Strangers In Paradise Terry Moore

Why People Still Talk About This Comic

I picked up Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore back when the first trade paperback came out, probably 1998 or so. It was sitting at the back of a comic shop that had way more superhero reprints than anyone needed. I read three issues of the original self-published run and bought the first collection. Didn't put it down again until I finished the whole thing, which took me a couple months because I was reading it in snippets between other stuff. The series ran from 1993 to 2007, published independently at first, then through Abstract Studio, and later by Innovation Comics and others. It follows Katchen and Lucy, two women whose lives intertwine in complicated ways. There's crime, romance, murder, amnesia, the usual comic-book drama but handled with more attention to character development than most stuff coming out at the time.

The Complete Strangers In Paradise Terry Moore Collection

Here's the breakdown of what exists. The original self-published issues ran forty-eight issues numbered differently than the collected editions. Terry Moore republished everything in twenty-two trade paperbacks and six hardcover volumes later on. The final story arc was the Problem with Pastry, which I thought was kind of a weird title for something that ended a fifteen-year run but it works if you think about it. You can find digital copies through ComiXology and Amazon. The paperback collections are widely available at bookstores, not just comic shops. I'd recommend the hardcover complete collection if you're starting from scratch, though they're pricey. The paperbacks are cheaper and easier to find secondhand. One thing people don't always realize about reading this series is the timeline. It doesn't go straight forward. There are flashbacks, jump cuts, and storylines that start in one era and resolve three hundred pages later. I actually made a rough timeline chart on a piece of paper the first time through so I could keep track of when things happened versus when they were told. It helped. The later collections have some timeline notes in the front matter if you don't want to make your own.

Where to Start Reading

The first volume is called Strangers In Paradise Vol 1: Killing the Blues. It collects issues one through five of the self-published run plus some early material. If you're new to this, start there. Don't try to read the collected edition numbering first and then backtrack to understand what's going on. The original issue release order is the same as the trade paperback order for the most part. The early issues establish the core dynamic between Katchen and Lucy. Katchen is a former thief with a violent past. Lucy is more reserved, dealing with her own issues. Their relationship drives the whole series. Everything else that happens after that is complications layered on top of that foundation. There's a spin-off series called Strangers In Paradise: The Love Interest that came out later. It's set between the main series volumes. Skip it if you're reading straight through for the first time. It works better as supplementary material you dip into after finishing the main run.

What Makes This Series Work

Terry Moore draws everything himself, which is unusual for a comic this long. He handles the inking, lettering, and coloring too, at least in the original runs. That consistency matters. The art style doesn't shift dramatically between story arcs the way it does in comics written by multiple people with rotating artists. You get a single visual voice carrying the whole thing. The dialogue is where most people either get into it or drop it. It's heavy on conversation. A lot of scenes are just people talking in rooms. But the conversations do something. They reveal character. The romantic tension between Katchen and Lucy builds slowly over years of pages. When something finally happens between them it actually means something because you've spent hundreds of pages watching them avoid it. There's also a lot of crime story plotting. People get kidnapped. Characters turn out to be doubles or fakes. Someone has their memory wiped. None of this is new territory in comics but Moore commits to it fully and the payoff works because the character work is solid underneath all the plot machinery.

The Problem With the Middle

I'm not going to pretend the middle section is perfect. Volumes six through twelve cover what some readers call the dark period. The story gets pretty grim. Characters die. People suffer. It's intentionally heavy and it goes on longer than it needs to. I remember finishing volume ten and putting the book down for a week because I was drained. That's not necessarily a bad thing artistically but it is something to be aware of if you're looking for something light. The pacing drags a bit in places too. There are stretches where the same conflict gets revisited several times before moving forward. I'd estimate roughly twenty to thirty pages per issue are sometimes spent circling back to earlier beats instead of pushing ahead. It's manageable. The series is long enough that some fat is expected. But if you're the type who wants tight plotting throughout, you'll notice it.

Edge Case: The Collected Edition Inconsistencies

Here's something I ran into that annoyed me. Some of the collected editions have minor differences from the original self-published issues. Terry Moore revised certain pages in the reprints. Not huge changes but if you read the original issues first and then buy the trade paperback, you'll spot it. I noticed it with the panel layouts in issue three, where a splash page was reconfigured. Nothing that ruins the story but worth knowing if you're collecting both formats. Also, the Innovation Comics reprint run had some coloring differences from the original Abstract Studio volumes. The colors were slightly more saturated in the Innovation editions. I prefer the Abstract colors honestly, but that's subjective. If you're picky about this stuff, stick to one publisher's collection.

Who This Is For

Read this if you like character-driven stories with romance and crime elements mixed together. If you're patient with slow-burn development and don't mind a series that takes its time getting somewhere, you'll probably enjoy it. The ending wraps up the major threads even though some characters get more resolution than others. Don't read it if you want fast action throughout or if heavy romantic drama isn't your thing. This is fundamentally a romance story wearing a crime thriller costume for most of its run. The crime stuff is the vehicle. The relationship between the two leads is the destination. I've recommended this series to people who said they didn't read comics anymore. Some of them loved it. Some of them found the dialogue-heavy approach too much. There's no wrong answer there. It just depends on what you're in the mood for.

Final Thoughts on the Execution

Terry Moore wrote, drew, and published this thing mostly on his own for most of its run. That's a massive undertaking. He maintained a monthly schedule for years while handling every aspect of production. The fact that the quality stayed relatively consistent across four hundred plus pages is impressive even by comic industry standards. The series won awards. It had a dedicated fanbase. It's still discussed twenty years later. That doesn't happen by accident. The characters feel real because they behave like real people under pressure. Katchen makes mistakes and lives with them. Lucy manipulates situations and deals with the consequences. Neither one is purely good or purely bad, which keeps things interesting even when the plots get elaborate. If you decide to pick it up, go in knowing it's long. Don't expect a quick read. The payoff is worth the investment if you stick with it through the slower middle sections. The final arc lands properly and gives you reasons to look back at everything that came before it.