Customer Reviews

Strangers In Paradise Pocket Book 1 (Strangers in Paradise (Graphic Novels))

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Strangers in Paradise is a comic series that's been running for over a decade now, published on a roughly bi-monthly schedule. No superheroes, no spandex, just real human drama. The characters and settings are believable but at the same time filled with dramatic possibilities. The first few issues and storylines feel somewhat forced and even juvenile and predictable at times, but it was the beginning of a series when the writer (Terry Moore) was attempting to establish complex characters and dynamics. This Pocket Book is a great way for new readers to jump onto this title. The clean, consistent artwork will draw you in, and the excellent writing and pacing will hook you for sure. Not a series to be missed by anyone looking for a serious literary masterpiece. The collected format is great as each issue flows very suddenly into the next.

If you try to read this series in the individual comic issues, you won't get nearly half of what you get in these pocket book series. With individual issues, you have to look for the correct volume as well as issue numbers. Here, the story is perfectly laid out. We get a long look at the characters of Francine, Katchoo, and David and their development over a period of time. This is lost when reading the indiviual issues.

I have to say that the writing is top notch with every conceivable twist and turn. I found it hard to put down and was glad when volume 2 came out. Volume three hits the racks next week and will certainly find it's way into my collection.

I had heard a string of great things about Terry Moore's STRANGERS IN PARADISE have long harbored hopes of reading it. But given that there are only so many hours in the day, I had kept putting it off. I recently have really enjoyed Moore's story for the latest installments of THE RUNAWAYS (if not Humberto Ramos's artwork), so I was finally prompted to give his most famous work a read.

My reaction was both very positive and somewhat negative. The parts focusing on Katchoo and Francine were delightful and I especially enjoyed the almost grotesque (in the earlier sense of the word) characters, like Francine's tippling uncle or the peeping Tom neighbor. Every bit of the first volume dealing with somewhat mundane, everyday life affairs was a joy. But a lot of the story ruined parts of the book for me much like the way that an accidental killing of an attempted rapist marred some of the otherwise extraordinary Season Two of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. Just as the killing lessened the overall quality of the television series, so the entire organized crime angle of STRANGERS IN PARADISE really distracted from the overall story. This was only the first volume and my hope is that the more sensationalistic elements will drop out after this, but I won't know until I get there.

All that aside, I have to admit to very mild disappointment at this point. I had heard so many great things about STRANGERS IN PARADISE that I was expecting something truly outstanding. I found it good, but not truly great. I really hope that changes as I go further into the series. I have Volume 2 on order. My expectations for Volume 1 were perhaps a bit too high. Hopefully Volume 2 will fulfill them.

I read this after the Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 2, so it is only now that all the niches fit together and this wonderful series is laid out before me.

The strength of this series is undoubtedly its characterisation. Very few comics have such a powerful and realistic portrayal. 'Strangers in Paradise' is an ode to the hidden depth and powerful beauty of women, irrespective of size etc. I think that is such an important message in contemporary times, and this series is incredibly empowering to actually read.

The art is beautiful and detailed and the storyline is gripping and completely addictive. This is a particularly good value buy, since all the 'Strangers in Paradise' books are correlated. The compilation is also an excellent way of developing a depth of understanding and appreciation for its entirity, while reading each edition tends to segement the series. The pocket book size is also wonderful and little, but meaty enough to have long hours curled up reading.

I am beginning to develop a few dislikes to the series, but certainly not enough to give it anything but five stars. Primarily, I think Katchoo is almost a caricature of herself, and her repetitive anger bursts are somewhat irritating and more aligned with the comic 'Hothead Paisan'. Undoubtedly, Francine is the better more realistic more developed character.

Irrespective of this, 'Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1' is a neatly correlated engrossing saga of friendship and so much more. Highly recommended.

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, but otherwise, ain't happening. This is a good thing because Moore packs a whole lot of punches into those three hundred forty-four pages; I think the last first volume of a series I was this impressed with was Black Hole.

Katchoo is an artist. She's been in love with her best friend, Francine, forever, but has never quite been able to work up the guts to tell her that, while she watches Francine stumble through a series of unfulfilling heterosexual relationships. Just when she's almost kinda-sorta ready to unburden herself, however, Katchoo meets David, who's instantly smitten with her. Cue the romantic comedy. Yes, it's a pretty stock plot (and the throwing in of a same-sex angle to the triangle isn't even edgy anymore), but Moore is concerned more than most writers of this sort of romantic comedy with building strong, complex characters and putting them in believable situations (okay, until the final third of the book, but by then I was completely smitten and willing to roll with it). The best thing a romance writer can do, in my estimation, is to hand the reader characters he or she not just cares about, but empathizes with. Moore does so far better than most of the non-graphic rom-com novelists I've read recently. Or ever, for that matter.

Fantastic stuff. You want this. ****

This is the first collected volume of Terry Moore's love/crime story about two women living in Houston who become involved in mafia intrigue even as they are dealing with their feeling for each other and for a young man with a mysterious past.

Terry Moore ratchets up the melodrama to some pretty extreme levels here. The characters and situations are way over the top, but the result is a fun, funny, and in places intensely tragic story of love, lust, and revenge.

The two main characters are Katina "Katchoo" Choovanski, a man-hating former call girl, and Francine Peters, a quiet brunette who is dealing with her own insecurities with food and poor choices in boyfriends. The third side of the love triangle is David, a quiet art student who hides some sinister secrets.

The book has a great intensity and Moore's stark b/w art style captures the variety of characters nicely. Bits of songs and poetry complement the story, along with two extended prose segments (one of which is a nice noir bit featuring Detective Walsh, who was my favorite supporting character).

The plot is convoluted and (intentionally) improbable, and some of the characters degenerate into caricature for the sake of humor, but when Moore goes for the serious stuff he can really tug at the heartstrings.

If you're looking for a comic book that is not kids stuff, superhero fantasy, or manga, this is a pretty good one to check out.

Katchoo and Francine are roomates, and Katchoo has a crush on Francine. Francine thinks she loves Freddie who is only out to get what he can, which he can't since Francine won't sleep with him. David is in love with Katchoo, but she hates men. Thus begins Strangers in Paradise which is a tightly scripted graphic comic that is now being released in a paperpack book series.

In volume one we learn the secret of Katchoo's past, and the three main characters struggle with their feelings for each other. Having been written for comics, similar to 19th century novels of Dickens and Dumas that began life as serializations in the magazines of the time, the plot keeps coming up with surprises. In book form this comes across as lots of plot twists and surprising revelations.

The drawings are fantastically well-drawn and expressive, and they are broken up by occasional pages of poetry and text (as if the artist got tired of drawing in her rush to fill in detail and get back to the story).

Despite the strong characterization, the true hero of the book is Love, the motivator and inner spark of all the main characters. In reality the book is about the healing power of Love. The title comes from a play of the same name that Francine was in while she was in high school. The book provides a flashback to the stage when one of the actors is saying "Without Love, we're never more than Strangers in Paradise."

Terry's story is constantly on the verge of being overcome by it's soap-opera tendencies and it's editorless meanderings, but that stark fact still remains that Katchoo, Francine and David are probably the three most believable and engaging characters you're going to find in contemporary fiction (in any media). He hold his characters reverently, and sees life well. Strangers is extremely gripping when it dabbles in the ordinary, day to day heartache of caring about friends and family, which more than makes up for it's weakness when grasping at mob-related international suspense. Compulsive reading. And don't be put off by the goofiness of the first few issues/chapters. It takes on a life of it's own, it just takes Terry a few months to pull of that miracle.

This is good stuff. I wouldn't lie to you. It's like a dramedy T.V. show in the form of a graphic novel. You can't put it down once you start to read. Just get it - no need to thank me for the advice.

The first story arc is a cute little story, and frankly the lead characters seem a bit annoying and cliche. By the time I got into the second story arc, I realized that this was something special and I had never read anything like it before.

I think it is perhaps the best example I've ever seen of how the comic book can be the ideal medium for telling a narrative. This series is just an amazing story, but it's hard to imagine how it could be captured in another medium (perhaps a long running television show or series of movies).

The major strengths include:
1. Terry Moore's artwork- clean, crisp, clear, fun. Does an amazing job with facial expressions. The women in the series are sexy but of realistic proportions (well, except for Tambi and Bambi, but they are out of proportion in a way that is atypical for comics)
2. A great, complex back story, intermixed with enough small stories to keep the pace moving. It reminds me in many ways of the first two seasons of Veronica Mars, which now that I think of it is probably the most comparable narrative I've come across
3. Interesting characters. By the time I finished the series, I had a real sense of not just Francine and Katchoo, but also Tambi, Casey, David, Freddie, and even more minor characters like Griffin and Francine's parents. I came to care about these characters like old friends.

Just an amazing series.