Paper Girls, Volumes 2-3

Today, I look at the next two installments in the Paper Girls series (my review of Volume 1 is here). These two trade paperbacks cover issues 6-10 and 11-15, and the fact that I read both may spoil the fact that I found much here to keep me entertained and involved with this title.Still, won't you stick around and see what I thought about each in detail?

Volume 2 takes the girls 28 years into the future to 2016. There, at least one of them runs into her future ("old") self, and they all search for the lost member of their quartet. Along the way, a few more clues about who are chasing them get dropped, though much is still left unanswered. Mostly, the girls find out that they can't always trust everyone (even other versions of themselves) and learn about "foldings," times and places that line up just right to allow time travel to happen. Each chapter in this volume ends with a revelation, and the ending cliffhanger was a good one.

My favorite part of this volume, apart from the excellent artwork, continues to be the clever dialogue and relationships between the girls. They might not be the closest of friends, but they do get along in their own ways. And they are biting and swift in their judgments. Also, there are a bunch of jokes in their observations of future life that I thought were funny. Overall, it was a pretty brisk, fun book that left me wanting more.

Luckily, Volume 3 just came out so I did not have to wait to see what progressed. In this book, the girls end up in about 10,000 BC, a prehistoric period when people are pretty primitive and rough. The quartet meet a young woman, her baby, and three men who want to steal that baby away. Also, they also meet up with another time traveler who fills in some more information about what may be happening. This installment is more action-packed, with lots of disappearances, chases, large animals, and combat with stone weapons. And I quite enjoy seeing how each of the different volumes is set in a different historical epoch and has its unique flavor.

In the end, I enjoyed reading these books. They tell a story that is simultaneously slow to develop and efficiently plotted. I say slow because I am three volumes into this series, and I still do not definitively know what is going on. However, much transpires in these stories in a short time, and I feel that each chapter unfolds in seemingly effortless fashion. Also, although the plot may tread on some material common to other scifi tales, those elements remain fresh and exciting. I genuinely want to know what happens next, and I feel like I read each of these books as if I am devouring them. The worst thing I can say about them is that I felt they read too quickly. And I want more. Now.

These books are a collaboration between by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang. They both are comics industry veterans who have won multiple awards over the course of their careers.Vaughan's many writing credits include the series Saga, Y The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways, which all feature strong character work, high concept stories, and suspenseful pacing. He has accomplished much over his career, both in comics and in other media, such as when he was writer and producer of Lost. His track record of creating smart, fun, and exciting series is intact with Paper Girls. Chiang is known for his exceptional work on a number of DC Comics titles, most notably Wonder Woman and The Human Target. Both creators speak about their work on Paper Girls (and there are spoilers - beware) in this interview.

Paper Girls won the 2016 Eisner Awards for Best New Series and Best Penciller/Inker, and all of the reviews I read of it have been positive. Thea James wrote that the second volume "continues to impress and delight." Heather Duff opined, "This series continues to be awesome, it looks good, the girls are brilliant sassy characters." Shelby Luebers called the plots "funny and curious" and also complimented that "the girls are real."

Paper Girls is published by Image Comics, and they have previews and more about the whole series here. It will resume publication in November. These books do contain a fair amount of profanity, so it is recommended for readers mature enough to handle that.

Congratulations to the 2016 Eisner Award winners!

Yesterday, the Eisner Award winners were announced (the full list is here, courtesy of Tom Spurgeon).

Congratulations to all the winners and all those who were nominated, especially my friend Nick Sousanis for his excellent book Unflattening!

If you are interested in reading about some of the award winners I have reviewed in the past, check them out below:

• Best New Series: Paper Girls
• Best Publication for Early Readers: Little Robot
• Best Publication for Teens: SuperMutant Magic Academy
• Best Humor Publication: Step Aside, Pops
• Best Digital/Web Comic: Bandette
• Best Reality-Based Work: March, Book 2
• Best Graphic Album - Reprint: Nimona
• Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Two Brothers
• Best Writer/Artist: Bill Griffith (Invisible Ink)
• Best Penciller/Inker: Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls)
• Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Dustin Nguyen (Descender)
• Best Coloring: Jordie Bellaire (Pretty Deadly)

Paper Girls, Volume 1

I have read a bunch of comic books written by Brian K. Vaughan, including Saga, Y The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways. What they have in common is a lot of strong character work, high concept stories, and suspenseful pacing. He has accomplished much over his career, both in comics and in other media, such as when he was writer and producer of Lost, winning multiple awards including a few Eisners. I am glad to say that his track record of creating smart, fun, and exciting series is intact with his collaboration with artist Cliff Chiang (known for his exceptional work on a number of DC Comics titles, most notably Wonder Woman), Paper Girls.

This volume collects the first five issues of the ongoing series, which focuses on four 12-year-old girls who have paper routes in 1988. Our story starts when a newbie, Erin, gets accosted by some thuggish teenagers.

She then meets three other paper girls, Mac, KJ, and Tiffany, and they all form a sort of gang/clique.

The characters' interactions are lively and interesting, and the book would be fine if it just focused on their interpersonal relationships, but there is a twist. These girls happen upon a weird, possibly alien object that turns their lives upside-down. Life radically shifts from normalcy to something strange, which might be an alien invasion, a visit from future people, or the Rapture. It's not really clear, but I have to say it is an intriguing and fun ride. Chiang's artwork is vibrant and clear, and Vaughan's story is typically great. I think that he writes the best cliffhangers in comics, and he really knows how to hook readers and then keep them in suspense with lots of twists and turns.

All of the reviews I have read about this series have been glowing. Shane Boyar concluded, "It’s a lot to take in over just 5 issues, but with a creative dream team like the one Image has gifted to us with this series, and a elevator pitch that is “Stand By Me meets War of the Worlds” there’s no other verdict for Paper Girls than BUY IT." Jennifer Cheng wrote, "The cliffhanger is both surprising and funny, but mostly I look forward to seeing more of these characters. Vaughan and Chiang are a dream team combination, and "Paper Girls" looks like it's going to be another winner for both of them." Vaughan talks at length about his inspiration and work on this series in this interview.

Paper Girls, Volume 1 was published by Image Comics, and they have more info, previews, and links available here.