The Strangers In Paradise Website: SIPReviews

Here's what people are saying about the newest SIP issue:

samorama
sam@samorama.com
September 15, 2003

I've been a faithful fan of SiP since Vol 2 issue 9. I used to buy a LOT of books back in those days, now SiP is the only thing that draws me back to the comic shops every 6 weeks (i'll pick up a few other titles as well, but never unless a new SiP is out).

I just wanted to thank you for the amazing emotions you convey. There's no other book that can make me laugh, cry real tears, or come as close to little parallels in my life. I do mean little, I haven't been hired on any sniper assignments...lately.

incredible work, terry. can't wait for another ten years. though if you leave us hanging THAT long...

Monique
nikki112459@aol.com
September 11, 2003

I am completey hooked on this book. I have never been interested in comics since I was a child. Now this is like a soap opera in a comic book. It is grown up and in your face. I enjoy completely. keep up the good work.

Damian Trasler
d.trasler@ntlworld.com
September 08, 2003

Having worked my way through SIP history by collecting TPB's I was always smug reading people's wails for new issues. After all, I was getting them four or five at a time. Then I caught up to "Heart in Hand" and had to buy it from the site, as I couldn't get it anywhere here in the UK. I managed two weeks cold turkey before I cracked and bought all the way up to issue 59. Now I'm in the same boat as everyone else, chewing the furniture until the next issue comes out.

I'm not going to offer a critique of #59. Obviously I'm still hooked on the story and each page is a joy. The new, edgy Casey has been a treat, and Sara is going to wind up the tension too, but give me more Cherry Hammer!

Love it, even all the way over here in the UK, where nobady looks like Katchoo, and getting a mental soundbite of Francine's Southern drawl is a bit tricky. Roll on #60.

Damian Trasler

Todd Haney
allazar@earthlink.net
September 08, 2003

I've NEVER been so scared to turn a page in my life! Casey put her foot in ever so deep! More elements settle into place as we make our way to issue 60--has it really been this long, Terry? This tale seems as fresh today as when you started with no discernable end in sight! Can't wait to see the SIP Compendium! Ten years of SIP bound up in one reference tome--are any laws of physics being circumvented in order to pull this off?
Waiting to see what pops out of the hat now...
Peace.

jenn
September 06, 2003

I love the contrast between Tambi's way of operating and all previous 'bosses.' I mean, Darcy Parker seems inefficient by comparison- and Veronica, a joke! Tambi gets the job done, no questions asked. And then she's quite good to her reliable employees! I guess that comes from her experience in working for a royal parker.

The end of this issue, when Katchoo confronts her past, was fantastic- It was so dramatic! What a great way to express her fury toward her stepfather! I also liked how her poem brought the story full circle- back to the high school issue. Great story telling! And I can see a family trend in revenge here: She walks up, torches the grave and rewrites his tombstone--then leaves to attend more important business. Straightforward and efficient- just like her big sister.

Can't wait to wrap up with Francince's wedding! Poor Francine- she looks so bewildered.

kris
kristinminnis@hotmail.com
September 04, 2003

this is getting sooooo good.

Wendy
gibran9621@yahoo.com
September 01, 2003

By far my favorite cover art so far!!!!
It was so amazing to see Katchoo and Francine in "real" light(so to speak), and made me feel like I was being introduced to them all over again.
As far as Casey....Grrrrrrrr.....what else can I say? And the emotion in this issue is totally heartwrenching...setting fire to his grave...surprising, yet...not surprising...I almost felt guilty seeing so intimately into Katchoo's heart...

Pavel Hossain
pavel515@hotmail.com
August 30, 2003

sorry to say that I have not yet read a single of issue of this comic...

i will be very grateful if you arrange some ways to provide me with the issues of "strangers in paradise"

amy gilhooly
pinkosquare@aol.com
August 30, 2003

Dear Terry,

Wow. Simply wow. Issue 59 was like a five course meal that left me feeling fat, lazy and happy. For the first time in a long time now a SiP issue left me completely satisfied and at peace. No "Nooo, not the letter column!" aggravations. I loved the subtlties and I am once again astonished at your ability to add humor in the most unlikely of places. Having Casey blurb out the death of Katchoo's step-father had me rolling on the floor. By far my favorite issue this year.

My real reason for writing, though, is to compliment Ray Lago's beautiful painting that graced the cover. I found myself looking at it so much and admiering its beautiful earthy and realistic tones my original copy got worn out and had me buying two new copies. It was enough to cross my mind weather to inquire on its availability but knowing an original page of SiP goes for $300 I wouldn't dare.

Thank you for a wonderful threat to conclude the summer, Terry, and thank you, Mr. Lago, for my favorite SiP cover.

Loving SiP til it stops loving me,

Amy Gilhooly
Tustin, CA

magz
August 29, 2003

I think Terry should start a rolling character Kill Count for SIP... I'd say Vicki is the most recent, and go back from there.

magz
August 29, 2003

I think Terry should start a rolling character Kill Count for SIP... I'd say Vicki is the most recent, and go back from there.

Lynz
August 25, 2003

Awesome. Just awesome. Every new issues if riveting. I loved the lastest one cause now you know something is really building to a head.

Fred Davis
doktord@pacbell.net
August 21, 2003

"Don't play with your food"

"DON"T PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD" !!!!

There are moments in movies, and sometimes books/comics, that move me to laugh out loud, if not actually bark with simple delight. I get that more and more from Cherry. Lordy!

I agree with previous posters: Bring it!!

Fred Davis
doktord@pacbell.net
August 21, 2003

qawful
quaful@yahoo.com
August 21, 2003

THANK GOD I actually found a copy of issue #59! What power this issue has. And I just knew that Casey would have to fess up the the *message deletion* sooner or later. ; )

Donna
DippyTheWisp@aol.com
August 21, 2003

The world stops and I am transported into the universe that you have created. Every word is digested and analyzed, every frame viewed with a cynical eye. "Will they ever find their common ground? Will their hearts ever know the truth and the joy of true love? Darn it! Get with the program already!" Ah...but Terry has a plan and for what it's worth, I signed up for the ride. 6 more weeks and i'll climb back on the rollercoaster.

God bless ya Terry, what's it like to be so loved and so hated in the same breath?

Rock on!

steven curtiss
mulderxy@aol.com
August 20, 2003

Beautiful, i glad that stupid bitch got what she deserved. I mean, what gave her the right to interfere with katchoos life. She had no right to be mad at francine. The reason francine left is because katchoo slept with casey, which makes her the bad guy. Slut. Im surprised that katchoo didn't kill her, i would've. Yay, now we get to see Katchoo beat the crap out of that brad guy. The next issue should be pretty interesting. Hmmm, and i think that when tambi said, "shit" i think it meant that the test proved to be negative. Yay, tambi gets to pay david another visit. Either to screw him... or kill him. DON'T KILL DAVID!!! WE LOVE HIM

steven curtiss
mulderxy@aol.com
August 20, 2003

Tracy K. Woodard
rosin_dust@hotmail.com
August 20, 2003

Well, THAT character went away quickly.

Artlife753
ambonomo@mtholoke.edu
August 20, 2003

First off great issue. Not as emoitionally forceful as 58, but it moves things along for the Wedding (scary isn't it).

I am fairly new to SiP so I am reading along the TPBs with the new issues. Katchoo's speach over her stepfathers grave is like her poem in SiP High School, and I really admire that continuity in character relations. It was also a nice contrast to have Tambi, Cherry and Becky violently look after her when she is going through her fathers work. Part of that stroy line feels like it was wrapped up to fast, or does this mean that the whole Parker Girl thing is over, with the exception of the FBI and Sara. Everyone is berecoming involved now. I just wish we got to see more of Franv=cine this issue since 58 focused so m uch on her.

NK
August 19, 2003

Goodbye Lindsey, I hardly knew ya! Wow, talking about twists in a story!! Thanks Terry! Love Tambe, Cherry and Becky!! My fav line this time has got to be Katchoo's: I have a wedding to crash. Can't wait for the next issue!!

BigBenedikt
August 18, 2003

Hey!!! We finally get to see Davids Story! I cant wait for that one! Tiny Dave - was he as shy as a child as we got to know him at the age of what was it- 23!? Did he turn out that way after something horrible happened to his parents!? Was Darcy a victim too? Did she get raped maybe and learned a wicked way to love and to focus people and lovers in her life? Damn I am so excited! How will this turn out? U know I really hated the part when David sat on that frikkin mountains pick like a chick bakin an egg and well an even more submissive japanese girl servin him tea! Damn! I mean to run away and stare at mother nature doesnt help much normally or does it?`Especially not if u get visited by a half-male super woman that sucks ur cock in to get ur sperms! Whoa was Tambi scary or what!? Well nevermind, that was the trashy side of Sip, this serie is just as dramatic and crappy funny as I am, I just love the whole thing, ok besides a few things that just did not work out for me- I dont know about anybody else as I dont know anybode else who reads them- but actually I also cant wait to see, how u get the big crush goin between Francie and Kat, there must happen something real cruel to get them apart like that long and I am sure, Francies neurotic mind has enough potential to misunderstand Kats try to help her find the "right" way. Poor Casey, opening the letter was definetly a lil much for that afternoon. Did anyone find the rest of scar lady anyway!? Whatever, no wonder a few readers expect even the girlfriend of Griffin Silver to be a Darcygirl, she has the same look as every girl had before, an icecold karma, they hardly smile and they look way too perfect. Why should anyone run for those ladies- I dont get it.
I got all the SiP issues right from the start, when the 6weeks are way too long, i also start to collect the paperbacks to fool myself and tell my brain "Hey lucky u, it hasnt been 6 weeks and u already carry ur fav crap home again!" I had no idea that the story I loved right form the start would turn out that dark and possesive, tha the characters had to go through this hell without getting much time to recover- David seems to be out of the game, so I am just glad to read more about him. He was a cool gang leader wasnt he? A tough guy so to say that turns out into a poet! I cant wait to see how u explain a step like this and after the las Casey scetch u did I ge the feeling that the coloured issues of Fran and Casey meeting up 10 years later is still quite possible. Maybe Casey just started to repress all that connected her to Kat, maybe she just started to fool herlself like having a normal less complicaed life from now on, marry Joe and well get along with it and well who was Katina Chovanski again!? I really like her a lot, I understand her longings for a deeper friendship with Kat for she is worth all the trouble and she is closer to the real nature of love and friendship than anyone in the whole story but Case is still not enough herself and just a leaf in the wind and scared to loose and be lef behind. What am I sayin here? Maybe just thank you for the work, the art and loveable characters, cruel cliffhangers and guys, u learn to love even they r nothing than ink and a little mindmagic- and the moving moments of course, finding out that bad people had a bad past too- I cant wait to see Darcy suffering and turning from a real innocent teenager into a Boa destructor! Please mentionher in Davids story! She cannot have been evil right form the start, nobody does

KayKae
August 17, 2003

Its getting better!

Kathryn
titanide@yahoo.com
August 16, 2003

Wow. Just wow. This comic started out amazing, and it just keeps getting better.

Y'know, I felt so sorry for Lindsey, after hearing what she'd gone though and how strong she was being about it.

Then we found out she was lying.

So then I felt sorry for Vicky, after seeing what Tambi did to her and how strong she must have been to survive.

Then she plans a horrible death for Katchoo, and with that one smug smile I lose all sympathy for her and BAM! Perfect timing, Terry. Horrific, but perfect.

Damn, the confrontation between Katchoo and Casey must have been FAST. I didn't even notice the first time though that little "Ring" from Lindsey/Vikky's cel-phone. That would be Casey, calling to say their plans were cancelled just before the plans were, heh, cancelled.

I'm really hoping that wasn't a negative result on Tambi's pregnancy test. If it was, she's going to be hunting down David for a second try, and I don't thing the poor boy can handle any more.

Troy Gardner
lbm1367@aol.com
August 16, 2003

I recently re-read the entire run of SIP to help me fiure out who was the duck. I must say that Becky doesn't play around at all. Just my type of woman. I really like the wa that Katchoo's poem was retold at the gravesite. Terry always a great writer. I was hoping to hear something from David. You would think that Francine would have some contact or able to leave message to him.

Sundini
sundini4@yahoo.com
August 14, 2003

Vicki's exploding hand. The look of understanding that I saw in her eyes before they were scattered from desimated bone. It all seemed so abrupt. We saw her past, what happened to scar her, revenge seemed reasonable.
I've been tainted by Hollywood features where we would've witnessed Vicki's rage through a hack & slash bodycount, the conflict ending as Katchoo and Vicki fight for the gun, Katchoo coming out on top, injured yet victorious. Pretty contrived, huh?
Something like that was what I anticipated, but after reading SIP for close to eight years, I should have known better. You're a much more thoughtful and observant writer than that. I apoligize.
The way you did it from left field, and yet, everything was in place. That's life; little details that can snowball into a change of fate.
Thank you for introducing me to Paradise. I look forward to staying for as long as it lasts.

Alec
August 14, 2003

Hey Terry... gotta say, that was one of your best issues in a while... cant wait to see what's coming up next... also, i loved the inclusion of the "pinup gallery" at the end... especially andy lee's piece... i'm a big fan of his work (as well as yours of course), and it's nice to see his work around... anyway, keep up the good work... cant wait for the next ish.

donna
hrdlckwmn@yahoo.com
August 14, 2003

OH MY GOD!!!! How do you manage to reach into my life on a regular basis and pull out the issues that I am dealing with? Or is my therapist truly Terry Moore in disguise? I know you hear this from everyone all the time, as a first time contributor here, I have to say OMG!!! over and over again. Thank you for giving us closure on at least one of Katchoo's issues, with her step-father. Think my dh wonders why Gibb at the Ogre hooked me on SIP, but thank the powers that be for Gibb and you. Run Katchoo, RUN GIRL! I will be waiting for you......ps: witll we ever see a SIP movie?

BarbaraJ
sipfan79@yahoo.com
August 11, 2003

Oh wow! That was so worth the wait Terry. I almost missed the ept on the counter in my first hurried read thru and had to turn back to the front when I finished. That didn't look like a very happy expression on Tambi's face. :(

I love Tambi, she is one of my favorite characters in the series, she has been for quite a while. I felt absolutely Vindicated when Vicki was caught!! Yay Cherry!!! Nice shootin' Becky!

Awesome,..and when Katchoo found out about Francie's wedding and Casey's big screw up,...ooooooooh!!! I knew it was coming. This just keeps getting better although I almost dread issue 60.

Fantastic issue! Bring it on!

Zeta
zshearil@hotmail.com
August 10, 2003

It was great. I finally know WHY Francine left Katchoo! I can't wait to see where you are going next with this story.

Sharon
August 10, 2003

Wow, This issue really hit home for me.
I have a friend with the same unfortunate past as Katchoo's. It was difficult to read and the poem "The Mask" really says it all. My friend is still struggling with her childhood as is Katchoo. Sometimes your stories are not fiction and this is one of them.
Thanks for a powerful issue..........
Sharon

ChillyWilly(mastayoda)
August 09, 2003

Tambi is really a great character, in the same time she can gives love and death, with a phone call and a gun, and in the other hand a pregnancy test. I'm very thrill by the capacity in this character, she still can impress me like that after being in the story during 10 years! incredible!
but just one thing, I want to see more about David, he was my favorite character, because of his contradictions, because of his troubled history. he's now in the shadows, like a supporting cast, and I definitely want him in a first role.

Michael
happybunny@home.nl
August 09, 2003

This is a fantastic issue,it has it all, loved the use of the poem by the grave side.Tambi in the bathroom, waiting for the result, loved it. I think that Casey did the right thing by telling Katchoo about the phone call.

Great issue roll on #60

T.S. Barker
TimYo@Comcast.net
August 08, 2003

I'll keep mine as brief as everyone else.
What can I say? I'm a Tambi fan. (I'm still holding out that she's pregnant or will be.)
What went down and how it went down was brutal but necessary. Seeking revenge is never a good option, and if you chose to do so you have to be better than the person you're going against.

As for Casey...not so cute now is she?

As for the Fed...I think we all know who she is, but I get a bad feeling from Cherry. I don't know why, it's just something. She's not stable.

I also wonder if we really know everything about Margie. She seems to come and go as carefully as a Parker girl would. She's back working for Freddie who now works (I might be wrong.) for the DA's office.
I addition, I don't think that Freddie or Chuck are going to let the murder of their client simply rest. A gasoline fire is "cleansing" but a shatterd hand, a gasoline can re-constructed to show a bullet hole, an exploded skull, purchases made at the store on her credit card (maybe) and the last phonecall made on her cell, ect. may leave a enough evidence for things to start getting real ugly.

Of course only you, Terry, know where your going from here.

P.S. I think I'm becoming a Becky fan too!

P.P.S. I don't know alot about cell phone image transmissions, but I think it may be a important plot point.
Does anyone know if this data is stored somewhere or how difficult it may be to intercept these transmissions?

arkhangelsk77
snoro23@hotmail.com
August 07, 2003

all i can say is that the use of Katchoo's poem, "This Mask I Wear" was just perfect.

Pierre Dupont
crazypierre@hotmail.com
August 07, 2003

Ok...

At the start I thought Katchoo was talking to Francine's son, buried, and that this was in the future...until I started reading again.

When I first saw Tambi I thought it was Lindsey actually...until I caught the home pregrancy test, and then it clicked. I'm not sure she isn't pregnant, but it's probably for the best if she isn't...

It was cool seeing Cherry Hammer again, she rocks. And Becky too! I always loved Becky, she was (and is) so efficient and everything.

Lovely to see Margie around again, and working for Freddie. I get the impression she and Freddie will both be at the wedding, since the "rape case" is now deceased.

Now to Casey and Katchoo...It's good that Casey came clean, and I'm glad that she did. But what we are seeing in Casey is far more worrisome than some addle-brained blonde making a mistake. This is someone who is secretly manipulative and trying to shelter someone, to the extent of stopping her from making decisions and prying into her friend's personal life. I mean, why would she open Kat's mom's letter? And worse, how would she KNOW that the word funeral was anywhere unless she had looked at the letter closely? I am liking Casey less and less every day. She is using a facade of bubble-headedness to be intrusive and invasive.

As for Ace finally dying, no tears shed from this party as I know someone who has gone through the same thing Katchoo has...

All in all, this issue brings closure of sorts:

Closure with Vicki Weiss being shot.
Closure with Ace passing away.
Closure with the rift between Katcoo and Casey.
Closure with Francine getting married.

Good issue Terry, now give us the wedding!

;D

Pierre Dupont
Ottawa, Ontario

Amy
August 07, 2003

I have the hugest crush on Cherry.

I do hope these two storylines (DUCK and Ace) haven't wrapped... I don't think they have...

A Hood
popname12@hotmail.com
August 07, 2003

Ugh! They got the Duck! I know I was one of the first people to guess the correct identity of the Duck but Why did she have to die so quickly????? I know she was after a favorite and important SIP character of ours, but I did not want her to die or at least not in such a horrible fashion. I mean Bam and then poof or splat(choose your own sound effect). Nooooooo!

I hate the Becky character so much now. Yet, I do see her as a necessary evil to the SIP world and her type is unfortunately needed in this world as stated by Terry at end page of this issue... somewhat.

I will miss you so very much. You were good to Francine and the girls for a moment. Of course your plans at the end did deserve a proper beat down.

Crap, what kind of woman is gonna help Freddie become a better man? Well here's hoping Margie can do it!

Thanks for making Katchoo's responses to Casey mostly realistic(by not totally & completely losing it--she's matured somewhat) and I am glad Katchoo handled herself better than her sister did with the Duck. Not even a chance to let Tambi know what she helped to make her and how much pain she caused her(but then again what she was planning to do would have sent a clear message). Nooooo! I hope you get it where it counts Tambi. HARD! Go get them FBI.

I'm rooting for the FBI. I must really hae Tambi to be doing that! lol :P

Ok Fanboy rant over...
Male Supporters of Freddy Club

ernster
egarcia3@swbell.net
August 06, 2003

i was actually hoping that katchoo would find him before he died..

maybe send her sister to take care of him...

too late, i guess...

hope francine doesn't pull a "ross" (ala friends) at the ceremony..

i, francine, take thee katina....

iz again
August 06, 2003

child molester. ... child rapist. go, kat. (yay!!!! terry's finally telling us david's story! i miss him so much!)

iz
apatheticjoy@yahoo.com
August 06, 2003

wow.... i k now what i said about casey's intentions last time, but opening mail? >_ i just feel bad for tambi. i know she can always try again, but.. the look on her face. wow... if you had told me 5 years ago i'd be feeling sorry and wanting to hug tambi... wow. now *that's* character development...

Cindy Clayton
cindyc@io.com
August 06, 2003

I just read this issue over lunch, and I was floored. Floored, floored, floored. *On* the *floor*. Wow.

Thanks, Terry. This one was definitely worth the wait. You da man!

I have to say that if Casey, or anyone else for that matter, found it necessary to open a personal letter addressed to me from a family member, I'd have had to throttle her too. Talk about a bad decision--that's the Irish setter side of Casey, the over-eager side that Tambi noted on the beach some time back. *Bad* dog, Casey. No aerobics-instructor biscuit for you!

Looking forward to #60 ... no pressure, of course. ;-)