Strangers in Paradise: Volumes 1 and 2

  

Without love, we're never more than strangers in Paradise

Writer: Terry Moore
Art: Terry Moore
Publisher: Abstract Studio

What's it about?
Volume One: Freddie and Francine are a couple.  Francine lives with her best friend Katchoo.  Francine has trust issues and won't have sex with Freddie, though they've been together for a year.  So Freddie and Francine split up.  Katchoo comes onto Francine, who declines.  David notices Katchoo in an art gallery, comes on to her, and is rudely (very rudely) rebuffed.  Francine has a breakdown and Katchoo vows revenge on Freddie.  The relationships get messier and more ridiculous as each character tries to negotiate their way through the romantic minefield.

Volume Two - I Dream of You: A similar situation as before, but now Katchoo's mysterious past is catching up with her.  She disappears for two months, worrying Francine sick.  A shadowy, violent figure hires a corrupt copper to track and report on Katchoo's movements.  People are found severely beaten; Katchoo confides in David; Freddie is lurking in the background; Francine has still not moved on from him.  The finale of the volume solidifies it as a crime, rather than romance, story.

I am reviewing these two volumes together as they are best read in tandem.  Strangers in Paradise is described as a romance comic, and while Volume One is all about boy/girl, girl/girl, girl/boy relationships it is certainly not a traditional romance story.  Volume Two fleshes the characters out and gives a better feeling as to where the series is going.

Princess comics

Recently I have met a lot of young girls, baby through to toddler age, and have been reminded of the prevalence of the Princess story for young female children.  There's loads of traditional Princess stories out there - you know, about the passive beautiful sort who wait for a Prince to rescue or marry them and don't actually do much.

Thankfully, there are a few comics out there who challenge this narrative and create an entirely different sort of Princess.  These are:

The Princess - a webcomic about a transgender girl, her crushes, her wish to join the Girl Cadettes, her friends and her family.  It's full of sparkles and rainbows and cheerful art, and full of messages of support for trans kids.  It's called The Princess because the lead, Sarah, always wears a home made crown.  We reviewed it here.

JL8 - also a webcomic, this is a fan comic about the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern etc) as little kids, all in their costumes and with all their powers.  It's really cute and funny.  Wonder Woman is of course an Amazon Princess and recent strips have been about her birthday party, with her Mum telling everyone she is a Princess.  Wonder Woman is not happy about this.  We reviewed it here.

Princeless - This is an actual print comic about a Black Princess who refuses to hang around in her tower to be rescued by a Prince, and instead befriends her dragon guard, steals some armour and sets out to rescue all her sisters.  It's relatively new and is in its second volume, or story arc if you prefer.  I recommend this to everyone and it's always been well received.  We reviewed volume 1 here.  You can get it in print from your local comic shop and possibly Amazon or Ebay, or buy it digitally from Comixology.

Please try these comics out!  They are fun for kids and adults.

Al images reproduced with kind permission of the creators.

Berlin: The Seven Dwarves

Writer and artists: Marvano (also known as Mark van Oppen)
Colour work: Claude Legris
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Letters and Layouts: Imadjinn

What's it about?
The story is set across two years: 1993 and 1943.  In 1943 seven men form the crew of the Lancaster S-Snowwhite.  It is called Snowwhite because it is black, like Snow White's hair, and has a crew of seven.  Their job is to bomb Germany.  In 1993 two women exchange a 50 year old letter.  The book focuses on the lives of the seven men aboard the plane - the realities of bombing raids, the threats from enemy fighters and the relationships formed on the ground.

It's suitable for history buffs and comic fans alike.

LGBT History month - Deathwish

     

Writer: Adam Blaustein, later known as Maddie Blaustein
Plot Assist: Yves Fezzani
Penciller: J H William III
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Painted colour: J. Brown
Letterer: Joseph Daniello
Publisher: Milestone (an imprint of DC comics)

What's it about?
Marisa Rahm is a transgender cop in Dakota, America.  There's a serial killer, the Deathwish of the title, out there murdering trans women and Rahm is determined to bring him in. Rahm has been chasing Deathwish for years.  Her singlemindedness is all encompassing - she lives, breathes and eats the case.  Predictably, this is affecting her relationship with her girlfriend, Dini.

As Rahm gets closer to Deathwish he starts manipulating her, messing with her mind, and then it becomes unclear who is the hero and who isn't.

This is a four issue miniseries published under DC's Milestone imprint in the 1990s.  It has never been collected into a trade but it can be found in places such as Ebay.  Unfortunately I only have issues two, three and four of this series, but it's importance for trans comics characters means I am determined to review and promote it.

The Chimpanzee Complex

Script: Richard Marazano
Art: Jean-Michel Ponzio
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Lettering and text layout: Imadjinn
Publisher: Cinebook

What's it about?
The Chimpanzee Complex runs over 3 books: Paradox, The Sons of Ares, and Civilisation.  It starts in 2035.  Helen Freeman is an astronaut and was going to be the first woman to set foot on Mars.  This was her life's ambition, so when the government cuts money to the space programme she is devastated.  Then a space module from the 20th century drops into the ocean.  As a trusted NASA employee Helen is sent to talk to the passengers.  What she is told seems impossible, a paradox.

Meanwhile back home, her pre-teen daughter is wracked with anger and jealousy over her mother's commitment to her work, which she interprets as a lack of love for herself.

In The Sons of Ares Helen leads a mission to Mars to discover the truth about the space module.  They find the Soviet Base and more besides.  Back home, her daughter Sofia grows ever more angry and scared.

In Civilisation the mystery is unravelled.  Crew members wake up from an extended cryosleep and yet again reality seems wrong.  Pieces start falling into place and an understanding is reached.  Their survival seems precarious and Helen dwells on her daughter and what she may have lost.

The Chimpanzee Complex of the title refers to the stress suffered by chimps when placed in space.  The chimpanzees are intelligent enough to have a limited understanding of their predicament, and so they suffer extreme stress through being in an experiment over which they have no control.

Comixology - Black History Month

February is Black History Month in America so Comixology, sellers of digital comics, are doing sales throughout the month of key comics with black characters.  This week's spotlighted titles are all DC issues:
Green Lantern 182-188 - introducing John Stewart, the first Black Green Lantern.
Green Lantern 14 -17 - starting John Stewart's excellent Mosaic story.
The Mosaic maxi series (12 issues) itself.
The new-52 Mr Terrific series.

I would recommend the Green Lantern titles over the Mr Terrific ones.  There are a few key DC titles they haven't yet included but I hope to see on sale over the next month.  These are:
Black Lightning Year One
Vixen - Return of the Lion
Suicide Squad - Trial by Fire

All issues are 99 cents (about 60 pence in English money) and can be read on your device of choice - ipad, tablet, iphone, android phone, laptop, pc, apple mac etc.

We have covered many comics with black characters, and you can see all entries here.  We've also done spotlight blogs on characters of colour in superhero and non superhero comics.  The final entry, which lists all previous entries, is here.

Magic of Myths: Season 1

Writer: Corey Brotherson
Art: Sergio Calvet
Publisher: Self published
 
What's it about?
This book is about Eve, a schoolteacher who is transported to a mythic fantasy world where she has to undergo certain ordeals and retrieve valuable artifacts before she is allowed back to her own world.   She doesn't know why this is happening, who's in control of it, or even where she really is. As the Magic of Myths website FAQs explains, Eve has magical armour which can create weapons for use in her ordeals.  The sidekick/guide role is filled by a cranky creature called Tinkantankerous.  Eve's ordeals force her to consider her life thus far and her worth as a person.

The story is framed against - and references - many famous mythological stories: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Perseus, the Greek Sirens, Peter Pan.  Expect to find both overt and subtle markers for these throughout the text.