Strangers in Paradise volume 3, issue 1 alternate cover. Francine at left, Katchoo at right.

Strangers in Paradise is a long-running, mostly self-published black-and-white comic book, written and drawn by Terry Moore. The series has reached its planned conclusion, finishing off in 2007 with issue #90.^[1] Image File history File links Strangers_in_Paradise_v3_no1_cover_b. ... Image File history File links Strangers_in_Paradise_v3_no1_cover_b. ... Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Terry Moore is a comic book author and illustrator. ...

The series is noteworthy for its appeal to a non-traditional audience, in particular women who would not ordinarily consider themselves readers of comic books. This is an unusually high figure in the heavily male-dominated comics field.

Plot

The story primarily concerns the difficult relationship between two women, Helen Francine Peters (known simply as Francine) and Katina Marie ("Katchoo") Choovanski, and their friends David Qin and Gwynnethina Casey Bullocks-Femur (known as Casey). Francine considers Katchoo her best friend; Katchoo is in love with Francine. David is in love with Katchoo (a relationship which Katchoo herself is deeply confused about) and Casey is in love with David.

This plays itself out over a second plot element, a thriller style story concerning the shadowy Big Six organization. Its leader is a woman named Darcy Parker, who uses highly trained women (of whom Katchoo was one) to infiltrate—and to an extent control—the American political system. The two elements are slightly incongruous, and the thriller element sometimes threatens to become absurd, but in general the interplay between the two generates a considerable degree of dramatic tension. It uses a non-linear approach to storytelling, putting in sequence elements of the story often years apart, and going back in time frequently. The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television. ...

SiP, as it is commonly known, began as a three-issue mini-series published by Antarctic Press in 1993, which focused entirely on the relationship between the three main characters and Francine's unfaithful boyfriend. This is now known as "Volume 1". Thirteen issues were published under Moore's own "Abstract Studio" imprint, and these make up "Volume 2". This is where the "thriller" plot was introduced. The series moved to Image Comics' Homage imprint for the start of "Volume 3", but after eight issues moved back to Abstract Studio, where it continued with the same numbering. Volume 3, and with it the series itself, has concluded, with Moore ending at issue #90 June 6. 2007. Antarctic Press, a San Antonio-based company, publishes comics in a style they call American Manga. Founded by Ben Dunn in 1984, their earliest titles were Mangazine and Extremely Silly Comics. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. ...

Characters

• Katina "Katchoo" Choovanski - "The Original Angry Blonde," Katchoo is a temperamental artist with a violent past. A former prostitute, Katchoo was the lover and agent of Darcy Parker. Katchoo has been in love with her best friend, Francine, for most of her life, though she has complicated romantic feelings for her only male friend, David, as well.
• Francine Peters-Silver - Katchoo's kind-hearted best friend. Francine struggles with her weight and her self-image, never quite able to see the beauty in herself that Katchoo sees. Francine has difficulty bringing herself to make a romantic commitment to Katchoo, partly due to her Methodist upbringing and partly because of her childhood dream to become a wife and mother. Her fairytale marriage to Brad Griffin comes crashing down when she realizes that he's unfaithful to her, leading her to reconsider choosing him over Katchoo.
• Yousaka Takahashi/David Qin - A gentle, sensitive art student, Yousaka is the younger brother of Darcy Parker and the unwilling heir to the Takahashi crime syndicate. Once the leader of a violent street gang, Yousaka became a born-again Christian after a personal tragedy and he changed his name to "David Qin" to reflect his new identity and honour the young man he murdered. The complex romantic feelings he harbors for Casey and Katchoo come to a head when he is diagnosed with a serious illness, leading the trio to contemplate having a baby in his memory.
• Casey Bullocks-Femur - A blonde, busty, and bisexual aerobics instructor, Casey was married to Freddy Femur but divorced him after learning that he was still in love with Francine. Since the divorce, she has had romantic involvements with both Katchoo and David. Because of her childhood anorexia, she is unable to give birth to David's child.
• Freddie Femur - Francine's ex-boyfriend and Casey's ex-husband. A womanizing attorney, Freddie cheated on Francine and humiliated her during their break-up (giving her a nervous breakdown in the process) but later becomes obsessed with her.
• Darcy Parker - Darcy was a ruthless and predatory crime boss who led the "Parker Girls," women who are skilled in various acts of seduction and espionage. Though she employed only women and claimed to hate the male gender, Darcy had an intense, incestuous love for her brother David. She had an intense relationship with Katchoo, until Katchoo ran away to Hawaii with her friend Emma. Darcy was murdered by Tambi after her criminal empire was brought down.
• Mary Beth "Tambi" Baker - A brutal enforcer who worked for Darcy Parker alongside her twin sister Sara "Bambi", Tambi is skilled in not only the deadly arts, but in business and strategy. She and Sara are Katchoo's older half sisters. In a quest to continue the Baker line, she covertly encourages Katchoo to bear David's child.
• Griffin Silver - An aging rock star admired by Katchoo in her youth, Griffin's songs were printed in the series long before the character made his first appearance. He was the brother of Brad Silver. Griffin was shot and killed by a stalker.
• Brad Silver - A charming, handsome gynecologist, Brad at first appears to be an ideal husband for Francine; however, their inability to communicate drives a wedge between them. When Francine discovers his infidelity, she initiates divorce proceedings.
• Molly Lane - Molly has only a tenuous connection to the main SiP cast (she dated Francine's brother Benjamin in high school) but has nevertheless been the star of one of the book's major storylines. The protagonist of "Molly and Poo," Molly is a tortured writer who dreams of a mysterious muse ("Ma Malai") and murders her husband with a butcher knife.

Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ... Born again is a term used originally and mainly in Christianity, where it is associated with salvation, conversion and spiritual rebirth. ... In human sexuality, bisexuality describes a man or woman having a sexual orientation to persons of either or both sexes (a man or woman who sexually likes both sexes; people who are sexually and/or romantically attracted to both males and females). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Incest among humans is sexual activity between close family members. ... For other uses, see Rock music (disambiguation). ... The shamefulness associated with the examination of female genitalia has long inhibited the science of gynaecology. ...

Awards

The series received the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story in 1996 for "I Dream of You" as well as the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award for Best Comic Book in 1997. It also won the GLAAD Award for Best Comic Book in 2001. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award is given for creative achievement in comic books. ... The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists created in 1946. ... The Reuben Awards, named for Rube Goldberg, are presented each year by the National Cartoonists Society. ... The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor the media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. ...

Collections

It has been collected into a series of full-size paperback collections, hardback collections, and smaller format paperback collections. These reprints collect the issues into different sets.

The full-size paperback collections to date are:

Collected editions

The hardback collections to date are:

1. The Complete Strangers in Paradise, Volume 1
2. The Complete Strangers in Paradise, Volume 2
3. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 1
4. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 2
5. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 3
6. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 4
7. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 5
8. The Complete Strangers in Paradise Volume 3, Part 6

The pocket books collections to date are:

1. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 1: Contains Volume 1 Issues 1-3 and Volume 2 Issues 1-13
2. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 2: Contains Volume 3 Issues 1-17
3. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 3: Contains Volume 3 Issues 18-24, 26-32, 34-38
4. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 4: Contains Volume 3 Issues 41-45, 47-48, 50-60
5. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 5: Contains Volume 3 Issues 61-72, 74-76, plus Complete Molly & Poo 46, 49, 73
6. Strangers in Paradise Pocket Book 6: Will contain the last issues (is announced for September 27th, 2007).

Other books to date are:

1. Lyrics and Poems
2. Strangers in Paradise Source Book
3. Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition
4. Strangers in Paradise Calendars: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004

   Note: the five years above seem to be the only ones created/sold, it is unknown why 2001 was skipped.

References

1. ^ George A. Tramountanas for CBR News, Strangers No More, as Moore Brings "Strangers in Paradise" to an End, March 17 2006. (Accessed May 29 2006)

Merchandise

There is also a limited edition Statuette of Katchoo sculpted by Clayburn Moore. It is the first of three statuettes to be made.

External links

• The Strangers in Paradise website
• The Strangers in Paradise discussion board