Strangers in Paradise Spinoff Parker Girls Announced

By Russ Burlingame

After weeks of speculation, award-winning cartoonist Terry Moore has officially announced that his next comic book project will be Parker Girls, a spinoff of his long-running series Strangers in Paradise. Moore released the cover(s) of the series' first issue, featuring a woman on a beach, her skirt parting to depict the "Parker Lily," a tattoo of a lily that the Darcy Parker's criminal underlings the Parker Girls were forced to get in Strangers in Paradise, suggesting that the spinoff will be set in the world of organized crime. Who the main characters will be, and whether they will be characters fans already know, is not yet clear.

During the original run of Strangers in Paradise, Darcy Parker and her criminal organization served as the series' central antagonists. Prior to the start of SiP, series lead Katchoo had served as part of the organization, as well as being Darcy's girlfriend for a time. Recurring "Terryverse" characters Cherry Hammer and Becky will be featured in the title, according to Moore.

Moore's first issue will feature two different covers, with colors being the only thing that differentiates the two. If someone were to subscribe to the series via Moore's website, they would get both covers. Pre-orders on Moore's website will begin on May 1.

You can see the announcement below.

Both on social media and on a recent episode of Paneloids podcast, Moore had hinted that the new project was something he had been thinking about for a long time. In the podcast interview, he indicated that the project would start in July, although last night's announcement says August. The title will be available for preorder in the next issue of Previews. That's probably when fans will learn whether the story would be set in the present day, when a more benign Parker organization is run by Katchoo's sister Tambi Baker, or whether it would be a prequel, focusing on Katchoo's time in the organization under Parker.

Strangers in Paradise ran from 1993 until 2007, and served as the launchpad for Moore's comics career. In the years since it ended, all of his other creator-owned series -- Echo, Rachel Rising, Motor Girl, Strangers in Paradise XXV, and Five Years -- have shared a space with Strangers and featured at least one prominent character from the title's world. His most recent series, Serial, served as a spinoff to Rachel Rising and concluded in February.

Recently, Moore put his entire creator-owned catalog up for sale on Humble Bundle for $35, and has already raised about $14,000 for the Hero Initiative. Fans who want to get caught up on prior stories set in the world of Strangers in Paradise can do so for cheap between now and April 28 by clicking here.

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