Carrying the banner.
By Jeff Lake
At this point they may as well add the release dates of Brian K. Vaughan’s new titles to the list of national holidays, so circle worthy are they on our calendars. Vaughan’s latest, Paper Girls, traverses the early mornings and front stoops of 1988 Cleveland, OH, as seen through the eyes of four young paper delivery girls. Joined by the stellar art team of penciller Cliff Chiang and colorist Matt Wilson, Paper Girls is a lovely start to a coming of age tale full of surprises, and one that makes good on utilizing its extended page count.
Solicits of Paper Girls have billed the read as Stand By Me meets War of the Worlds, and issue #1 is quick to embrace said comparisons. To say much more would verge on spoiler territory, but suffice to say Paper Girls is far from what you’d expect, Vaughan blending his more traditional coming of age tale with an intriguing sci-fi bent. The best part of said mix is how little it informs the direction of the issue as a whole. Even with the many strange occurrences happening within the books loaded pages, Vaughan never once ceases to put his characters first. He uses the double-sized issue to cram in as much character work as possible, ensuring that each of the four paper girls – Erin, Mac, Tiffany and K.J. – are gifted their own unique personality and voice.
Vaughan’s past work has already shown how adept he is at getting a story up and running at the first flip of the page, but it’s still somewhat mesmerizing just how naturally this first issue flows. The writer shows a remarkable deftness in his structure, his characters, setting and driving premise unfolding at a perfect pace. Some may find the read’s initial start as a bit on the slow side, but with 40 pages of content Vaughan uses every page to both flesh out his characters and plant seeds for what’s to come. Its such natural, well balanced storytelling that the book’s sudden and inevitable reveal feels almost unnecessary. Obviously the book’s final act informs much of what will happen in the miniseries going forward, but for a while we were content to simply follow four budding pals through the rising dawn.
That said, the final act is sure an intriguing one, the many sprinkled breadcrumbs culminating in a truly mysterious final page. Much of that involving mystery comes courtesy of Chiang’s detailed art. The artist puts on a clinic here, his pages moving from wildly surreal to impossibly real and back again with seeming ease. In his hands there’s no such thing as a quiet page, each panel stuffed with eye catching nuance, both in terms of setting and physicality. His Cleveland is a living city, one tempered and subdued by the early November chill, and his many time-specific designs go a long way in selling the book’s time and place. It’s the little things that stand out, from the toys littering the room Erin shares with her sister to the construction logos stamped on the frame of an unfinished house. Those same little quirks extend to the characters themselves, as every bit of personality, from Mac’s assured swagger to Tiffany’s deflecting humor, is easily apparent from page to page.
Wilson too earns his keep, invigorating Chiang’s pencils with his deceptively brilliant hues. For the most part his colors do their best to stay out of the way, often utilizing flat blues and inky purples to render the fading dark. However, in two standout sequences – the opening dreamscape and the closing cosmic kaleidoscope – Wilson shows just how deliberate each unique pairing truly is.
In the end, Paper Girls is exactly the kind of book we hoped for coming from such an esteemed creative team. It’s real and natural in a way that begets its sci-fi leanings, buoyed by the rock solid characterization that permeates every page. Vaughan’s deft handling of his engaging leads carries the read through even its slowest lulls, and Chiang and Wilson serve as an excellent one-two punch in keeping us visually immersed. While the end reveal is more confusing than truly enticing, when coupled with everything that comes before it results in a read we can’t wait to find on our stoops next month.
Paper Girls is a great read from top to bottom, driven by the assured characterization of its central leads. Vaughan’s pacing allows for immediate investment, something Cliff Chiang and Matt Wilson further with their excellent art. While the book’s sci-if leanings aren’t yet as strong as the rest of the piece, there’s more than enough here to get you excited for what’s to come.
