Cold Cut Distribution's Feature Spotlight #13 - March 1996
Strangers In Paradise
Publisher: Abstract Studios
Story & Art: Terry Moore
Cvr Price: $2.75
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Storyline:
Francine and her roommate, Kat Choovanski (Katchoo to her friends) have
lived together for a long time and have been friends forever. This is the
story of their lives as Francine struggles with boy troubles, and Katchoo is
dealing with a boy who she may or may not like, but soon she disappears
without telling anyone, and when she reappears months later, she refuses to
talk about her time away. I don't think I can say much more about this
storyline without giving plot points away...
Writing Review:
Melodrama in the best sense of the word, Strangers in Paradise is a dramatic
effort dealing with powerful (and occasionally dark) themes in a
softly-written way that flows naturally from the heart. Dialogue and some
of the plot can occasionally edge into the exaggerated, but Terry never
loses sight of where he's taking the narrative. I'm not sure there's
another book like this on the market today - almost a pure romance comic,
but a Romance Comic For The 90's, attempting to single-handedly update an
entire genre with a new, skewed look at relationships and friendships.
Art Review:
Crisp, clean, flowing and natural - Terry has a way with his brush. His
characters look incredibly real and full of expressions; characters almost
never have a "blank look". Then, too, although beautiful in their ways,
neither Katchoo nor Francine is a typical comics "bombshell". Francine is
getting a bit chunky since she started overeating again, and Katchoo - well,
that look in her eye...
Audience:
Strangers in Paradise has been around long enough to have achieved a
strong fan following on its own, but steady sales of the first trade
paperback (now on a fourth printing!) and earlier issues show that this is a
book which continues to expand its readership, reaching beyond the bounds of
comic-book fans to the arms of the general public. SiP is the single best
comic to hand to that bored spouse waiting for their Significant Other to
get their comic fix - or hand it to Mom as she watches Junior grab this
week's haul.
And it has been gaining readership in fandom as well, as older readers begin
looking for a story they can relate to - (like two colllege-aged,
relationship-challenged roommates). Readers of Hepcats, and
Strange Attractors, should check it out, along with those who enjoyed
the Death High Cost of Living miniseries for its story as much as its author
- this similar tale of sensible women in insensible times should catch the
same heartstrings.
If you like Strangers in Paradise, take a look at:
Greymatter
Publisher: Alaffinity
Story & Art: Marcus Harwell & Adam Harwell
Cover Price: $2.95 (issues 1-9 available)
Frequency: Bi-monthly, soon.
Storyline:
When an out-of-control spaceship makes an unscheduled hyperspace jump and
crash lands on a planet too small to have an atmosphere, space travelers Jan
and O'Sea are surprised to discover this planetoid has one. It also doesn't
appear to rotate, and has near-standard gravity. Impossible? Tell that to
the inhabitants, who are going to war over a pointless claim to a tall tower
nobody can get in or out of. Meanwhile, three factions form up in the war,
and various parties begin their schemes to avoid it, conquer, or just
survive.
Writing Review:
Greymatter is structured as a multi-character novel; every few pages
we shift scenes to see what some of the other characters are up to. Part of
this is just to keep the reader's interest up, but part is practical:
Greymatter is not done by a writer/artist team, but instead by two
different writer-artists, each of whom is telling the stories of three or
four characters and telling a cohesive overstory as well.
This makes for an occasional jarring scene-shift, and an unevenness which
can be offputting, but also allows for a certain freedom and variety in the
writing. Marcus, for instance, enjoys focusing on the space travelers as
they disguise themselves or try to earn a living for food, while Adam enjoys
showing the way of life of one of the planet's native inhabitants (or is
he?), Puingsy.
Art Review:
Another uneven blend, as even each artist has places where he excels and
others where he could use work. Marcus' tales of Jan and O'Sea are
generally well done, but occasionally fall prone to loss of the
"background-perspective". Adam's work on the adventures of King Arniez are
fairly good, but his shots of Puingsy and Waedchyll are generally unsettled
and occasionally-jarring. Overall, it's a title that could use some work,
but has been steadily improving over its two years of publication.
Sales Overview:
Thanks to the general mingling of many characters and stories, there's a lot
here to appeal to many fans. To start with, O'Sea (one of the space
travelers) is an equimorph - a man-shaped body with the head of a horse, so
fans of anthropomorphic literature (Equine, Red Shetland, Furrlough,
Hepcats, etc) should give this a look. The
cute-creature-who-looks-like-a-shmoo (Puingsy) hearkens to Bone phsyically,
but has a more mystical feel to his character that should appeal to fans of
deeper fantasy (Starchild, for instance). Fans of Arcana and
Cerebus will probably like Greymatter; although technically
science-fiction, the story feels more like fantasy since the planet is
low-tech, and the occasional comedy relief is reminiscent of Sim's jaunts
into laughter in Cerebus. Meanwhile, fans of Strange
Attractors and Wandering Star may enjoy the fish-out-of-water
aspects of the high-tech spacers dealing with low-tech civilization.
Potential readers will require some patience with the art as it slowly
improves over the (so far) 9-issue run, but will find it suitably engrossing
by the time they get to the shocking ending of issue 7. Give it a try - the
starter pack in particular is a great value.
If you like greymatter, take a look at:
Cold Cut Distribution
220 N Main St. - Salinas, CA 93901 - (831) 751-7300
![[ panels from Strangers in Paradise ]](images/sip.gif)