Paper Girls # 1 : Mystery, sci-fi and girl power in the 80's

If I was asked to name a comic book writer from the last two decades who is able do constantly blow my mind with each different story, I would choose Brian K Vaughn. I think no one has been able to tell vastly diverse tales, with distinctive characters, places and time periods while, at the same time, raising important sociopolitical and philosophical issues. From the gender discussions and post apocalyptical world of Y: The Last Man to the crazy worldbuilding and reflections about love, war and race of Saga, time and time again, Brian is able to make important commentary whilst portraying deep and complex characters in beautiful story moments capable to touch the hardest reader’s heart.

And with Paper Girls it is no different. At the imminence of a live action adaptation in a form of a series ordered by Amazon Prime, the plot of paper girls is constantly compared to that of Stranger Things. We follow the lives of four pre-teen girls in the 80’s who deliver newspapers and suddenly see themselves wrapped by a strange string of events. Similarities aside, there are plenty of differences between the two stories. Not only does paper girls feature a bolder, tougher cast of characters, it also focuses more on the sci-fi elements as well as sociopolitical themes, including the difficulties of being a girl.

The issue does a pretty good job of setting up the mood and portraying the characters personalities. Even though we spend the majority of the issue within some form of normalcy, there are hints of weirdness right at the beginning with Erin’s nightmare. This serves the purpose of unsettling the reader, in a way that even if nothing weird is happening through the next pages, there is a tension in the air, keeping us alert. Amidst the suspense we follow Erin in her first day as a paper girl, when she meets the other 3 main characters of the comic book.

Erin is the typical good girl, smart and as socially aware as 12-year-old can be. Mac is the rebel tough girl and de facto leader of the group, the first paperboy to be a girl. Tiffany is the science nerd and KJ is the casually tough kid with a snark sense of humor. Brian’s genius in writing these girl’s gathering shows through finding the balance of their dynamic. What could possibly be a cliché conflict is actually an amicable contrast of worldviews so as to show the reader who each of the girls are.

But before I go on about the other aspects of the narrative, I must take a moment to talk about the art. I am a big fan of Cliff Chiang’s work. He has a distinctive style with bold lines that highlight the character’s expressions, but what strikes me the most in the book is the use of color. There is a predominance of blues in this issue, partially because of the time frame of the events (before dawn), sometimes accompanied by analog colors.

Some panels with bright sources of light or a different setting show a mix of analog warm colors. But it is in the moments of tension that we see complimentary colors used to highlight the emotions. In this manner, at specific panels, the blues and oranges are more vivid and mix in such a way its contrast makes the emotions more poignant. So not only is the setting provided by what is happening but also by how the colors are used.

Going back to the narrative we have a steady sequence of events with some exposition while the girls are riding their bikes. The first half of this double issue is slower, but still carries its conflicts. We are introduced to different opponents, each with escalating importance and offering always more questions. From teenage bullies, to weird alien like objects and strange figures we go along with these girls through a walk around town that picks up the pace in the comics second half as more creepy stuff happens culminating in an interesting cliffhanger bound to make the readers long for the next issue.

Paper girls is a good start to a promising comic book. It offers good characterization, interesting comments on the 80’s society that reflect contemporary issues, a good pace, beautiful art and enough puzzling elements to make you wonder what’s going on. It is definitely worth a try and if you are a big fan of adventures you mustn’t miss this one.