‘Strangers in Paradise XXV’ Will Cross Over With ‘Rachel Rising’

Terry Moore’s creator-owned masterpiece Strangers in Paradise returns in 2018 to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a year-long, ten-issue series titled Strangers in Paradise XXV — and it looks like Francine and Katchoo will be catching up with some familiar faces along the way.

Just released on social media, the cover to the series’ second issue depicts Katchoo, seemingly keeping watch on a pair of shadowy figures in the distance. Hiding beside her (or possibly from her?) is Earl, the most prominent male character from Moore’s horror series Rachel Rising, implying that the upcoming Strangers volume will in fact cross over explicitly with Rachel.

“I feel like I’ve earned that,” Moore told ComicBook.com when we discussed the idea of a crossover with him during San Diego Comcic Con. “It’s like you’ve set up all your dominoes and so you’re the one who’s earned the right to push them, and I’ve set up all this inter-networking of characters and the day I can draw them all in one scene is going to be a delight.”

Strangers in Paradise, which ran from 1993 until 2007, was Moore’s entree in the world of comic books after a career in advertising, music, and animation. It centered on three friends (Katchoo, David, and Francine) who had a complex relationship — and two of whom had dangerous, intersecting pasts.

Each of Moore’s three other series since Strangers concluded has included members of the Strangers supporting cast in one role or another: Echo used Tambi Baker and Casey Femur, while introducing a mysterious box that would recur in Rachel Rising — a comic that featured the short-lived SiP supporting character Jet, as well as a previously-unnamed lesbian couple who had bought one of Katchoo’s paintings at the gallery where Jet had worked. A minor supporting character in Motor Girl was Francine Peters’s aunt.

“Been waiting as long as possible to reveal this one,” Moore explained of the new cover. “But The Diamond Previews catalog image is out and about now so the lid’s off.”

This summer, we asked whether Moore might do a major crossover between the properties for the thirtieth anniversary of Strangers in Paradise.

“I can’t wait that long,” Moore responded at the time.

Strangers in Paradise XXV #1 will be available in stores and online on January 17.