Paper Girls Volume 1

{First of 6 volumes Paper Girls series 1-5; graphic novel, YA, sci-fi, mystery} (2016)

I've seen this recommended around LT and I considered getting it for my kids, who enjoyed watching Stranger Things but unfortunately, volumes 1 and 3 are not available from my bookshop. I managed to find it on Overdrive but for some reason it had to download on my browser rather than on the app (maybe because it's a GN?). This made it a bit awkward to read, especially as I kept having to reload/ refresh the browser quite a few times.

That aside, it is an intriguing story and at 1/6th of the way through, I would like to see how it plays out.

I'm going to have to get hold of a hard copy and re-read this properly but I'm planning on continuing with the show more remaining five volumes of this series. I like the way the artists have mixed ethnicities and social classes without making a song and dance about it. (In this year of high sensitivity I couldn't miss that.)

3.5 stars

Okay - I managed to download the GN to my desktop where I didn't have to constantly refresh the screen and I had it on the larger screen which made for a more cohesive experience - and maybe reading it the second time through helped me understand the story a bit better.

The story begins in the early morning after Hallowe'en 1988 (the year of the Bush/ Dukakis election) in Stony Creek, Ohio with a twelve year old girl getting up very early in the morning to do her paper round on her bicycle for the Cleveland Preserver. As she does her rounds, she is accosted by a group of older teenage boys but then rescued by three other paper girls - Mac, Tiffany and KJ - so she asks to join them. And then things get weird as they are attacked by beings. Whether these are aliens, people from the future or people from a parallel dimension we have yet to find out ...

We start off with the main protagonist, Erin, in heaven having to save her younger sister from hell but we quickly realise she is dreaming. At a later point she has a delirium dream (compered by Ronal Reagan); I'm not sure if her dreams tie into the story somehow but there is a constant theme of an apple.

Intense. Intriguing. I want to know what happens next - actually, I want to know what just happened.

I'm upping my rating to 5 stars ***** show less

Stranger Things made a bigger cultural splash, though this began to come out at roughly the same time. Set in 1988 with a young cast and bizarre goings-on, the comparison seems natural enough. Erin starts her first morning delivering papers in her quiet suburban community, and hooks up with three other paper-girls. Before long things start to get seriously weird, with strange figures stealing their walkie-talkies, lights in the sky, something really strange in a basement, and then, and then... things get wilder and weirder until things are completely bat-lizard boo-yaa gosh wow what the hell was that? No slow build-up King pastiche, this is zero to holy moses in two issues flat.

Writing by Vaughan is clever and sharp, the usual strong show more characterisations and cliffhangers and plot-twists and reversals. The art by Cliff Chiang is drop-dead gorgeous, lovely colouring too. A great cast of characters helps, as does never knowing what the heck is going to happen next. show less

Early on the morning of November 1, 1988, four twelve-year-old girls are working their newspaper route in their small town in Ohio when all hell breaks loose. People begin to disappear and there are literal monsters in the streets and while no one could possibly believe it, these four girls may be the only ones who can figure out what's going on.

I adored this first volume in this series. Our four main characters are flawed but realistic portrayals of pre-teen girls in the 1980s thrown into a fascinating sci-fi plot that is mysterious and (thus far) well constructed. I am super eager to see where this story goes.

This was AMAZING!! I love the 80's setting, the female paper delivery kids who kick ass, dinosaurs, aliens, time travel all wrapped up into one glorious comic. The artwork, the story - as confusing as it is - OMG! I'm not even going to summarize it here - just grab a freaking copy and READ IT!!

I love Vaughan's Saga so was excited to see his newest project, which is very very different from Saga in premise, setting, and tone. In the 1980s, four young paper delivery girls band together on November 1st to deliver papers for safety in numbers against the post-Halloween gangs. Only, instead of the usual November 1st danger, things get extra weird. People start disappearing, there is a new gang roaming the streets dressed in mummy-like rags, and there's a weird space capsule thing in the basement.

I have no idea what I just read or even what is going on, but I really enjoyed the ride. It was confusing as fuck but there were enough hints of what was happening to intrigue. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this title.

Review copy show more courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley. show less

Wait, was I the only one who freaking LOVED this?! Yes, there's a lot going on. The end does start to unravel just a little, but I thought the collection as a whole was great. If you like Vaughan and, say, Stranger Things then you need to check this out. The next collection will definitely make or break the series but I am leaning more towards "make".* The characters, dialogue, and art (SUCH ART. VERY COLOR.) were awesome.


*I usually reserve 5 star comic book ratings until the second volume has come out, so this could drop to a 4 star later, but that remains to be seen.

I can’t remember where I came across a recommendation of ‘Paper Girls’ - probably on here somewhere? I didn’t have any particular preconceptions and tend towards low expectations of graphic novels; Mike Carey's 'Lucifer' and Grant Morrison's 'The Invisibles', which I read as a teenager, have proved very difficult to equal. So I was delighted to find ‘Paper Girls’ immediately compelling, with impressively strong visual storytelling and brilliant use of colour. The 1980s suburban setting and supernatural/sci-fi oddity invite comparison to netflix’s Stranger Things. I found Paper Girls faster moving, weirder, more disorientating and claustrophobic. I’m hooked and have already reserved the next volume.