Poor Mark.
If I could sum up Terry Moore’s new series in one sentence it would be those two words. Two issues in, Moore seems to take a delightfully perverse pleasure in torturing the guy. He deserves it, kind of…but still, it’s amazing to see the sympathy I get for a secondary character two issues in.
It goes without saying Terry Moore is a genius. He is one of the true renaissance men in all of comics, and continues to expand the universe he started with Strangers in Paradise with the new series Parker Girls.
The Book
Parker Girls
Written and Illustrated by Terry Moore
Cover Colors by Brian Miller
Publisher: Abstract Studios
This story kind of begins with Mark. Mark happens to be wandering around on a beach on the Turks and Caicos Islands when he sees a girl on the beach in a bikini making a pass at him. Her name’s Alex, and she arranges to meet Mark on a date.
The scene shifts to Malibu, California where there’s the body of one of the Parker Girls, Piper May, who was until she met her posthumous fate, the wife of billionaire Zachary May.
In this scene, you meet Cherry Hammer, who talks to her boss, Tambi, who if you have read any of Terry’s Earlier works (Five Years Later and Strangers In Paradise especially) you’ll recognize. With their friend dead, Zachary may be facing some consequences down the line.
The story then shifts back to Mark and you find out why he is so glum in the face of a beautiful woman. It turns out, thinking he had cancer, he ended up stealing from a firm about ten million dollars. Only it turns out, that he doesn’t have cancer. Alex, hearing this story offers a quick fix to double his money. This leads to Mark waking up naked and tied up and robbed of everything he has. Alex is also one of the Parker Girls.
Issue two continues the story as the girls continue to investigate what exactly happened to Piper, and Mark comes face to face with his former employer Zachary May. By face-to-face, I mean kidnapped and dumped into a truck without any clothes whatsoever, and no one batting a single eye. Zachary is not happy with Mark, to say the least, and leaves him…somewhere.
Poor Mark.
I enjoy Terry Moore’s work. His comics are incredibly intricate in the way he tells stories. His greatest trick is the density of storytelling in his work as each page feels denser than an average comic. It’s a full-fledged story that feels like an issue twice or three times its size. How he does it is a mystery.
Moore’s strength in his writing is his character. He has a wicked sense of humor, as the torture of Mark throughout the first two issues illustrates, but it’s also the subtle characterization of all the regulars in the book. Everything from Alex’s reaction to finding out just how much money Mark stole to the subtle Cat’s meow at the statue from Tambi’s sister’s house. Terry knows how to have fun and show the reader the subtle nuances of each character.
In addition, Moore draws incredibly pretty women. All of the Parker Girls look pretty, but not in a cheesecake way, but in a real life kind of way. It is a testament to Terry Moore that his women look as real and feel real to the reader.
All in all, Parker Girls is a very fun spy comic dressed up perfectly in Terry’s universe. He is one of the comics best kept secrets and has an incredibly entertaining book on his hands. You should check it out.
The Business
By Marissa Meyer episode of the podcast is up for your listening pleasure. Click below to listen. I was genuinely surprised at how well she writes siblings in particular. Definitely one of my favorite conversations this year.
Speaking of podcasts, I hit a personal best record of 1600 downloads on Sunday. I want to thank First Comics for their part in making this happen. The podcast is approaching its 900th episode and is going to go through some big changes when I make it to 1000. Again, thank you all.
Right, this minute as I finish this I’m looking for unlicensed music for this commercial I’m putting together. Video work has picked up significantly in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been nothing but busy so far doing this.
I’m hoping to get to do some more writing and drawing. Writing this column is nice, but I want to do more.
Alright, guys, I hope you are well. There are a lot of great books out there. Let me know what captures your interest. There will be no column next week as I’m working on some things, but after I’m hoping to review another Kickstarter book, and maybe just maybe something else from Lewis Carroll. Until then, stay inspired out there.
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