Blue Monday (comics)

Blue Monday

Cover of Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright TPB
Publication information
Publisher Oni Press
Schedule Monthly
Format Multiple one-shots and limited series
Genre Slice of life story
Publication date 2000
Number of issues 15
Main character(s) Bleu L. Finnegan
Clover Connelly
Alan Walsh
Victor Gomez
Erin O'Neill
Creative team
Writer(s) Chynna Clugston
Artist(s) Chynna Clugston
Creator(s) Chynna Clugston
Collected editions
The Kids Are Alright ISBN 1-929998-07-4

Blue Monday is a comic book title by Chynna Clugston. It is published by Oni Press in the form of one-shots and several miniseries, which have also been collected into trade paperbacks. The first four-issue mini-series, Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright was published in 2000.

Blue Monday tells the adventures of Bleu L. Finnegan, an everyday teenager and Adam Ant fan, and her friends Clover, Erin, Victor, Alan and Monkeyboy (Chris), attending Jefferson high school in California during the early 1990s.

In creating the comic, Clugston borrowed heavily from the style and visual cues of Japanese manga. However, the comic has a distinctly American feel, plot, and characters, entirely unlike a shōjo manga. One example of this influence is that the main character (Bleu) has blue hair, a common trait in both manga and anime. However, she's the only character with this trait, and other characters consider her strange for her hair coloring.

Contents

Overview and plot arcs

The series is notable for its raunchy form of humor, combined with a sympathetic view of the main characters. It is fair to say that nothing is off-limits. For example, the first storyline follows the following revenge pattern:

Other notable storylines include: the guys filming Bleu naked while she takes a bath; masturbation; Alan trying to get Bleu to go out with him; and a murder mystery dinner gone haywire after three different attendees independently spike the punch. Many of the plotlines overlap.

Also central to the characters' lives are holidays. At Bleu's favorite holiday, Halloween, they gather to tell ghost stories that are humorous versions of Return of the Living Dead, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Dark Shadows. Valentine's Day marks the "anniversary" of the initial meeting between all six of the main characters. On St. Patrick's Day, practically every guy in the school follows Clover around while singing annoying Irish love ballads. On April Fools Day, Victor reverts to his goth style for one day, unintentionally charming many of the female students with his angst and poems copied from Lord Byron (Victor's birthday falls on April Fools' Day as well). Christmas gets covered when Clugston does a story where her characters meet Paul Dini's Jingle Belle.

Although the characters tend to be antagonistic (and, sometimes, downright abusive) towards each other, they are all extremely close friends, and the comic gradually reveals strong romantic attractions underneath their adolescent hi-jinks. (Indeed, the series has been described as "Archie on crack.") Victor and Clover both have feelings for each other, but with few exceptions, are either unable or unwilling to express them. Alan, formerly an indiscriminate "ladies' man," completely changed his act after he first met Bleu, although it's unclear if Bleu returns those feelings on even an unconscious level.

Main characters

Other characters

In some of the stand-alone stories, Clugston also includes characters from her other comic series.

In addition, the comic includes some characters who may or may not be imaginary.

Collected editions

The chronology of the collected editions is different than the numbering. Timewise, the volumes come in the order: one, two, four, three. As several stories make reference to past events, this order can become confusing. In an add-on comic in volume four, Clugston addresses this issue.

See also

External links