Comic Review: Paper Girls #25

Paper Girls #25

Image Comics

Writer: Brian K Vaughan

Artist: Cliff Chiang

This issue of Paper Girls is action-packed and somewhat climactic. It’s still not 1988, but the team answered a lot of questions for us in these last two issues. Despite those answers, there’s still no ETA in sight for our 80s babies.

As far as the scene on the cover is concerned, I’m still not satisfied. Hopefully, the follow up will give those of us rooting for Mac and KJ the resolution we need.

Maybe it’s the romance that’s got her in such a good mood, but Mac seems to be dealing with the fact her cancer is untreatable really well. I loved the futuristic doctor’s office in issue #24, and I thought Mac would be much more upset after hearing the bad news. She seems to have progressed more than any other character in the series so far, which is nice to see. When we met Mac in issue #1, she was a close-minded, name-calling tomboy on a bike. Ironically, she called someone an AIDS patient. Way to go, Mac. Since then, though, her character development has been fun and empowering to witness. She is now selfless on top of being a badass paper girl.

One thing this series nails is the pacing of each character’s development.  Vaughan spends time on each one and never seems to be in a rush to get anything accomplished.

One character I’m psyched we learned more about in this issue is Wari. She was intriguing from the start with the facial markings, but learning more about her history and seeing her as a funny old woman has been a treat. I love the random, “Who are you again?” Once again, Wari foreshadows danger ahead for our teens. I was not at all expecting what happened to our girls next, though.

I love the colors and the scene on the cover, but I wish it was centered; I hate how KJ’s foot is not in the frame. Besides that, the art for issue #25 blew me away. All the lines look so clean, and the colors, as usual, are spot on. I love the slight change in color for each time period. The further into the future we go, the cleaner the colors look. The colors in the future are bright pastels while the colors from Wari’s original time look much more natural.

Possibly the most shocking portion of the entire issue was the last panel. Hilarious yet somewhat terrifying. I’d recommend picking up this issue for that scene alone. Unfortunately, that was the last issue of Paper Girls until next March.

With Paper Girls taking a break and Saga being on hiatus, I don’t know what I’m going to do to get my BKV fix. I’m not really upset with Vaughan for taking a break. In fact, I commend him for knowing when to slow down and get things right on a personal level before getting back to work.