Strangers in Paradise

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Strangers in Paradise is a long-running, mostly self-published black-and-white comic book, written and drawn by Terry Moore. When the series reaches its planned conclusion, it will include a total of 106 issues, serialized in three "volumes".^[1]

The series is noteworthy for its appeal to a non-traditional audience, in particular women who would not ordinarily consider themselves readers of comic books. It is believed that the series' audience is approximately 50% female, although this has not been verified. This is an unusually high figure in the heavily male-dominated comics field.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Awards 4 Collections 5 References 6 Toys 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The story primarily concerns the difficult relationship between two women, Helen Francine Peters (known simply as Francine) and Katina Marie ("Katchoo") Choovanski, and their friends David Qin and Gwynnethina Casey Bullocks-Femur (known as Casey). Francine considers Katchoo her best friend; Katchoo is in love with Francine. David is in love with Katchoo, a relationship which Katchoo herself is deeply confused about. This plays itself out over a second plot element, a thriller style story concerning the shadowy Big Six organization. Its leader is a woman named Darcy Parker, who uses highly trained women (of whom Katchoo was one) to infiltrate—and to an extent control—the American political system. The two elements are slightly incongruous, and the thriller element sometimes threatens to become absurd, but in general the interplay between the two generates a considerable degree of dramatic tension. It uses a non-linear approach to storytelling, putting in sequence elements of the story often years apart, and going back in time frequently.

SiP, as it is commonly known, began as a three-issue mini-series published by Antarctic Press in 1993, which focused entirely on the relationship between the three main characters and Francine's unfaithful boyfriend. This is now known as "Volume 1". Thirteen issues were published under Moore's own "Abstract Studio" imprint, and these make up "Volume 2". This is where the "thriller" plot was introduced. The series moved to Image Comics' Homage imprint for the start of "Volume 3", but after eight issues moved back to Abstract Studio, where it continued with the same numbering. Volume 3 is currently ongoing, with Moore planning to end the series with issue #90 in May 2007.

[edit] Characters

• Katina "Katchoo" Choovanski - "The Original Angry Blonde," Katchoo is a temperamental artist with a violent past. A former prostitute, Katchoo was the lover and agent of Darcy Parker. Katchoo has been in love with her best friend, Francine, for most of her life, though she has complicated romantic feelings for her only male friend, David, as well.
• Francine Peters-Silver - Katchoo's kind-hearted best friend. Francine struggles with her weight and her self-image, never quite able to see the beauty in herself that Katchoo sees. Francine can't bring herself to make a romantic commitment to Katchoo, partly due to her Methodist upbringing and partly because of her childhood dream to become a wife and mother. She is currently in the process of divorcing Brad Silver.
• Yousaka Takahashi/David Qin - A gentle, sensitive art student, Yousaka is the younger brother of Darcy Parker and the unwilling heir to the Takahashi crime syndicate. Once the leader of a violent street gang, Yousaka became a born-again Christian after a personal tragedy and he changed his name to "David Qin" to reflect his new identity. He is in love with Katchoo. He is also suffering from an inoperable brain tumor.
• Casey Bullocks-Femur - A blonde, busty, and bisexual aerobics instructor, Casey was married to Freddy Femur but divorced him after learning that he was still in love with Francine. Though Casey had a brief fling with Katchoo, she considers David to be the love of her life.
• Freddie Femur - Francine's ex-boyfriend and Casey's ex-husband. A womanizing attorney, Freddie cheated on Francine and humiliated her during their break-up (giving her a nervous breakdown in the process) but later becomes obsessed with her.
• Darcy Parker - Darcy was a ruthless and predatory crime boss who led the "Parker Girls," women who are skilled in various acts of seduction and espionage. Though she employed only women and claimed to hate the male gender, Darcy had an intense, incestuous love for her brother David. She had an intense relationship with Katchoo, until Katchoo ran away to Hawaii with her friend Emma. Darcy was murdered by Tambi after her criminal empire was brought down.
• Mary Beth "Tambi" Baker - A brutal enforcer who worked for Darcy Parker alongside her twin sister "Bambi," Tambi is skilled in not only the deadly arts, but in business and strategy.
• Griffin Silver - An aging rock star admired by Katchoo in her youth, Griffin's songs were printed in the series long before the character made his first appearance. He was the brother of Brad Silver. Griffin was shot and killed by a stalker.
• Brad Silver - A charming, handsome gynecologist, Brad at first appears to be an ideal husband for Francine; however, their inability to communicate drives a wedge between them. He cheated on Francine, leading to what seems to be a divorce.
• Molly Lane - Molly has only a tenuous connection to the main SiP cast (she dated Francine's brother Benjamin in high school) but has nevertheless been the star of one of the book's major storylines. The protagonist of "Molly and Poo," Molly is a tortured writer who dreams of a mysterious muse ("Ma Malai") and murders her husband with an axe.

[edit] Awards

The series received the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story in 1996 for "I Dream of You" as well as the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award for Best Comic Book in 1997. It also won the GLAAD Award for Best Comic Book in 2001.

[edit] Collections

It has been collected into a series of full-size paperback collections, hardback collections, and smaller format paperback collections. These reprints collect the issues into different sets.

The full-size paperback collections to date are:

1. The Collected Strangers in Paradise
2. I Dream of You
3. It's a Good Life
4. Love Me Tender
5. Immortal Enemies
6. High School!
7. Sanctuary
8. My Other Life
9. Child of Rage
10. Tropic of Desire
11. Brave New World
12. Heart in Hand
13. Flower to Flame
14. David's Story
15. Tomorrow Now
16. Molly & Poo
17. Tattoo
18. Love & Lies

The hardback collections to date are:

1. The Complete Strangers in Paradise, Volume 1
2. The Complete Strangers in Paradise, Volume 2
3. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 1
4. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 2
5. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 3
6. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 4
7. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 5
8. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 6

The pocket books collections to date are:

1. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1: Contains Volume 1 Issues 1-3 and Volume 2 Issues 1-13
2. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 2: Contains Volume 3 Issues 1-17
3. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 3: Contains Volume 3 Issues 18-24, 26-32, 34-38
4. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 4: Contains Volume 3 Issues 41-45, 47-48, 50-60
5. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 5: Contains Volume 3 Issues 61-72, 74-76, plus Complete Molly & Poo 46, 49, 73

Other books to date are:

1. Lyrics and Poems
2. Strangers in Paradise Source Book
3. Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition
4. Strangers in Paradise Calendars: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004

   Note: the five years above seem to be the only ones created/sold, it is unknown why 2001 was skipped.

[edit] References

1. ^ George A. Tramountanas for CBR News, Strangers No More, as Moore Brings "Strangers in Paradise" to an End, March 17 2006. (Accessed May 29 2006)

[edit] Toys

Katchoo will be made as an action figure in Series 1 of the new toy line Indie Spotlight by Shocker Toys.

[edit] External links

• The Strangers in Paradise website
• The Strangers in Paradise discussion board