Darkness across the Isle of Skye.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Terry Moore
What They Say:
When Katchoo closes in on her quarry, the rogue Parker Girl Stephanie, she encounters a devastating new challenge… and an unexpected ally.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Three issues into the 25th-anniversary series for Strangers in Paradise and I found myself questioning whether I’d continue with it. That’s a drastic change from my near-obsessive interest in it when the original series came out. Terry Moore’s working the story well enough with the recap material we got and some of the general ideas but there’s still an unfocused part to it that’s not clicking for me, especially in how the previous issue seemingly just ended in what felt like mid-panel. The plus side continues to be that I really enjoy Moore’s artwork and that’s the real draw at this point while I wait for the story to come together.
An issue like this is one that’s both good and bad in that. The good is that there’s a lot of great artwork to it and some solid character material. The bad is that it doesn’t feel like we get anywhere. That’s part of Moore’s style however in that things have a kind of wider and almost theatrical view of pacing sometimes. The opening pages are really great with this as Katchoo has closed in on a guy she wants information from a pub but he bolts out the back and runs across the countryside. It’s wide and detailed with a good sense of space that really draws you in, especially with Katchoo’s narration about how she’s doing this while sick and that it’s not just sick but really, really sick, hence her collapsing.
The fallout from that is intriguing as she ends up being rescued by, it turns out, her target in Stephanie and given some bedrest. And she even contacts Tambi to let her know to come get this little lost lamb. It’s really neat how this puts Tambi into motion in a big way to get a team of her girls out there to rescue her but Katchoo is just lost to it all because of the pneumonia and she’s missing all the important details. Particularly with Stephanie killing the guy whose house it was and kinda sorta setting Katchoo and Tambi up for some difficulties if they don’t wipe their way down out of there. I really liked Katchoo’s narration during all of this and the details of the artwork in the journey but combined with all the downtime at the start it reminded me of the previous issue too much where it feels like not a lot happens and the bit that does just isn’t enough.
In Summary:
Strangers in Paradise has a transitional issue here with Katchoo gets closer to what she’s looking for with Stephanie. I love the visuals in this issue and the narration that Katchoo provides across her journey but there’s just a kind of emptiness that I can’t fully pin down with this book. I get the general idea of what it’s doing and where it’s going but it doesn’t feel as cohesive and clear as it should be. I’m still sticking with the book but I’m admittedly still waffling on it.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Abstract Studio via ComiXology
Release Date: June 6th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
