total absurdity but still feels completely rooted in reality due to the great dialogue and characterizations.
It was totally hilarious too.
Also, I really like David as a character. I mean, all the characters are great and equally very well-written, but I really like David.
And lastly, I sort of wish I didn't read all three issues in one sitting. I'm bad at reading more than one or two issues in one sitting, and when I do I get kind of impatient towards the end. Because of that, I didn't get to appreciate that heartwarming ending as much as I should've. For shame.
With that said, the fact that I was able to read three issues in one sitting at all (especially keeping in mind that I haven't been able to read any comics at all for like a week since my mind's been elsewhere and I haven't been able to keep any sort of focus) speaks volumes to how well-written Strangers in Paradise is.
I wish there were a good way to read a book that large, some type of illustration showing the best way to read a large book.
Alright lets get things going.
SiP Vol1 (#1-3)
As I stated before i've read SiP years ago, so i'll make sure to never tip my hand of where the story goes (granted its been years so i only remember smatterings of story beats). I only read the comic through TPBs but I must say if someone picked up the first issue back in the day of this series i have no idea how they couldn't immediately put this on their pull list and never stop reading it.
What an amazing content packed first issue! You Introduce 4 of the main characters, immediately flesh them out and provide the proper backstories
- Freddie the horny loser boyfriend
- Francine the nice but doormat, low self esteem character
- Katchoo the childhood friend of Francine who is in love with her but is not returned back in the same way. Passionate, violent, fiery, but has a soft side that only a few get to really see
- David the ultimate "friendzone" character
On top of that the start and end of the Freddie/Francine relationship, and a hook for a great cliffhanger of Katchoo's revenge. That's a hell of a first issue. How many issues would comics take these days to get this much content out, 3? 4 issues? Even the good run of image comics would seem like a whole arc covered in on issue.
Some other things that struck me again is just how Terry Moore has a read on these characters so early and also I get to see how the were before they started to change/grow/etc. In addition this was written and produced in 1993! I won't say its a trailblazer for LGBT stories, but there weren't a ton out there that really touched on it, let alone in the comic book industry. Especially by making it a part of their main characters .
Other things that i had forgotten is how over the top frenzied and crazy it was. Katchoo is almost Ennis like in the extreme parody violence but it works with the art style and it takes this "slice of life" comic and adds a layer of absurdity to it. But at the same time doesn't undercut the characters themselves. Its thrown into the blender and just...works. Kind of like what fauxtrot points out in how Terry blends pin-up style fanservice with feminism. You don't usually see that in the same story but here it somehow works and one doesn't get in the way of the other.
And finally a great staple of Terry's art is he draws women exceptionally well and using realistic proportions, wrinkles, folds, etc but still very pleasing to the eye. Yea he has some fun with certain characters later (and even the one bouncer lady that shows up) but even then its something unique that you don't see often in comics.
Great start, can't wait to dive into it more. Just like when i read it the first time its hard to put down the comic when i start, but i'll do my best to keep it at 3 issues per day to avoid spoilers.
What say you comic-gaf book club on your thoughts?
Completely agree on all points. You were very thorough, so I've got nothing to add.
But yeah, what a fantastic first issue. Perfectly executed.
And in regards to the craziness, it caught me by surprise as well. I wasn't expecting that craziness from this book, but it really adds another dimension to it.
I think it's interesting that Moore already seems to be setting up a pretty complex love-triangle ... Katchoo loves Francine, Francine loves neither (so far), and David's on the fast track to loving them both.
I agree with gketter... Katchoo waking up and shooting her alarm clock, the neighbors dream, the actualized revenge fantasy, as well as the over-exaggerated minor characters (Katchoo's huge friend, the neighbor couple, the jail-house cop) add an absurdist twist to the book that feels very Garth Ennis or even Hunter S. Thompson-esque. So far it hasn't overshadowed the other qualities of the book, and I'm pretty impressed by how naturally it all feels, when it is in fact quite the balancing act.
The minor characters were a definite highlight for me. I love how in just a few panels, Moore completely defined that relationship between the husband and wife neighbors. Husband spying on young female neighbor while wife is in the kitchen chugging whiskey and both are making sure the other doesn't know about their indiscretions. That was too good.
But yeah, the completely ridiculous, caricature-like minor characters really add a lot to the book.
I'm here! I'm here!
So um.... how do you tell when an issue ends? Some of the chapter breaks don't seem as obvious as others?
Every issue had a "To be continued" or "The End" at the end. So just keep an eye out for those.
It would be nice if the omnibus had both page numbers and issue numbers though.
I have a couple of the pocket books. Got a big paycheck coming soon, this will be bought. I need to finish this series.
Hey cool idea! I don't post in the Comics OT as I'm pretty out of the loop with recent comics, but I've heard of SiP a lot in the past, so now seems a good time to read it.
I'll see if I can grab it from my local store sometime in the next couple of days, maybe even on the way home from work today.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, sounds interesting. Probably won't be able to join this read-through but I've added it to my Amazon wishlist for a potential future purchase when I might have some money in the distant future.
Awesome! I hope you guys can join us!
