STRANGERS IN PARADISE #43
"If I Cry Before I Wake"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Abstract Studio
Writer/Artist: Terry Moore
Price: $2.95 US/$4.60 CAN |
This stands out as the most unusual and intrigung issue of the series to date, and given the history of Strangers in Paradise, that's saying something. Moore takes his readers on an almost surreal jaunt through time, as we learn how the series could end, and how it could have begun, had he been in a different mood one day.
Someday in the future, a beautiful young woman named Ashley tries to sell her novel to a publisher, but conflicting points of view result in the meeting being a bust. Ashley bends the ears of her mother figures -- elderly Francine and Katchoo -- who encourage her to continue trying. Flashback to the past, to Francine's moment of high-school mortification. Other possibilities for her relationship and future with Katchoo come in focus.
Moore does an incredible job when it comes to aging his two heroines. They're immediately recognizable as Francine and Katchoo, but they've also been transformed. And I don't just mean they've got a bunch of wrinkles and grey hair. Moore hints at twists and turns in their lives with the way they move, speak and look.
Moore takes on his critics in this issue, with their words coming out the publisher character's mouth. She deems Ashley's novel -- entitled Strangers in Paradise -- "repetitive" and "unbelievable." Of course, she also admits she hadn't read the whole thing. Moore isn't making a subtle point, but it is entertaining for his fans.
One of the criticisms I've expressed about SiP in the past has been one of accessibility. There have been times when the series would be difficult for a rookie reader to pick up on. This is not one of those times. Moore conveys the charm and central plot ideas of the series quite well in this odd but endearing story, and he impresses not only with his shift in timeframe, but the shifts from sequential art to prose as his storytelling methods.
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