When people tell me romance comics are dead, I shove a copy of Strangers in Paradise in their hands.
–Kevin Smith

Strangers in Paradise has always been more than a “romance comic,” but there’s no question that Moore’s work stands apart from most comic-book offerings. The twelfth Strangers in Paradise trade paperback chronicles the rift that leads to the ten-year separation of the central characters, an event which readers have anticipated or dreaded since the second series.

It also features amusing cameos by Robert Crumb and Kevin Smith.

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O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beautious mankind is.
O brave new world,
that has such people in’t!
The Tempest V.i.

Moore isn’t alluding to Aldous Huxley; he’s going back to the Shakespearian source of the phrase. It suits the story, but one wonders about the wisdom of giving your comic-book the same title as a famous dystopic novel.

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Does he know she’s a total ditz!? She reads cheesy romantic novels! She thinks CNN is unbiased!

Tropic of Desire, the tenth Strangers in Paradise trade paperback, begins with the inventiveness that made the series succeed in the first place, and ends with a development some fans found a little too novel.

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