Strangers in Paradise, vol. 1

Writer(s): Terry Moore
Artist(s): Terry Moore
Publisher: Abstract Studio
ISBN: 978-1892597052
Price: $8.95
Page count: 119
Year Released:
Status: in print
Original Source: Strangers in Paradise (vol. 1) 1-3
Other Collected Edition(s): Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book, vol. 1
Genres: humor; romance/relationships
Recommended for Fans Of: Thelma & Louise, Breakfast at Tiffany's, His Girl Friday
Possible Objectionable Material: adult situations; coarse language; violence
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Also in This Series: followed by Strangers in Paradise, vol. 2: I Dream of You

Plot Summary
Strangers in Paradise is the story of Francine Peters and Katina "Katchoo" Choovanski. Best friends since high school, these 26-year-old women live in Houston and have some serious relationship problems. Francine's boyfriend, Freddie Femur, wants desperately to sleep with her, but Francine wants to wait since every time she's ever slept with a man, he ends up leaving her shortly thereafter. To complicate matters, Katchoo hates Freddie (who is, admittedly, a big jerk), and she seems to have a bit of a crush on Francine herself. Then, to turn this love triangle into a rectangle we're introduced to David Qin, a thoroughly nice guy who develops his own crush on Katchoo. All of this culminates in some very bad results for Freddie and a hint of Katchoo's mysterious past, which involves old felony charges and a sealed file at the FBI.

My Own 2 Cents
Strangers in Paradise is a perennial favorite with female comic book fans everywhere, but plenty of guys love it too (myself included). It is, above all, a soap opera--but it's a soap opera in the way that The Sopranos is a show about mobsters, or in the way that Hamlet is a play about a whiny prince. In other words, you'll not find a better soap opera anywhere. This first volume is a bit more cartoony than the successive volumes are, but the relationship that Moore builds between his two protagonists (and eventually David, who becomes an integral character soon enough) is rock solid from the very beginning. He didn't win a GLAAD Media Award (from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation) for nothing.