WeHa Book Club

**Spoiler-Free Review**

This was an incredibly pleasant surprise. A quick, fairly easy read with deep emotional weight and a fun disposition make Paper Girls a must-read for me. If you’re new to comics, this would be a great place to start.

I first heard about Paper Girls from a throwback episode of one of my favorite podcasts, How Did This Get Made. I’m pretty confident that I haven’t missed an episode of HDTGM since roughly 2011, when I discovered podcasts for the first time, but as with any journey deeper into a particular hobby, certain info begins to hit different when you’re in it.

Prior to reading comic books and certainly prior to knowing who the heck Brian K. Vaughan is, I wouldn’t have thought twice about HDTGM co-host Jason Mantzoukas saying he was in an Amazon Prime show called Paper Girls. It only ran one season and while it got pretty great reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, it simply never stood out to me.

Now, however, I recognize the name Brian K. Vaughan as the writer of my all-time favorite comic book series, Saga. I even did a spoiler-free review on this site a few weeks ago.

Paper Girls is a coming-of-age, time-travel epic about leaving the past behind while fighting for the important friendships in your life. It’s full of humor and philosophy. Despite the pictures, comic books can be an extremely daunting undertaking with their length, but this series avoided that barrier of entry with a quick, well-paced, six-volume run that will grip you early and leave you satisfied when it’s over.

Although I personally wish it was even longer because I loved these characters so much…

I know most of you have probably written off comic-books since they’re more largely associated with Bart Simpson than adult reading habits, but the truth is, some of the finest storytellers of our lifetimes are dedicated to this medium, and Brian K. Vaughan is no exception. This guy can spin one hell of a tale.

I can’t speak on the television series as I haven’t started it yet (but plan to shortly). But I will swear by the comics. You’re going to like this one, I assure you. I got my on the local library if you don’t feel like making the financial investment. Just read it.

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Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang