Binge-worthy Backlist Bonanza: Terry Moore’s ‘Strangers in Paradise’

Looking for something to read while stuck at home? The Smash Pages crew recommends a meet-up with ‘Strangers in Paradise.’

In the current climate, many industries are in a standstill as people isolate and wait out the coronavirus. The comics industry is no different, with Diamond Comic Distributors shutting down, leaving comic shops without a supply of new weekly comics.

With that in mind, we’ve introduced a new feature this week, Binge-worthy Backlist Bonzana. While new comics might not be arriving for a while, your local retailer, favorite online site, digital comics provider or even favorite creator can still supply older comics that you might not have read yet.

Today Corey Blake revisits old friends between the pages of Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise. Watch for more from the Smash Pages crew over the next days and weeks.

In this age of social distancing and isolation, there is a strong need to reconnect with old friends, fictional or otherwise. Cartoonist Terry Moore has an uncanny ability to create instant lifelong friends in his comics. His current project Five Years brings together characters from almost all of his previous comics into one storyline. As that series (and all comics) are forced into a pause, it’s a good opportunity to revisit old friends.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Sophie Goldstein and Jenn Jordan

The duo discuss their latest graphic novel, “An Embarrassment of Witches,” now available from Top Shelf Comix.

An Embarrassment of Witches is the new book from Sophie Goldstein and Jenn Jordan. Goldstein has made a name for herself in recent years with her comics like House of Women and The Oven, but before those books came out, Goldstein and Jordan made the webcomic Darwin Carmichael Is Going to Hell, a colorful romp about life in Brooklyn where mythological creatures and minor deities live next to artists and hipsters, and the protagonist is dealing with a karmic deficit and trying to save his immortal soul.

An Embarrassment of Witches is very much a related project, mixing the fantastic and the mundane in different ways. The book is about the friendship of Rory and Angel, two longtime friends after college, each of whom are foundering in different ways that strain their friendship. It’s about relationships and changing relationships with parents. It’s also about interdisciplinary magicks, botanical alchemy, and combines these elements in a way that makes the world feel new and fantastic, but is always about character and emotional above all.

I met Goldstein and Jordan years ago at Webcomics Weekend and was thrilled to talk with them about their new book, which I think is the best work they’ve done to date.We spoke recently over email.

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