Paper Girls 3

by Brian Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson & Jared Fletcher
collects Paper Girls #11-15
volumes one & two | three | four | five | six – complete

In the third installment of Vaughan, Chiang and Wilson’s mind-bending time travel adventure, our girls are finally reunited – but they’ve arrived in the very distant past. Like, prehistory past. (PS: does anyone else think it’s weird the volumes don’t have titles? Just me? OK.)

Expect to have just as good a time as the last two volumes, but what the girls find – and whom they run into – will only bring up more questions rather than answers. Again, this is the guy who wrote for Lost, so this isn’t the biggest surprise. Regardless, while the girls’ adventures in prehistoric-jungle-somewhere throws in more time portals, a new character from the future, and some weird fourth dimensional being, the real focus of the story is of course on our protagonists Erin, Mac, Tiffany and KJ.

The girls struggle with everything going on – but we see them continue to bond with each other, have each others’ backs, even clash with each other at times – but regardless they aren’t afraid to risk everything for each other, and for people in need – the way you have a strong, though simplistic sense of justice as a kid. Vaughan gives each of them a clear voice and personality; none of them feel like stereotypes and it’s very refreshing that none of them are the wimpy girly-girl (like Bethany from the new Jumanji movie). It almost feels like a science fiction version of Stand By Me with all girls.

KJ gets the highlight in this arc – which is great because she was missing for most of the last volume. Last time we focused on Erin (and her future self), as the brainy, somewhat reserved newcomer to the group. Hockey stick-wielding KJ stole my heart in the first arc – perhaps because she reminded me of my first favorite comics character, Kitty Pryde – and she really shines in this book. KJ is impulsive and potentially the most violent of the three, but that makes her a girl of action who is not afraid to get her hands dirty – and I hope we find out where her rage comes from later on. But she is also fearless – we learn that KJ was involved in a tragedy involving a pool in childhood, and therefore refusing to swim, but when one of the other girls falls in a river, she is the first to jump in. mild spoilers – KJ also gets her period, and props to Chiang for depicting this scene very well, along with some very amusing writing as Vaughan reminds us these girls are growing up in the 80’s, and there is some naïveté among them.

Perhaps this means we’ll get a Tiffany or Mac highlight in the next book – considering where the (surprising) final pages took us, I’m betting on Tiffany.

We’re also introduced to two more characters, Wari and Dr Braunstein, both of whom are enjoyable but I didn’t find myself particularly attached to them, and I’m not sure how either of them move the story forward. Aside from a mysterious old man in earlier installments, all of the main characters in the book are women. They are smart, resourceful, and in Wari’s case, completely capable of felling huge animal creatures and taking care of an infant son at the same time. (We often don’t think about ancient people using curse words the same way we do, but the use of the translator here was quite hilarious.) The only men we see are three men who act savage, but might know more than was let on, and an infant child. While it was a little confusing that these five were out in the complete wilderness without any sort of village, like Monstress, it is refreshing to read a book that is focused on sisterhood (even if it comes from male creators). And there is a definite queer subplot as well, always a plus.

Chiang, as in previous volumes, continues to wow with his artwork – along with creating an immersive jungle environment, monsters and fabulously weird future technology, each of the characters is wonderfully expressive. He also allows for big panels that focus on said expressions, and really give you a moment to pause and appreciate whatever moment is being highlighted. There is also a special series of panels that switch to landscape mode when KJ experiences some wonky time effects (because of course KJ touched an alien thing) . And of course Matt Wilson’s colors are just gorgeous, mostly dreamlike greens and blues to match the jungle atmosphere, but of course there are bright purples and reds – usually in the form of future or otherworldly things – that create a very bright contrast.

It looks like the creative team has chosen to feature new characters on each cover, which is an interesting choice, as it sparks intrigue while keeping things minimalist, and at the same time saturated in color.

If you’re looking for answers, you will find this book disappointing. Answers is the long game, however, and it’s not as important as investing in the girls – and Dr Braunstein who will certainly be a huge player later.* I have other books to read but right now I want to grab volume 4 as soon as possible, since it’s already out. At the moment, the biggest problem I likely face is having to read all the volumes again once the pieces start coming together – but hey, no complaints from me there.

*just a note as a Jewish person – there are definitely some Jewish moments in here, because KJ is Jewish, and apparently Dr Braunstein is both Muslim and Jewish – but when praying she prays to Allah and “Yahweh.” Maybe things change in the future, but that’s not what we Jews call God. She would have just said God, or Adonai (what we say in prayer), or Hashem if her Jewish background was religious. Just seemed weird.