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I was introduced to SiP back in 1995 (or thereabouts) by my mother. At the time she was working at a comic book shop and one of the perks was that employees could take comics home for a 24 hour period or something like that. SiP was one of the books she brought home and one of the few (alongside gems like Spawn and Witchblade) she bought regularly. I started reading it on the sly as she didn’t really want me reading it but it wasn’t long before I was reading it openly, on my own, and buying issues for myself. Even after my mom got out of comics and away from Strangers, I kept on reading and when she wanted to play catch up and read new issues I got her a subscription (my Christmas gift to her for many a year).
It’s hard to articulate just why I love this series so much. And that’s probably because, on the face of it, I shouldn’t. On the surface it smacks of chick-lit pandering: A love triangle, messy people in messy relationships, crossed signals and missed chances and blah blah blah. This is the sort of thing that instantly turns me off of movies and books, but here, in this story, it works and it works beautifully. A big part of that, I think, is that Terry Moore (artist and author) so excellently captures not only the relationships people have with each other be they platonic or romantic or familial but he gets women and their relationships with each other without delving into Lifetime movie of the week tropes. There’s also a hefty amount of violence later on not to mention scandal on the national scale and a dark backdrop of a conspiracy that’s rabbit-hole-esque in how far it goes, so that helps, too, I think. I feel that I should also give praise to Mr Moore’s ability to take a background character or a one-off personality and give them depth, life, a spark. He does this wonderfully, too, with his main cast, keeping them from becoming parodies of themselves. I should say, too, that he’s not afraid to make his cast unlikable or to show the very ugly side of their personalities.
This is especially true with Katchoo, the blonde. She’s loyal and feisty and sarcastic but she’s also got an explosive, frightening temper that’s manifested itself in broken doors and bloodied fists (and she doesn’t always hit people who deserve it).
But no matter what’s happening or how far-fetched a scenario might seem, the reactions and emotion ring true. This, to me, is also one of the more frustrating part of this series as you’re screaming for everyone to just get their shit together but you know they won’t because you know where they’ve been and who they are and what they’re fighting against.
I suppose, too, before I go much further I should explain just what Strangers in Paradise is about and who those girls are. The plot can pretty much be boiled down to this: “David loves Katchoo loves Francine.” Katchoo, the blonde, and Francine, the brunette, are friends from high school. At the start of the series they’re both 20-something, reunited after Katchoo dropped out of high school some years earlier, and living together in Houston. Katchoo (real name Katina Choovanski) is an artist; Francine works an office temp job. Katchoo is in love with Francine, and has been since high school. Francine is in yet another bad relationship with a man (a common theme) and unable to face the feelings she has for her friend. David we meet a little later on; he complicates things by, well, falling in love with Katchoo.
There’s so much more to it than that, though, but that’s how everything started. Three people, in love, and how they all connect to and with each other. Their story isn’t always pretty and it isn’t always neat, but it remains one of my all-time favorites. Strangers wrapped in 2007 (has it really been that long? hard to believe) after 100+ issues. If you’ve never picked it up, I strongly urge you to. This is a story that, once I pick it up, I can’t put it down until I’ve read it from beginning to end.
