I was looking for a little pop culture distraction today. Something easy. Not too long. Something I could immerse myself in for a little while and ignore everything else, and then I remembered that I picked Paper Girls Vol. 1 up at the library the other day and said, YES. THIS.
And I’m glad I did. I’m not sure I have a clue what’s going on here. But it definitely distracted me for a little while (in a good way. I think).
Paper Girls is graphic novel all-star Brian K. Vaughan’s newest creation. Its about four 12 year old girls who deliver papers in a Cleveland suburb in 1988 on their bikes every morning. That part I get, and was into. Yay for girls on dirt bikes delivering papers.
In the early, pre-dawn hours on November 1, something weird is going on in their neighborhood. Strange looking guys in ghost/mummy outfits are running around, stealing walkie-talkies, and causing general mayhem. The girls assume they are just some older boys, still out carousing from Halloween, but they’re most definitely wrong about that.
Suddenly, the girls notice weird noises around them and run for cover. Most people in the neighborhood are all of a sudden gone, as if they vanished into thin air. The folks that are left seem to not be themselves…they are “off” in some way.
And this is when I started to be completely confused and not have a clue.
It seems as if there are two sets of futuristic time travelers battling it out for control of this sleepy Cleveland suburb, and our girls are somehow caught in the middle. We don’t ever find out why these strangers are here, or even where or when they’re from. There’s some strange Apple references and a hippie dude who seems to be controlling things. But honestly, I have no clue.
It kind of reminded me of season 5 Buffy, when those weird knights came to destroy THE KEY. I didn’t understand that 100%, but I just went with it.
When one of the girls is accidentally shot, the creepy mummy dudes try to save her by throwing her into Dalek-like contraption, flying through time and space, healing her with creepy bugs, and then breaking the rules of time travel, which mysteriously kills them but leaves the girl unharmed. Huh?
Look, I like Saga, so I’m going to give Vaughan and crew the benefit of the doubt here. I have no idea what’s happening, but I like the idea of 4 young girls saving the world, so I’ll stick with it.
Yeah, this is the first BKV that I didn’t fall in love with immediately. I was just like . . . what? I didn’t even rate it because I couldn’t understand what was going on, or even if I liked it or not. I just picked up Vol. 2, and hopefully that will shed some light on things?
I just don’t even know. There’s a lot to like, but then I’m all WHAT?
Keep us posted on how Vol 2 delivers. Or doesn’t.