A little forward progress, a lot of recap.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Terry Moore
What They Say:
Katchoo is on the hunt for a Parker Girl on the run and the trail leads her to Manson, Mass, home of Jet and Rachel (Rachel Rising)! The town is freezing but the trail is red hot when Katchoo faces the cliffhanger of a lifetime!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The surprise that there’s a new Strangers in Paradise series was definitely a welcome one even if the opening issue was kind of awkward. While I had read a lot of the original series I had fell off it years ago and never finished, so getting a recap of how Terry Moore ended things with Darcy, a collider, and some weird science fiction elements comes across as kind of wonky to say the least. The fun of the opener was getting to see Katchoo out doing things, the nod to what Laura is up and how she got away as one of the Parker Girls, and getting a taste of the home life that Katchoo has with Francine and Tambi. It was good in that regard and it really left me wanting a lot more of that than the rest of it.
Sadly, the second issue is something that does a split track approach to telling its tale and ends up being a massive recap piece overall. The present day side of things is Katchoo narrating events in relation to herself, Laura, and others with Darcy from years ago while Katchoo herself is on a snowy ledge where she’s about to fall and die. That’s running through the bottom half of most of the issue and it provides a tie into the past, as the psat eventually catches up to this. The problem is that it’s drawn out and that the rest of the book focuses on the past, showing us how Katchoo was as a Parker Girl herself early on and some of the things that went down with Laura and why she’s proving so hard to be found at this point.
There is some decent stuff once Katchoo, in her quest for more information, ends up in Manson where she’s looking for Jet. Tying us back into the art shop that Katchoo used to run and Jet was employed at, it’s great to see how Jet is at this point and the kind of happiness that she has. But where it works even better is just the way Katchoo takes in this tiny little town in the Berkshires and understands what it’s like, describing the details and noticing things that feel very out of place, presumably since this is related to the Rachel Rising series and I think both take place in the same continuity. I like the way it delves into all of this but it’s also tied to the wistful nature that Katchoo has about wishing she was with Francine and her family but knowing that this is where she needs to be right now.
In Summary:
I’m still not sure what to make of this series. Moore’s storytelling is something that I really enjoy in some aspects, with character and the little out of the way places and all its details, but is one that I struggle to find strong when it comes to the overall narrative. We’ve got some idea of what’s going on because of Laura and the events of the first issue but everything still feels like it’s kind of loose and undefined at this point, without enough of a forward momentum to latch onto as to why everything is going as it is. Partially it’s because there’s way too much recap going on for two issues and the other is that we didn’t get reacquainted with Katchoo and Francine in a really easygoing and familiar way that made it all feel real and grounded. I’m still on for the ride but I’m growing a bit more wary with each issue.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Abstract Studio via ComiXology
Release Date: February 28, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
