SDCC'S TERRY MORE PANEL

[MattBrady]

by Marc Mason

Friday at Comic-Con International, Strangers in Paradise creator held his yearly panel for fans of the book. This year, Moore also offered advice to folks hoping to create their own comics, generously offering up the steps needed in order to print and distribute their books, as well as actual names and phone numbers of contacts who could help them make it happen. Some highlights of the panel:

- Moore first recapped the last year's events in the book, which among other things saw Francine get married and begin the "split" period between her and Katchoo that (as far as the book's timeline goes) lasted ten years. Moore also told the secret origin of David, which provided a "fix" for why David, a Japanese-American, has the Chinese name "Qin." Moore also told the story of Katchoo's first major art opening, which allowed Moore to show some of the work he's done on the side while creating SIP, even though he does recognize that his personal artistic style and sensibility doesn't exactly match Katchoo's.

- Coming up in issue #67, which hits stands soon, Freddie Femur will return, and run into an old girlfriend named Emily Stryker who is joining the cast. Emily works in the morgue, which Moore noted had sent him into research mode. Laughing about her vocational choice, Moore discussed how he had begun to find cruising autopsy and forensic websites "addictive" but added that they're "not good for comedy."

- After that, the vibrant and sexually dynamic Casey will be making her return to the storyline, as Katchoo heads to Vegas, where Casey is working as a showgirl. Moore himself went to Vegas last year and found himself "inspired." He also promised that Francine would return in that story as well.

- Moore also addressed a small picture of Francine that appeared in a recent issue that showed her with a lily-shaped tattoo. Acknowledging that fans would likely scream bloody murder if Francine somehow turned out to be one of the book's evil "Parker Girls" (a group of cold-blooded prostitutes and killers), a logical explanation was promised. Francine's husband Brad will also be taking a job in Houston, which Moore hinted will cause friction. "He's a gynecologist, you
know," Moore grinned slyly, "that's going to be trouble."

- David will be back as well, although Moore wasn't specific about the timing. His mentioned sister who has never appeared in the series will finally show up, as well as the sister of the real David Qin whom he murdered and took his name. Many of the other supporting cast are due to return as well in Moore's sprawling soap.

- Moore displayed the first pocket-sized trade paperback that Abstract Studios is now producing. Meant to give a uniform trade dress and size to help sales in bookstores, book one compiles the first sixteen issues in a manga-sized package. He noted that the next three "contain twenty-issues apiece, and the pictures on the spine will combine to make one big picture on the shelf." Plans call for all four to be in comics shops by January, before they roll out to regular bookstores, partially as a "thank you" to the direct market, which has supported him for all this time.

- In October, the Strangers in Paradise hits bookstores from Harper, Collins publishing. It's in color, and by contract contains at least 60% new material. Included are a never published issue one that Moore canned, behind the scenes notes, development sketches, and some "uncensored" material that he has been concerned would be censored by comics shops.

- He recently took the TV and film rights off the market again, as the process was going nowhere, and the folks who were talking had no money to work with. Moore did report that there's a small British film in production right now titled "Finding Strangers In Paradise" that deals with life and love amongst a group of friends and contains a subplot about one of the characters seeking an issue of SIP. It's being made by a company called NightShift Films.

- Moore also discussed working on other projects: "would like to", shooting an interview for a documentary crew "they got a lot of personal stuff out of me without me realizing it at first", and his now-delayed SIP novel "not working on it at the moment." He also expressed a desire to put out an art book, in color, without his work being under self-censor because of the current cultural climate.

Marc Mason writes the graphic novel and comics review
column "Should It Be A Movie?" for MoviePoopShoot.com