I always enjoy Blue Monday, but this particular issue is definitely my favorite of the Painted Moon miniseries, and one of my favorite issues of the whole series so far. Like all of the Blue Monday stories, it's about real-life high school problems taken to sometimes bizarre, often hilarious extremes and mixed with some strange fantasy elements, whether overt like Seamus the pooka or more stylistic like Clugston's hyper-cute manga influences. I love that the story starts out being about Bleu and her concerns about Clover's sexuality and then turns into a completely gonzo rock and bowl experience, capped off by a sitcom-like shocker moment. The whole issue has a wild, manic energy, but it benefits from the longstanding relationships between the characters that help to give it context. While much of what I loved about the issue was the humor, there are definitely some interesting character developments here as well.
I've previously compared Blue Monday to the movies of John Hughes, and this issue in particular really reminds me more of film than comics. Clugston has always included musical suggestions in the margins of her pages, and that really helps to set the tone for the scenes, so that the reader gets a more sensory reaction to them than they might from just the art and story. It's the montage effect that Clugston is especially good at, that semi-cheesy film cliche that compresses time by showing a variety of scenes with a music backdrop. It's much more difficult to convey in comics, but Clugston does a terrific job of it, especially in the rock and bowl scenes in this issue.
The rock and bowl sequence is a thing of beauty, easily as funny as the soccer game or the spectacularly bad date that Bleu and Alan shared in past miniseries. (It has also put the godawful "We're gonna bowl tonight" song from Grease 2 into my head, so there are downsides as well.) Little practical jokes, like the glue in the bowling ball holes or the rude names that the characters give one another, combine with the surreal atmosphere that includes misfiring ball returns and drunken clowns, to create a bizarre and riotously funny setting for Clugston's already fun characters. That the increasing tension in the scene also leads to a blow-up that is the culmination of the issue's main plot is a nice bonus.
Which is not to say that Painted Moon #3 is all about being goofy and funny. To be sure, that's 90% of the point, but Clugston manages to slip in her usual insightful look at high school life in the midst of the rest of the story. The uncomfortable feelings that Bleu has about Clover, and the way that rumors can dog someone, are very true to life. I thought that Bleu's nervous attempts to comfort her friend only wind up annoying her more, as it's a no-win situation for both of them. Bleu wants her friend to know she'd be OK with Clover being gay, but to make that statement, she basically has to accuse her friend of lying to her, and Clover can be frustrated but she really can't get too mad at Bleu because she's trying to look out for her.
Blue Monday is one of those undefinable works that is so perfect for the creator that you can't imagine anyone else doing it, and it's hard to imagine the creator doing anything else. Mind you, Clugston has proven her ability to branch out beyond Blue Monday with work like Scooter Girl, but it's always nice to see her come "home" for a while, and Painted Moon #3 is everything I love about Blue Monday. 9/10
