Moore's SiP Lives On as Backlist

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on September 12, 2006 Sign up now!

by Kate Culkin, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 9/12/2006

Although Terry Moore announced earlier this year he will end his acclaimed and long-running self-published comic Strangers in Paradise, he wants to make it clear that while he's moving on to other projects, he also has extensive plans to support and promote the SiP book series and to protect its legacy.

First published in 1993, Strangers in Paradise will end with volume 3, issue 90, which will be published in May 2007. In an interview with PW Comics Week, Moore explains he simply believed that SiP had run its course. But he acknowledges the pressure involved in ending the popular series—"I have spent 13 years on this and I would feel terrible if I didn't give it the ending it deserved."

The heart of SiP's story is the complicated relationships among Francine Peters; Katina (Katchoo) Choovanski, who is in love with Francine; and David Qin, who is love with Katchoo. But over the course of the series Moore added noir-inspired mystery and intrigue to the plot as well. The comic gained a loyal following of readers who appreciate SiP’s realistic portrayal of female bodies and the complexity of human emotions and relationships. It has won numerous awards, including the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.

SiP is also notable for its success as a self-published comic. With the exception of three issues published by Antarctic Press and eight published by Homage Comics, Moore's own Abstract Studio has published SiP's entire run. In addition, Abstract Studio has republished the series in a variety of formats: trade paperback and hardcover collected editions, as well as pocket books, affordable mass-market size trade paperbacks that each collect over 15 issues. Moore explains the pocket book editions are "the best thing we have ever done," and notes that they allow new readers to catch up on the series quickly and inexpensively and are attractive to the book and library markets.

There are five books in the pocket trade book series; a sixth will collect the final issues. There are 18 trade paperbacks and there will a 19th with the final issues. Moore estimates that he's sold 400,000 copies of the trade paperbacks and 60,000 copies of the pocket trade book editions since their debut two years ago. The first trade collection, The Collected Strangers in Paradise, and pocket book #1 are the bestselling books in the series. These figures are for North America only and do not include worldwide sales. SiP is published in nine languages.

Moore also emphasizes that the final issue of SiP is not the end of his involvement, just the completion of a book series that he will continue working to promote. He explains, "Typically a book is marketed after it is published. But I have been making this epic novel and selling it as it went along. I am looking forward to finishing it and handing it over to the reader, finding new readers and letting the world see it." Moore plans to keep the pocket books and trade paperbacks in print. He also plans to work with a book designer on more elaborate collected editions, citing Fantagraphics' elegant reprint series of Charles Schultz' Peanuts as a model.

He would also like to work on a sequel to Strangers in Paradise: Treasury Edition, a commemorative collection published by HarperCollins in 2004. Moore believes the Treasury, which includes excerpts from the first seven years of SiP along with material on his creative process, failed to attract new readers to SiP because the book market did not know quite how to market it at the time. A second volume would fare better, he tells PWCW, because the pocket books, which were published after the Treasury, have now attracted the attention of the book market.

Moore is also aiming for an ending that will tie SiP’s various threads together into a cohesive work. "I feel a responsibility to bring the story to a close so it can be read as a book, instead of just a rambling cartoon."

While keeping the details of the final issue under wraps, Moore also explains that his vision of the ending changed significantly following the 9/11 attacks. He originally planned a dramatic "Heathcliff-esque" conclusion. After the attacks, however, Moore took a year off and then "decided to trash what I had and refashioned the ending to leave a story of hope and love."

He's also exploring several options for his next project. Although he declined tell PWCW any details, he did note that he would like to write novels and continue to create comics. Citing such influences as Agatha Christie and Patricia Cornwall, he says his is aim, no matter the genre, will be to explore human relationships and create fully realized worlds for his readers to visit. He says his fans should not feel abandoned. "My intention," says Moore, "is to go on and introduce them to a new set of friends."