The Second Volume Project: "Paper Girls"

(This review will contain spoilers for both volumes of the series. If you're not super sensitive, you might not mind; I'm not going to spell everything out.)

I enjoyed the first volume of "Paper Girls", even if the mystery seemed to run so large that it threatened to overwhelm the series.

I like the girls just fine, but having absolutely no idea what's going on and watching things just get weirder and weirder with an ever-growing cast of crazies uttering mysterious things and general notions -- it's concerning. I'm sure Brian K. Vaughan knows what's going on and what he's building up to, but initially this felt a little "Lost" in all the bad ways.

The first volume ended with the Paper Girls transported into the crazy future of 2016, where Erin meets herself as an adult. The interactions between Future Erin and the kids are all great. The awe and wonder at the things of the future -- like the giant thin TV that must be a lottery winnings purchase -- is fun to see, and thankfully doesn't overwhelm things.

Many of the issues I had with the first trade paperback are still present in the second. There's still at least two other sides of this story past the Paper Girls' one, and it's still too soon to tell if either of them is supposed to be a rooting interest or not. How deep does the deception go? Even if the wise old man is right and is doing the right thing, he's also collecting people and preserving them in stasis chambers of some sort. The good guys rarely do stuff like that.

I'm giving this book an enormous amount of leeway for a few reasons:

First, Vaughan is still a master of teasing and tantalizing his readers. Just when you're worried things are going off the rails, he pulls something off that hooks you back in, such as Mac's discovery that she's going to die from leukemia. He's so great at those last page reveals and cliffhangers that you can get something out of every issue just from seeing what craziness happens on the last page.

Second, the girls, themselves, are interesting. What started out as a stock set of 80s movie characters are developing wonderful personalities and sympathetic demeanors. Even Mac, who was supposed to be the hard-as-nails tough girl has her weaknesses and her reasons for doing many of the best things. (Pulling KJ off the board for the entirety of volume 2 is a little weird, though, and I hope there's an explanation in volume 3 for that. Maybe she's the focus for volume 3?)

Third, Cliff Chiang's art is super crisp and clean. There's never any confusion with the storytelling. I tend to think the way so many of the lines get knocked out with color is a bit much, but Matt Wilson is consistent with it, and the rest of his color scheme is unique and interesting. (Seriously, no other comic on the stands looks like this book, just based on the coloring, alone.) After a couple of pages, you get used to the knocked out portions and they don't bug you so much.

Chiang is also convincing at drawing Erin at two different ages. Everything from the clothes to the hair to the facial features fall right in line; this is definitely the same person, 28 years removed. Chiang does an incredible job with something that could very easily go wrong in a very bad way.

Fourth, sometimes it's fun to get completely lost in a story. I know this runs counter to most of the first half of this review, but there is something to be said for jumping into a new world and being surprised at every page turn. (There are monsters in this book.) The tricky part with it is keeping it in context with all the details in mind so when connections get made, you're not lost. For now, I'll just jump on and enjoy the ride. A later re-read will help bridge those gaps and make those connections for me. In the meantime, flying dragons and mysterious Apple devices and helicopter hijinks are all good for me.

Finally, and leave it to Vaughan to change this all around in volume 3, but the storytelling structure is starting to come to light. Each volume features different "bad guys" and puts the girls in wildly different situations. And each time, the overall mythology of the series gets pushed down the field a little further. I really thought they were going to jump into the future world at the end of volume two, just to set up another time traveling adventure in a completely unfamiliar place. Like I said earlier, it might also be that he's concentrating on a different Paper Girl with each volume, and then KJ would be next.

In the end, this second volume belongs to Erin -- the past, present, and future versions of her. (Or should that be "present, future, and far future versions"?) Vaughan and Chiang present that relationship well, while surrounding it with the larger story that's happening in the series, slowly but surely.

I'd like to see some more clear cut explanations of the series' back story soon, just so my head doesn't hurt from trying to figure it all out. It gets back to the whole "difference between confusing and complicated." I'm OK with the latter, so long as you can explain it to me at some point...

In any case, I'm happily continuing with the series, and I do think the second book is taking the series in a good direction.

Fare Thee Well, Chew

(There are no spoilers here. Only tears for a series that will be missed.)

Tomorrow sees the release of a new issue of "Chew."

That's the last time I can ever write that sentence. "Chew" #60 wraps up the series.

The concept of a 60 issue series seems to have run its course. Once upon a time, it was a model worth aspiring to. The only series that made it 60 issues were ones that were relatively popular and critically acclaimed. Think of "Sandman", "Transmetropolitan", "Y the Last Man," "Scalped", and "Preacher".

OK maybe it was just a Vertigo thing. "Chew" was originally pitched to Vertigo, so it all makes sense now.

You can kinda sorta add "Bone" to the list. It only made it to #55, but close enough and it had a complete story. Keep stretching and you'll get to James Robinson's "Starman", which made it to #81, with a proper ending point.

Anyone have any idea how many issues of "Hellboy" Mike Mignola has both written and drawn? Did he make it to 60 by any count?

Unfortunately, today's comics market doesn't reward serials of that length anymore. Sales slide starting with issue #2 and never recover. Short term boosts -- like variant covers or major guest artists on an issue -- don't sustain sales, either. People just want the new #1 and ignore everything else. That's one of the reasons I do The Second Volume Project, one of which you saw above. Series that are good should be rewarded for sticking around, not ignored and taken for granted.

If "Chew" is, indeed, the end of the line for the 60 issue series, the format will go out with a bang. Issue #60 ties up the title beautifully. To use the cliche phrase we all do in a situation like this: "Chew" #60 sticks the landing. Hard.

I've read it multiple times now, and the final pages just feel stronger every time. I won't spoil it, nor will I convince you to read it at random. If, for some reason, you didn't want to start it unless you knew it had a strong ending, then I can tell you that it's safe to pick up Volume 1 any time you want to start.

That's what I want to do right now. I want to read over to my bookshelf and grab a handful of trades and re-live the experience. I just need to figure out where my copy of volume 5 is hiding...

Congratulations to John Layman and Rob Guillory on their success. "Chew" was a fun ride, and I'll miss seeing new issues.

On Wednesday, I'll have chicken for dinner in their honor.

Let's hope there's no crazy writing in the sky the following night...

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