How did you get started on SIP

[gollum]

heh...i'm guilty of the "my boyfriend got me into SiP" story...Squid (my boy) had the SiP calendar on his wall my freshman year, and i asked him about it, and he was like "it's from this comic i read." then, that summer when i went to visit him out in Oregon, he had to work, so one day before he left for work he pulled out his box o'comics and said "read from here to here", his entire collection of SiP (no tpb's after the high school series, he's very proud of that). i read 'em all in a day while he was at work. he wanted me to read them becoz he didn't know anyone else who read SiP. i also found this board (and subsequently, STP) becoz of him, all those years ago...

<g>

------------------
Sometimes i think everyone on this board is crazy. The rest of the time i'm sure. -Dan
somehow i see [gollum] clinging to a tower and rousingly calling for a new world order. -starky

would you forgive me
for hanging up on you
and crying myself to sleep

[bupps]

Yet another SiP fan originated in the Xenaverse. I'd been hearing about this "really cool comic" w/2 chicks as focal points and decided to check it out when the Xena parody issue came out. Trundled to the local comic shop, looked through the issue, said "eh, whatever" and put it back on the shelf. Didn't really see what all the fuss was about. Time passed and I still kept hearing rave reviews about this absolutely wonderful, stupendous, touching story (that and Lunacy's reviews). Well, I caved. I found the first 6 TPB's relatively cheaply on eBay, figuring I could always sell them again later if I didn't like 'em. Needless to say, I stayed up all night reading them, then reading them again. Promptly found the SiP website and on-line store. Bought the other TPB's available, single issues to fill the rest and started my subscription w/#35. Now I'm a SiP junky. It's the only comic I've ever read and I would have lost out on a lot if I had never tried reading it again!

------------------
Recent SiPvert...
consummate lurker....(trying to change her ways...) :P
....but failing miserably!!

[Necrom]

Hi... I've recently (less than a month) become interested in SIP. I've been collecting comics for over 10 years now. The first 2 titles I made a point to get all of the time were X-Factor & Excalibur (from Marvel). I eventually lost interest in X-Factor, but collected Excalibur until it was cancelled. Hmm...I did my share of collecting the "X-titles" (X-Men, etc.), for years. Buying what I knew without really thinking. I became interested in some manga, especially 1 title named Maison Ikkoku. It's subtitle was "Where wacky hijinks can't stop a great romance!" It's a sweet romantic comedy that has made me laugh & cry over the years of collecting it. A pretty unusual comic to pick up for a guy used to reading about bigger than life super heros. As the years have gone by, I've become alot more picky about what I buy & read. One time at a movie store, I see The Maxx TV series on tape. Curious, I buy it & take it home that night & watched it. I was...amazed. It was weird & wonderful & deep & touching & powerful. I made a point to start picking up issues of the Maxx when I could find them. (I also thought "Friends of the Maxx" was fanastic, too bad it only ran 3 issues). While looking for the Maxx, I noticed Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. Not the normal comic that's up to issue 400 or something, but the first of a 5 part limited series about the origin of the blind crimson clad crimefighter. Having generally lost interest in the super hero genre, I don't know why I bought that issue, but I'm glad I did. Because 1 of the people who worked on the series has become someone who's work I've come to greatly admire: Frank Miller. Wow, this guy can write. He removed Daredevil from the typical cartoony style that turned me away from Marvel. Miller really humanized the Man Without Fear & made him someone the reader could identify with & care about. Soon after, Sin City: That Yellow Bastard came out. Noting Frank Miller's name on it, I collected it as well. This is about the time I started collecting comics based on the writers, not the title nor whichever company was promoting it. Sam Keith, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, some others. These people had a talent I could appreicate & enjoy. I had matured & my taste in what I read had changed. I had rediscovered my love of comic books. For awhile, I only made it a point to collect Maison, picking up whatever caught my (more picky) eye. Then, I noticed Knights of the Dinner Table, by Jolly R. Blackburn. I instantly hooked. How could I not enjoy a comic about my favorite hobby (roleplaying)? If each issue doesn't have me burst out laughing, it at least puts a smile on my face. So, I collected these 2 comics for awhile, until Maison Ikkoku was cancelled. Well, finished. The story had ended. It was time, but I was still a little sad about it. So I only really read KotDT until I moved to London (Ontario, Canada...not England). Somewhat bored, I started picking up more comics. I got all of Frank Miller's Sin City stuff (A Dame to Kill For is my favorite), one of my roommates showed me the Dark Knight Returns (which I loved), I picked some some Batman stuff like A Death in the Family, The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum &...Batman: Year One. Wow, Miller did it again with that one. Again he takes a bigger than life super hero & humanizes him. The other titles makes the reader ask "How sane really is the Batman?" One day I was bored & decided to do a websearch on Frank Miller. I found a site that lists everything he's worked on. The webmaster was a obvious fan & had a link listing other comics that he enjoyed. In that list was Strangers In Paradise. Curious, I did another websearch & found this website. After looking at the Characters, SIP Episode Guide & glancing through the discussion forum, I decided the next time I went to the local hobby shops around here, I would look for issues of SIP. I found the 1st TP & bought it. Without reading it, I ordered the 2nd & bought what back issues I could find that day. I had a feeling I would really enjoy this comic. Bad as it sounds, it just felt right. I took my spoils home & read the 1st TP cover to cover. After doing so, I sighed with contentment. I had found a replacement for my much beloved Maison Ikkoku. Knowing I would have to wait at least 2 weeks for the 2nd TP to arrive, I read the scattering of back issues I have. Having a very incomplete picture of the other story arcs, I was (& still am) fairly confused. I got the 2nd TP last Saturday & read it this morning. Great stuff. Now I just need to buy the other TPs. Heh... I have an account at 1 of the local hobby shops & now they order an issue of SIP for me.

Hmm, this turned into a personal history of my comic collecting instead of how I got into SIP. Hope no one minds...

From the few times I've read this forum, I get the impression that Terry Moore reads & even participates here. Just wants to say "Thank you", for Strangers In Paradise. It's one of the best things I've ever read. Please keep it up.

[Strontium90]

My buddy Chris at the local shop recommended it to me as I was searching for something worth the time and effort of reading all the TPB's to catch up.

I was hooked instantly and have been addicted to it ever since...

[Leia]

I was waiting for the following edition of GEN13 when the owner of the comic store (Saint Luis!) said, pic this one while GEN13 doesn't come. And it was Vol 3 number 4. That one with Katchoo drunk in the cover. I thought interesting, and now here I am.

Kind of weird, hm?

[blurr]

I got into SIP many years ago (early '95?) with Vol. 2 issue 4. I was at Bedrock City here in Houston, having stopped in with a friend; she was dating a guy (a real creep, for the record) who collected Duckman comics, and she wanted to see if there were any back issues available.

I ended up finding some new Vertigo stuff (I was falling headfirst into a Sandman phase at the time if memory serves), and there was a shop employee who was talking up SiP to me and my girlfriend. I guess he thought we were right in the target range for this book -- and looking back on it, I have to agree. Let's see: two best friends, early 20s, one petite and fiesty and the other tall and robust, both with lots of long hair . . .I guess I can see his point. :-)

Anyway, he slipped the issue in with my purchase, saying he was sure I'd like it and return for more. And I did. I believe I bought issues 1-3 there at Bedrock City, but either scarcity or price kept me from getting the miniseries. Not long after, while on a business trip near Detroit, I went out of my way one evening to dig up a comic shop that sold the Vol. 1 TPB. I was thrilled - now I could find out how these two had gotten where they were in Vol. 2!

Since then, I've kept up faithfully with every issue, picked up the 'gold foil' reissues, and even bought the French trades online. I was hooked on SiP from day one -- it's just really weird to realize that day one was something like six years ago.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to thank the comic store guy. He'd told us on the day he slipped me that SiP that it was was his last day to work there, and sure enough, I never saw him at Bedrock City again. I know he'd be pleased to know what a happy addict he created in me.

Here's to a great book and the story that still lies ahead!

[Lil Mel]

I was looking in my friends comic catalog one day trying to find the latest issue of Battle Angel when I came across an add for a Strangers in Paradise poster. I thought the art was increadible and it definatly looked like something worth checking out. After about a month of looking I finaly came across an issue being sold at a flea market by my house. It cost me a quarter but the contents were worth so much more. It was issue 2 part 3 I believe.

------------------
*lIl MeL*

-Her lips were red,
Her looks were free,
Her hair as yellow as gold;
Her skin as white as leprosy,
the nightmare life-in-death was she
Who chilled men's looks with cold."
-Ann Rice

[RichC]

I was managing a comic book store for a chain and we got 10 copies of Vol II#1 in. By the end of the day we were down to one copy, so I said, "This must be something I haven't heard about.", and read it. I was hooked ever since.



------------------
"And do we always gotta cry? Do we always gotta live inside a lie? Life's just a blast that's movin really fast. You better stay on top or life will kick you in the ass."

[LuAllen]

I got in to Strangers in Paradise when a friend of mine that worked at a comic shop recomended it to me. She even let me borrow her trades. Now i am hooked i buy all the back issues i can and am saveing up for the trades. This book is funny sad touching and more human than any comic written today. This book makes me laugh and cry at the same time. And it also reminds me of why i love comics as a medium of story telling not because of spandex but good stories that film and TV cant tell properly.

[Niccon]

I still remember how I got started...
When I visit my aunt and uncle and cousin in Toronto, I stay in my cousin's room and she usually crashes on the basement couch.
She had a small pile of SiP trading cards on the shelf next to her window. I looked through them at one point. (Carefully! My cousin would probably break my arm if I damaged her stuff, but it's okay to look...)
I was intrigued to say the least. As I recall, the two I remember in particular were "Busted!" (Katchoo just coming out of the house to find a small arsenal of guns trained on her) and "Ooh...Champagne?" (A picture of the prostitute that was with Freddy after Katchoo's friend threw through her through a door into the room with the guy toasting the health of his blow-up doll)
I asked my cousin, "What are these about?"
She told me that they were from this great comic book series she was reading, and pulled Vol. 1 off the shelf and showed it to me, told me I should read it.
I was fascinated by the end of the first couple of pages, and at the end of the first volume I was completely hooked.

Now, the first thing I do when I go to my cousin's place, after I bring in my luggage, is check the shelf...
New volume!
(A la Zell Dincht) OOOOOHHHHHH YEAAHHHHHH!!!!

Wish I had a decent income so I could afford to buy my own copies. Not that they're likely to sell SiP out where I live, anyway.
Ah, well. (Three more months until summer vacation... sigh...)

------------------
"I have nothing to put down here, but everyone seems to have something, so I put, er, this. Which turns out to be something. Foof." - Me.


DJGEAALLNMEFIENOESNRLD