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Strangers in Paradise, Pocket Book 1 (Strangers in Paradise Pocket Books #1)

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 1,700 ratings · 125 reviews

Katchoo is a beautiful young woman living a quiet life with everything going for her. She's smart, independent and very much in love with her best friend, Francine. Then Katchoo meets David, a gentle but persistent young man who is determined to win Katchoo's heart. The resulting love triangle is a touching comedy of romantic errors until Katchoo's former employer comes lo...more

Paperback, 360 pages

Published August 10th 2004 by Abstract Studio (first published 1997)

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May 03, 2009 George rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, graphic-novels, and

Just read the first volume of Strangers in Paradise. Boy oh boy, did it rile me up. In a good way, of course. Let's just say I admire this graphic novel, but I'm not its intended audience. Loved the art. It put me in the mind of Berke Breathed's Bloom County. For some reason Francine's mother reminded me of Bill the Cat.

OK, let's get down to it. Every single male character in this volume is an asshole. Every. Single. One. Does Terry Moore hate men? I doubt it – he is a man, after all. I think it...more Just read the first volume of Strangers in Paradise. Boy oh boy, did it rile me up. In a good way, of course. Let's just say I admire this graphic novel, but I'm not its intended audience. Loved the art. It put me in the mind of Berke Breathed's Bloom County. For some reason Francine's mother reminded me of Bill the Cat.

OK, let's get down to it. Every single male character in this volume is an asshole. Every. Single. One. Does Terry Moore hate men? I doubt it – he is a man, after all. I think it's more likely that he's a shrewd marketer who knows his audience. I admire his audacity: you've got to admire a guy who can make moving statements about feminine empowerment and draw great cheesecake at the same time and get away with it.

SIP is a graphic novel about sex, minus the sex (the first volume is, anyway). Instead we have the slow, richly deserved torment of the male characters. Let's talk about those male characters, shall we? Freddie and David, the scalp-taker and the teddy bear.

Freddie, first; he's the scalp-taker. Go to a used-car lot and he'll try to sell you a car. Go to a bar and he'll try to pick you up. He's an asshole, but at least he's up-front about it. In the interests of fairness I must also state that guys like Freddie get laid a lot. Moore nails him; the only thing he doesn't get right is that there's no way he would wait a year for sex. A real scalp-taker cuts ties and says bye-bye after two weeks.

David is the teddy bear. He's worst than Freddie, because he can’t take responsibility for his filthy sexual urges. Here’s a scoop: every man has filthy sexual urges. David neuters himself. He is the mascot, the little buddy, the pet. David is the type of character women like, because he’s harmless; men despise and pity him. Unfortunately for him, no woman will ever, ever find him attractive.

I give Katchoo credit; she tells David to go away. He doesn't, of course. David’s job is to read puerile poetry and tell Katchoo he loves her and be her designated punching bag while she works out her aggression. This is empowering, for Katchoo. In the spirit of abusive relationships David sits there and takes it. At one point he tells her he had it coming. I guess it’s Katchoo's pure soul; either that, or he likes being slapped in the face. Whatever; he stays.

The laundered Mob money storyline was a bit incoherent. It also put my Melodrama Meter off the charts. One of the characters ends up being related to another character, which - in the words of the Church Lady - is rather convenient.

Oh, and there's a wonderful fight scene between a female assassin and a fat guy. Yes, I know comic book violence is not realistic, but if you outweigh somebody by 100 pounds, all you need to do is sit on them and the fight is over. By the end of that one I was waiting for the ninjas to show up; maybe they will, in Volume 2.(less)

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Apr 08, 2008 Audrey rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who loves a good love triangle.

I was handed this in trade paperback form when I wandered into a comic book shop one day asking if there were any "realistic" comics without all of the tights and capes. I took it home and fell in love with Katchoo, Francine, and David. Over the years I have re-read this story over an over again as the trio worked their way to the only possible conclusion they could have. It is a beautiful adventure and I recommend whenever I am given the opportunity. It was my gateway drug to the comicbook worl...more

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Sep 24, 2007 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: zaftig brunette lovers

Eric will argue aggressively about why Locas is so much better than Strangers in Paradise, but I must admit that I find Terry Moore's paean to plus-size brunettes equally fun. Maybe because I was thrown off by the dinosaur mechanic thing early into Locas, maybe because I like the name Katchoo, I dunno.... Francine is slightly Archie-fied where Maggie is simply HOT, but still, I like the goofy romance comic vibe of Strangers a lot. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series (and, to be fair,...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars

I loved Terry Moore's Echo. It was mature, intelligent, and scary as heck's hockeysticks. Naturally, and after numerous recommendations, I was looking forward to Strangers in Paradise. What a joy it would be to dip back into a story focused on complex and interesting female characters – from a male author, no less! I've just finished Vol. 1 of the Pocket Editions. Well...

Pros:
- Great, expressive art.
- Compulsively readable, despite its flaws.

Cons:
- Two parallel authorial impulses: An almost cree...more

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Aug 25, 2012 christa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Remember that summer that you read Scott Pilgrim, lighting one book off the next, until you were dreaming in Pilgrim-ese and finished the entire series in what seemed like minutes. Then you went into that post-Pilgrim funk, missing those loveable -- and sometimes infuriating -- characters and thought that hole would never be filled. Then you said, “Screw it. I’ll turn this hole into a doorway into the graphic novel genre.” You started searching for that magical series that would capture the inex...more Remember that summer that you read Scott Pilgrim, lighting one book off the next, until you were dreaming in Pilgrim-ese and finished the entire series in what seemed like minutes. Then you went into that post-Pilgrim funk, missing those loveable -- and sometimes infuriating -- characters and thought that hole would never be filled. Then you said, “Screw it. I’ll turn this hole into a doorway into the graphic novel genre.” You started searching for that magical series that would capture the inexplicable thing that Brian Lee O'Malley captured with those six volume. While you never found anything that made you feel like you felt when you scoured the city limits for the second and third volumes, you did stumble on some dynamite stuff that deviates from the whole dark-alley, caped do-gooder vein. So that was good.

I have a hypothesis: If Scott Pilgrim had never been born, I might have had a similar experience with Terry Moore’s “Strangers In Paradise." I’m don’t have that same “Must. Buy. Book. Two.” rush, but that’s more because a) I now understand the addictive nature of a series; b) I’ve read more comic books since that summer. Scott Pilgrim had the added tug of being a first love. I will read book two, I just won’t be at the bookstore, blurry-eyed, when it opens tomorrow. Hell. I could wait a month.

Pocket Book 1 of Moore’s series is the first 13 volumes of the story about Katchoo and Francine -- longtime best friends and currently roommates. The former has the hots for the latter and Francine has the playing-it-cools for Freddie Femur, her boyfriend for the past 364 days. Francine has cinched on her chastity belt for length of the relationship, which really (ahem) rubs Femurs the wrong way. First he storms out of her apartment, then when she goes to make nice she finds him sawing away at one of the women who works in his office.

This enrages Katchoo, a woman one does not want to piss off. Consider this: She fires bullets into her alarm clock one morning. While Francine dissolves into self destruction, Katchoo finds a way to publically humiliate the jerk, first scaring the beejeebees out of him with a common kitchen utensil. In the meantime, David has entered the scene. He’s an arty sort who is totally smitten with Katchoo and won’t take her “I don’t like men” for an answer. He inches his way into her life as a friends, but does nothing to hide his interest in more.

Book one includes an always-shifting love triangle, secrets will be revealed, characters will almost die, and some mysterious characters hunt Kachoo to shake her down for the $850,000 they believe she stole from the mob.

Oddly enough: I picked up “Strangers in Paradise” at one comic bookstore before walking into another one and having the owner recommend it to me. These kind of quirky coincidences always make it mandatory that I read the book in question. This series is fun, funny, fresh and sometimes almost sexy. Katchoo, part artist, part ass kicker, is a sassy character. It leans a little too close to madcap and some of the poetic and lyrical moments are a little oh-for-crying-out-loud-ish, but whatever.(less)

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Nov 01, 2010 Dayna Ingram rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: queer-fiction, graphic-novels, 5-stars, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *Note: This is a review for the entire series in pocket book format, vol. 1-6*

I finished this entire series (originally I think it was about 100 issues or so) in four days because I could not put it down. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it. Francine and Katchoo's main storyline is both adorable and heartbreaking; you can't help but root for these two (and curse Terry Moore for making you wait so long for the payoff!). This is primarily a realistic comic revolving around...more

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Jun 25, 2010 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favourites, graphic-novels

I'm a big fan of poutine. For those of you who are not Canadian, nor have Canadians in your life, poutine is a Quebecois dish based on french fries, which have cheese curds placed on top of them, and then the whole thing is smothered in gravy.

This seems off-topic, but I swear it relates.

The thing with poutine is that it's a really common dish, because it's simple and easy to put together, but few people make it really well. I've been in restaurants where they've just shredded some mozzarella che...more I'm a big fan of poutine. For those of you who are not Canadian, nor have Canadians in your life, poutine is a Quebecois dish based on french fries, which have cheese curds placed on top of them, and then the whole thing is smothered in gravy.

This seems off-topic, but I swear it relates.

The thing with poutine is that it's a really common dish, because it's simple and easy to put together, but few people make it really well. I've been in restaurants where they've just shredded some mozzarella cheese and tossed it on top of the gravy, and other places where the curds are rubbery, or the gravy's watered down or tasteless. It's easy to make, but real easy to get wrong as well. When it's done right, though, poutine is artery-clogging ambrosia, and one of the tastiest foods on the planet.

Strangers in Paradise is poutine literature. It takes a lot of common elements from other stories and mixes them together - between the emo-before-emo-was-a-thing characters, the love triangle between those characters, the feminist politics, the complex interplays of sexuality, cross-gender friendships, and attraction, and the "on the run from the mafia" plot, you've got elements of around half of the cinema and indie comics of the early 1990s represented here in some way, shape, or form. And it works. My gods does it work. Everything fits in perfectly together - the plot, the characters, the artwork - and you end up both loving and hating those characters at the same time for the choices that they're making as the story progresses. It's a difficult, demanding story to read at some points, but it's a very rewarding read at the same time, one that gives you all it has and leaves you wanting even more once you're done.

Another highlight of this GN is the artwork - Moore's black and white brushwork might seem a little simplistic at first, but it's a concious choice, done to get you to pay more attention to the words on the page, and the way he varies style and layout throughout it (for example, cartoonish styles for dream sequences and complex, multi-balooned conversations in one panel between good friends), as well as incorporating things like music, poetry, and prose writing throughout the book - it's almost like he's using Strangers in Paradise to teach a seminar on what the GN is capable of while at the same time telling a great story.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Mary Shyne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Let me clarify: the art in this comic deserves nothing less than a 5. The linework is incredible, the pacing of the panels is top-notch, the light/dark contrasts stagger, and everything works to convey the story Moore is trying to get across.

Unfortunately, the stars get docked off for the story itself. It feels like a whole bunch of tropes and cliches haphazardly thrown together: macho lesbian former prostitute (if this was a fan fiction we would all be rolling our eyes), emotional over-eater b...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Fran rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, 2013-books, 2013-c-gn

To start with, a quote from Terry Moore himself (source) :

Start with Vol. 2, #1. Skip the mini-series and go back to read it later. The mini-series is in continuity, but its cartoony and goofy compared to the rest of the series because I was fresh off of comic strips. VOl. 2 with its 14 issues is when the real tone of the comic book series begins.

I completely agree with that. It's not a good place to start, unless you know what's going to follow, as you might judge the piece too harshly. To cla...more To start with, a quote from Terry Moore himself (source) :

Start with Vol. 2, #1. Skip the mini-series and go back to read it later. The mini-series is in continuity, but its cartoony and goofy compared to the rest of the series because I was fresh off of comic strips. VOl. 2 with its 14 issues is when the real tone of the comic book series begins.

I completely agree with that. It's not a good place to start, unless you know what's going to follow, as you might judge the piece too harshly. To clarify, volume one is the very first three issues - not the first volume of these pocket books which I've added to my shelf. The art is much rougher and more cartoon-y than the refined and beautiful work it becomes by the end of volume 2 (issues #1-13 of volume two as it was published, which is issues #4-16 if you were numbering consecutively and the last issue reprinted in this pocket book - not the second volume of these pocket books). The way the story is told in the first three issues is more over the top and ridiculous than the later storytelling, which becomes much more reflective work mirroring real human emotion.

Strangers in Paradise is not so much about the plot devices, but how those plot devices cause the characters to relate to each other. It's fundamentally about relationships, love, and the human condition.

I first picked up an issue of SiP from a local comic store in 2002, issue #46, because the girl on the front cover looked Death-ish. That's both a good and bad issue to start with because it's all about Molly Lane (of Molly and Poo); good because it's fairly standalone and I wasn't lost mid-story, bad because it doesn't relate at all to the main SiP story. It got me intrigued though and I bought a few more issues. Eventually I managed to track down all the issues via stores and ebay. So, it's those issues I'm using for my re-read and not actually the pocket book as recorded here. After doing a little research, it sounds like spelling mistakes have been corrected for the omnibus editions (i.e. the pocket editions, I assume). I should get around to buying the omnibus editions at some point I suppose!

I've wanted to do a re-read for a while now, and turns out the time is right now - partly because of the SiP 20th anniversary novel that's due out this year, and partly because I just zipped through all the available issues of Rachel Rising (which is amazing btw). I'm getting a lot more out of this than when I first read it. I certainly enjoyed it the first time, but I don't think I had enough Life, or maturity, under my belt to really appreciate its depth. The thirteen issues that comprise the second volume is a brilliant piece of storytelling. I'm looking forward to re-reading through the next 90 issues over the next few months.

Also, I'd always assumed that SiP, Echo, and Rachel Rising were three separate works in separate universes. I've not yet read Echo, otherwise I might've realise that that's not the case. Note to self: must read Echo soon.
(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Laurel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

I understand the advice some people have given to skip the first several chapters of this book since they're indeed cartoony but I think they're needed because they establish story lines that continue in the series.

I had a bit of trouble balancing the intense scenes/themes with the goofy moments like Francine's mother's visit. I know comic relief is needed but much of it here is just too over-the-top and too much of it seems to surround Francine. I think this uneven flip-flopping is my biggest c...more

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Dec 19, 2008 Alsha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Alsha by: Christine L

Shelves: graphic-novels

*inarticulate noises of glee and other emotions* That was wonderful. Next!

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Jan 26, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not sure about this yet! I mostly like it, but I didn't expect it to secretly a tale of crime and intrigue, and I'm worried both plot and characters will get a little tired, soap operatic, and cliched. Also the poetry/songwriting is pretty bad. Also also, characters who are unable to articulate that they are bisexual annoy me (angst about it = fine, obliviousness about the existence of the label itself = unrealistic).

However! I do like the characters and care about what happens to them, so I wil...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Patrick rated it 1 of 5 stars

Gee, even though this is pretty stupid and annoying and the guy in it is such a pony-tailed sissy and the poetry and songs are terrible and everybody is needy and mooshy and all the men are sleazy even though it's clearly written by a man whatwithall the flirtatious lesbian shit and whatnot and it has this nerdy manga vibe and I can't tell if the far-fetched gangster plotline is a distraction or the only thing keeping this book together- it's still really readable, and the lettering is well done...more

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Feb 20, 2010 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This is basically everything I look for in a graphic novel. I love that Terry Moore has crated something for women here showing that the medium can be used to depict relatable female characters with realistic illustrations instead of the vapid T&A fest you will find in many other comics. Katchoo's crush on Francine is so well handled and Francine's confusion and realizations about her feelings towards Katchoo is really rewarding to watch. My favorite thing about the series is how forcef...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Elyse rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've known about the Strangers In Paradise series for years, but it wasn't until I heard Terry Moore speaking at a panel at ALA this year that I actually followed through and picked up the book. When asked what motivated him to write Strangers In Paradise, Terry responded that he'd started with a question - "What is it like to be a woman walking around in a planet full of predators and trying to match up with one?" I was intrigued.
The first book in the series does not disappoint, strong female n...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Jenny Devildoll rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

This is like a rip-off of "Love & Rockets" for people who are intimidated by punk rock and Latinas(Katchoo & Francine are JUST LIKE Hopey and Maggie, but you know--more "girl next door" looking!). And written by a Nice Guy(tm) hoping to get into a pseudo-lesbian's pants(cuz he can CHANGE her with his love!) if he acts sympathetic enough to the fact that "yeah, men are jerks, amirite"? Ever notice that everyone with a penis (save Moore's milquetoasty Gary-Stu stand-in David) in this book...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Jeremy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, graphic-novels

I'd heard good things about Strangers in Paradise for years, so I finally decided to check it out. I found it amusing that within a few pages, I was seeing a strong resemblance between Katchoo and a friend of mine (more in personality/attitude than backstory, mind -- to the best of my knowledge, none of my friends have mob ties :-p)

Ultimately, it's the relationships between the three main characters that really drives the story. There's action, too, particularly when Katchoo's past comes back to...more

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Feb 22, 2010 Brandy Rivers rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am totally hooked on this graphic novel series now. It came highly recommended by both Neil Gaiman and Kevin Smith, so that got my attention. Essentially it's a romance/adventure comic. Francine and Katchoo (a nickname for Katina Choovasky) have been best friends since high school and roommates for years. Katchoo is in love with Francine, who is secretly in love with their friend David, who is in love with Katchoo. While trying to untangle this romantic mess, at the same time Katchoo is attemp...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: gave-up

There are two fantasies I really despise that rear their heads regularly in popular fiction. One is the idea of the bad boy who reforms his ways when he meets the right woman. The other is the "tough" gal who really is just a total bitch but for some reason a guy falls in love with her and tries to convince her to give him a chance.

This story falls into the latter category. The "heroine," Katchoo, is not in any way interesting or likable, but David keeps professing his undying love for her even...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Typicalfrost rated it 5 of 5 stars

Strangers in Paradise is probably the most important series a young gay woman can read. Whats shocking is that the story was written by a straight man.

Terry Moore captures perfectly the turbulence of love; straight and gay. He understands and conveys the deep impact female friendship can have and the complexity that comes with finding your soul mate. Also, this series definitely passes the Bechdel Test.

The series genre is pretty indefinable because it's all inclusive. It's romance, adventure, a...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Disappointed. The main character, Katchoo, is not humorously cranky--she's outright scary-violent. And although we've all had our "aaagh, stupid men!!!" periods, Katchoo has an over-the-top venomous hatred for all men. Granted, every man in the comic is an evil, super-sexist, peeping-tom and/or groping/grabbing jerk--except for David, and I don't understand how anyone can take the constant abuse he does from Katchoo (who came off as a total violent lunatic at their first meeting! Ooo, gotta get...more

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Mar 08, 2010 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

One of those books where I don't really feel like I'm into it, but by the time it's over, I'm hooked enough to be sad it's over. At times it seems like Moore is not sure what he wants to do from chapter to chapter, but then it all ties up a few chapters later. I think the artwork is good and I like that all of his women are "healthy" and when they are at their ugliest, they actually look ugly, but I think I prefer a bit more escapist fantasy in my graphic novels.

I probably won't run right out a...more

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May 25, 2012 Kristen Fiore rated it 2 of 5 stars

This graphic novel was recommended by my teacher. The first time I read it, I didn’t really like it. I only got through ¾ before I put the book back on the shelf. A few weeks later, I decided to read it again. I finished it the second time, but had some trouble. I like the graphic novels that have a plot or meaning behind it. I didn’t understand this story line too well. All I got out of it was that these two girls were very close and did everything together. It was an easy read, and would recom...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Ed Soto rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was a little iffy on this book at first but I enjoyed it more and more as it went along and by the end of the book I found my self gasping and having audible outbursts like you would wwith your favorite prime-time drama. Also, I've been reading this at the same time as I've been reading Moore's current series, "Echo" so, it's nice to compare his early work with his current work. He has obviously grown over the years but even here you can see his unique voice peaking through even though the wor...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Devin Bruce rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 999-challenge, fiction, comics, humour, romance, crime

This book…I have to say, this book really frustrates me. I love Terry Moore’s artwork: his figures are amazing and his ability to tell a story through visuals alone can border on the transcendant. That’s definitely the case in Echo, the book of his that I like the best, but I was impressed to see that he had the skill right away in Strangers in Paradise. But one of my big problems with SiP is that I don’t really care about the characters in this book. They’re so inconsistent, for one thing: they...more

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May 06, 2013 Kristin E. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, sapphism

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Very captivating both visually and story-wise... Don't let the very one-dimensional cover fool you; it's got plenty of action and a well-rounded line of characters, consisting mainly of mysterious and splendid females (Don't expect to encounter any interesting or likeable male character, though -- slightly redeemable, maybe, at most. If that idea bothers you, perhaps this isn't your kind of thing... But if I were you I'd read it anyway.) Katchoo, in particular...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Vicky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

I feel like I got recommended this series multiple times (partly because of the "promise" of a queer woman in the story, lol) but when I tried to start it a few years ago, I wasn't interested in the comic style, or maybe I was just intimidated by the commitment required for serialized books.

Returning to Strangers in Paradise now, I like it in the same way that I liked Dykes to Watch Out For: it just "feels good"/is "fun" to read about other people, especially in comic form, and with SiP, the soa...more

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Oct 05, 2012 John Wiswell rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is perhaps the most profound soap opera in the world. It’s not about a plot – the roommates are not going to run from the cops or toss the ring into Mount Doom. Rather, it’s about intertwining lives, and most often defined by either love or friendship between people. Katchoo has been in love with Francine since their teens, but Francine may not even be gay, let alone recognize Katchoo’s affection; David enters the picture, falls for Katchoo, and while Katchoo feels something for him, it’s c...more This is perhaps the most profound soap opera in the world. It’s not about a plot – the roommates are not going to run from the cops or toss the ring into Mount Doom. Rather, it’s about intertwining lives, and most often defined by either love or friendship between people. Katchoo has been in love with Francine since their teens, but Francine may not even be gay, let alone recognize Katchoo’s affection; David enters the picture, falls for Katchoo, and while Katchoo feels something for him, it’s clear Francine dominates her heart; Francine, meanwhile, dates a string of men who are no good for her; and things spiral from there.

What’s profound about that? It’s not in the challenging of heteronormative romance, or the effortless depiction of someone in unconscious questioning of her own sexuality, but in every stage of their relationships. Moore builds characters out of moments most of us don’t even think to record; the overreaction of a friend to your heartbreak, or hiding lust in playful banter, or all those crucial times when the day made us focus on one thing so that we entirely missed the other. There are at least two times in this volume where characters are distracted by serious problems, put into believable mindsets, and then entirely miss out on what might have been the loves of their lives because they overlooked signals. It hurts that your few opportunities at love can be that delicate sometimes, but it’s worth capturing them, every bit as much as capturing the humor of leaving a used tampon as a protest in the hands of a misogynist statue. That happens, too.

There is plot. There is big honking, "You stole my mob money, my goons are going to shoot you" plot, and it's great at shaking up the status quo. It certainly fits with the soap opera motif, down to one character (dramatically) turning out to be the sibling of the villain. And honestly, I could have done without it. I (and likely, a much smaller audience than Moore actually attracted) would have happily read a domestic series that was solely about these endearingly flawed, confused and funny people trying to make life work better. Nothing in the police procedurals, or even the eventual rush of a protagonist to the hospital, matches the attachment of simply watching Katchoo's old friend slip away in a long and quiet sequence.

I’d praise Moore just for his storycraft, but there’s much more ambition to the series than that. Our first chapter resembles a friendly Comedy, where a lesbian fails to date her (seemingly hetero) best friend, her best friend is emotionally abused by her boyfriend, and so the lesbian sets out to ruin him as payback. It’s somewhat lighthearted, yet not many pages later we enter a deeply mournful, low-dialogue story about a loved one dying of AIDS. This is only the beginning of Moore’s experiments, as he shifts how sequential works, sometimes putting his dialogue in all lower case, or mixing up where the word balloons are, or abandons them entirely and leaves us to guess who is speaking based on what they say. One tense section features bits of a character’s poem running along the bottom of the pages, not intruding on the sequence, but allowing bits of rumination to seep in if you want them. There are a few pages midway into this volume where it turns into a prose short story, pulpy down to its paragraph structure, telling the perspective of a detective on a case related to the women. Not all of the experiments work – the short story is choppy even by pulp standards – but the sheer ambition merits progression.

For all that experimentation, Moore exhibits mastery over simple sequential narrative. There’s a three-panel spread of a kidnapper reading something, the victim smirking and asking something derisive, and lastly the kidnapper looking up with a full-faced expression that is pregnant with character. There’s detail in and under the cheeks that few other artists barely ever remember to draw.

Just like that ability to focus on singular responses and details in his art, over and over again Moore displays a sense for what matters in the lives of his characters. Companionship, friendly, romantic, or much messier, is what makes this world go around. Why do people shut each other out? How can we help each other through our flaws, and which ones are worth overlooking? No character is a role model for progressive behavior, but the heart behind our leads is something fiction and non-fiction could learn from.
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Jun 23, 2010 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-goal-list, cuy-co-pub-lib, finished

Terry Moore, Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1 (Abstract Studio, 2004)

Terry Moore's “pocket books” for Strangers in Paradise are anything but, and I mean that in the best of ways. They're a bit larger than manga as far as height and width dimensions, and could probably be slipped into a large pocket (assuming you have one) if not for the breadth. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1 clocks in at 344 pages and is a few inches thick. If you've got cargo pants, the pocket thing might work for you,...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Eric Lach rated it 1 of 5 stars

Very disappointing. If you are expecting the delicate realistic line drawing, sophisticated characterization, and wry humor of Moore's later works, Rachel Riding and Echo, then Strangers is a big letdown. This is Moore before he got good. He also makes no attempt to keep his sexist oogling of women's bodies in check. It is amazing when you see an artist's work before he found his groove and it's just as bad as the later stuff is good. My advice: Take a pass and go right to the good stuff.

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About Terry Moore

Following the examples of independent comic creators such as Dave Sim and Jeff Smith, he decided to publish Strangers in Paradise himself through his own Houston-based "Abstract Studios" imprint, and has frequently mentioned a desire to do a syndicated cartoon strip in the authors notes at the back of the Strangers in Paradise collection books. He has also mentioned his greatest career influence i...more

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The Complete Strangers in Paradise, Volume 1

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Quotes from Strangers in Paradise,...

“I know you know the tale of Baby June
You know the way she could deliver a tune
She was a killer in a petticoat
A little bit of everyone you adore...
And if your baby let you down at night,
Well Baby June would make it up alright
And I was never happier
Than in the arms and charms of her” — 6 people liked it

“And still the storm approaches. And there's nothing I can do. So I wait and watch and feel his breath against my face, cool and brave. His salt licks my skin, his promise brushes my hair. His fury drives the wind to touch my cheek and whisper something I can't hear.

I think he loves me.
I think he comes to see me.

I am young. I will learn” — 1 person liked it

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Strangers in Paradise, Pocket Book 1 (Strangers in Paradise Pocket Books #1)

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