Strangers in Paradise #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeStrangers in Paradise #1 marks the debut of one of the most significant creator-owned series of the 1990s independent comics movement — the first comic book work of writer-artist Terry Moore and the opening chapter of what would grow into a 107-issue saga spanning three volumes over fourteen years. By centering its story entirely on the emotional lives of two women and placing a queer female romance at its core during the early days of the direct market's superhero dominance, the series carved out space for a 'slice-of-life dramedy' that had no close peer on the stands in November 1993. Over its run, the series went on to win the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story, the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award, and multiple GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Comic Book, making it one of the most-decorated independent titles of its era. The issue is the sole source of the first appearances of all four cataloged characters — Katchoo (Katina Marie Choovanski), Francine Peters, David Qin, and Freddie Femur — whose intertwined relationships sustained the entire subsequent mythology.
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Terry Moore had spent years attempting to break into newspaper syndication before abandoning the gag-a-day format, and the characters who would become Katchoo and Francine emerged from that pile of rejected strips. After receiving rejection notices from every publisher he approached, Moore sent a blind submission to Antarctic Press, which picked up the project — a publisher whose output at the time consisted primarily of manga-influenced genre work, making the pairing, in Moore's own words, 'a weird marriage.' The first issue shipped with a stated print run of 3,000 copies, and when the three-issue miniseries was complete and had attracted positive critical notice, Antarctic Press offered Moore a new contract; he declined and founded his own Houston-based Abstract Studio imprint in 1994 instead, following the creator-owned self-publishing model demonstrated by Dave Sim and Jeff Smith.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Katchoo (full name: Katina Marie Choovanski), Francine Peters (full name: Francine Helena Peters), David Qin, and Freddie Femur — all four characters make their comic debut in this issue.
- Published November 1993 by Antarctic Press as the opening chapter of a three-issue miniseries (later designated Volume 1 of the series).
- Written, drawn, and lettered entirely by Terry Moore — his first published comic book work.
- The issue exists in three Antarctic Press printings, distinguishable by indicia text: the first print carries no printing designation and lists a stated run of 3,000 copies; the second print adds the text 'Is Katchoo a lezbean? Is this so?'; the third print omits any Katchoo reference.
- A 20th Anniversary Edition and a gold-logo variant were subsequently published under Moore's own Abstract Studio imprint.
- The story initiates the central love triangle: Katchoo is in love with Francine, who remains involved with the unfaithful Freddie; David Qin is introduced as a new arrival whose feelings for Katchoo will shape the entire series.
- The first-print cover already encodes character meaning: Katchoo wears a necklace with two interlocked Venus symbols, signaling her sexuality from the very first image.
- The complete three-issue miniseries was collected in The Collected Strangers in Paradise (1994/1995), which also included the five-page SiP story from the Caliber Press anthology Negative Burn #13 plus developmental artwork — this trade remained continuously in print for years and served as the primary entry point for new readers throughout the series' run.
Cast · 4 characters
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