**Spoiler** So, I finally read the last two issues

[Dano]

The last two issues were a joke. This is not why I read SiP. I read SiP for the story of the three friends, not this convoluted "let's get major movie studios interested in me" crap.

Ok, here's my point. The mob stuff is well-written, as far as that goes, but if he wanted to do stuff like this, he should have started a new comic. Call it Mob Women Stories or something.

I mean, yeah, I understand about Katchoo's past and all that, yadda yadda. But come on! Sisters? What the hell kind of second-rate plot device is that? Terry's better than that.

My main complaint, I guess, is this...
Why clutter up what is a beautiful story about three people who love each other with this made-for-cable-movie-of-the-week? This is High Fidelity, this is Chasing Amy, this is the fucking Graduate. What Terry's been giving us is Goodfellas, Casino, Bound and Set It Off. Good movies, but I know what I personally would rather watch.

[Darth Fett]

Well Dano, this story was ABSOLUTELY necessary. As Terry mentioned in an interview, he has said over and over how Katchoo has a dark past, and he figured it was time 'to put up or shut up'. Would you believe the tension between K & F if K's dark past involved late fees at Blockbuster? No of course not. Now, maybe you think that her past has already been dealt with and is finished. Well, what has been revealed previously didn't show the depths of darkness Katchoo dwelled in until #37. Mostly it showed her as abused and used. Now we see she was much more of a participant than was previously thought, especially given her current actions.
As far as sisters goes, it was right there in front of us the first time Tambi called her Cinderella(ish 7? of I Dream of You) Sure, most of us thought, nah, couldn't be, it'd be too easy... and then dismissed the idea. Well, that's the beauty of a well written story-the obvious link still works like a charm, because you assumed it wasn't and dismissed it. I know that I did.
No, this wasn't great crime drama. Yes, there were plot holes you could drive a tank thru. But they didn't matter. They aren't what the story was about, so they take a back seat to the setting of the stage for the character drama, which was laid out quite nicely in #37(Veronica's ramblings, and what they reveal about Katchoo) The details of the scene with Sal? Thin at best, plain silly at worst. But unimportant. It sets the stage. Terry knows his limitations as a writer, and I am sure was shackled by his own desire not to get 'too dark'(see his commecnts re: Molly & Poo). The beauty is that the characters are so powerful, the details blur and don't really matter when you view the whole picture, as long as Terry is able to evoke the proper emotions in them(the characters...sorry, awkward sentence...)
Unless Terry wanted to hand the book over Brian Bendis or Greg Rucka for a few issues, this was the best way to get the job done, the story told, and set up what happens next.
My suggestion? Let the issues sit a week or 2, then read them again. I bet it'll come off better the second read, because you will have already internalized the details. It worked for me!

Darth Fett

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'If you could be God's worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?'
-Tyler Durden

[gollum]

finally got caught up to SiP (if you hadn't noticed, this is the first time i've been here in a year or so, coz every time i get caught up, i manage to do it *right* before a new ish comes out...which i've once again done, since the next one comes out what, the 31st?). i've gotta say that i sort of agree with both of you. i haven't been real happy with the way the story's been going lately (ever since the plane crash, it seems). but i've gotta wonder what Veronica told Francine. if you'll notice, in #37, Francine leans on David the whole time--a complete switch. i would assume that this explains the 10 year gap? (ironically enough, David's probably done just as bad of things as Katchoo....)

*shrug* i'm still interested to see where it's gonna go.

-g

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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

[Darth Fett]

Well, like it or not, Terry did say that that part of the story IS done, so you don't have to fear anymore of it. The next 24 hours are revealed in 3 days when #38 comes out, barring a bizarre printing acident in Canada or the plane carrying it getting hijacked to Libya.....

Darth

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'If you could be God's worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?'
-Tyler Durden

[Mibbitmaker]

......or getting blown up by Veronica!

[KarmaPolice]

I enjoyed the mob angle at first, back in I Dream Of You, which is probably my favorite part of SIP thus far. Other than It's a Good Life. I digress.. um, I think my problem with SIP's current state is that the basic nature of the book has changed somehow. At first, it was a book about three characters, and they happened to be tangled up with dangerous folks (the mob). Lately, it's been a mob story that happens to involve these three characters. At first, I felt like I was reading the book to get to know these characters. Lately, I've just been following a plot. SIP's lost something, for me. I know that was not what Terry was TRYING to do with it, but that is how it reads. I'm still interested in what happens, definately. And I'm thinking/hoping that now that the mob story is out of the way, we can get back to getting to know K+F+D and finding out how all this has affected them.

I didn't have a problem with the Veronica story per se, parts of it were well executed (ha) I thought. It's just not what I read SIP for. So, in (not so) short, I pretty much agree.

[This message has been edited by KarmaPolice (edited January 29, 2001).]