Comic's demise leaves doors open

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jun 10, 2007 by THE COMICS FAN BILL RADFORD Columnist

All stories, Terry Moore says, must come to an end.

For 14 years, he has been telling the story of three central characters -- Katchoo, Francine and David -- and their complicated relationships. That story comes to an end this month with "Strangers in Paradise" No. 90.

The story will live on in various collections, including affordable, paperback-size Pocket Books. Moore also is looking at releasing an omnibus next year, collecting the more than 2,000-page story in one package. And while he's retiring his beloved characters as far as comics, he notes that he left some holes in the story that could be told in another format.

"I like the idea of novels filling in some of those holes," the writer-artist said before an appearance last month at Bargain Comics in downtown Colorado Springs.

Not that he has left comics behind. He's planning to launch a new title this fall, tentatively titled "Motorgirl." Like "Strangers in Paradise," it will be published by his Houston-based Abstract Studio, which Moore operates with his wife, Robyn. Unlike the black- and-white "Strangers," though, the new title will be in color.

"The basic premise," Moore said, "is a young woman living in a tiny desert town in Arizona, working in a dusty motorcycle shop as a mechanic. And her dream is to find and restore a vintage World War II Harley-Davidson."

Moore is clearly drawn to strong female characters. The reason, he said, is simple. "I feel like there is enough literature about what men do and not near enough about what it's like to be a woman and live on a planet full of predators."

If it sounds like he's not a big fan of his own gender, that's because he often isn't.

"I'm pretty tired about where mankind is taking things. After thousands of years, they should have figured out how to live in peace."

"Strangers in Paradise" attracted male and female fans. Moore said he has been surprised at book signings to discover the wide range of readers for the series. He attributes that to tackling universal themes.

"I just tried to write on an internal level about things we have in common: love, anger, frustration. It doesn't matter what your gender (is) or where you live or what your accent is, we all have the same buttons to push."

Being writer and artist gives him greater creative freedom, he said. Many times, he'll sit down to start drawing after writing the script and find the story taking off in a different direction than written.

"I'm not stuck with what I wrote," he said, "and that's good."

All his characters at one point or another have written themselves, he said. The one that surprised him the most was a secondary character, Freddie, who broke up with Francine at the story's start.

"In the beginning," Moore said, "all I wanted Freddie to do was be a jerk. But I had so much fun writing his diatribes over the years that I slowly began to peel the onion and discovered the abused, bullied, scared little boy inside."

The character he'll miss the most is Darcy Parker, a ruthless "nexus of evil" who met her end before the series did.

"She was so fun to write," Moore said. "I killed her off in a spate of justice, and I've missed her ever since."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or comics@gazette.com. For daily developments in the world of comics, go to www.gazettecomicsfan.blogspot.com.