Blue Monday The Kids Are Alright by Chynna Clugston-Major, 2000, Oni Press

Blue Monday is another one of those comic series that I really like, but it doesn't make much sense that I should like it. Blue Monday would likely be categorized as a "teen sex comedy," though I see it more as a "coming of age" type of thing. There are four main characters, two girls and two boys, with lots some supporting characters, and everyone is in high school. Based on comments in the book, I think they're sophomores, though I could be wrong about that.

The Kids Are Alright is the first of two trade paperbacks currently in print for the Blue Monday series. It contains the first limited series, as well as all the little Blue Monday stories published in various places like Dark Horse Presents and other such books. The stories all revolve around Bleu Finnegan, a high school student. Bleu is not one of the "cool kids," but she has her friends and gets along OK. In the main story, Bleu is on a quest to score tickets to see her idol Adam Ant in concert. While all this goes on she deals with pranks from two male classmates, pranks them in return (with the help of some friends), and falls in love with a substitute teacher.

I think the charm in a book like this is that the characters are totally believable, and I could have changed the names of characters to people I went to school with and the story wouldn't have needed much modification. Yes, high school kids are all crazy, but they're really OK once you get past the raging hormones. And I haven't even mentioned the art yet, which is very good in the main series (some of the early stories are not as good), with a good amount of manga influence, but in a good way. I can recommend this book to anyone who can remember the travails of teenage life, and doesn't mind some foul language.

Blue Monday Lovecats, Dead Man's Party, and Nobody's Fool, by Chynna Clugston-Major, 2002-2003, Oni Press

I have liked Blue Monday ever since I picked up the second TPB. I then quickly got the first TPB to catch up on the story. However, it has taken me until now to actually get the three one-shots that have been released since that second TPB was published. I have overcome my trauma, however, and I am mostly glad that I did so.

The first issue is Lovecats, which is my favorite Blue Monday story so far. Clover doesn't want to go to the Valentine's Day dance, even though everyone else is going (or so it seems...). The discussion about it brings up the story of how Bleu and Clover met, which was at last year's Valentine's Day dance. It was neat to see younger versions of everyone, especially Bleu, who looked damn fine with longer hair. But I digress. Back to the present day, everyone's dates fall through for the party, so everyone is just going to go as a group, but they can't find Clover. Victor (who holds a not-so-secret torch of love for Clover) tracks her down, and they have a heart-to-heart talk and kiss, which is rudely interrupted by the rest of the group showing up. The way the story came together worked very, very well, and this issue is a great opportunity for newcomers to check out the series with minimal financial commitment.

Next, we have Dead Man's Party, which I didn't really care for. There are two reasons for this. First, it is a Halloween issue, and I really don't like Halloween. I don't like the costumes, I don't like the scary stories that people feel compelled to tell, I don't like any of it except for the candy, which is marvelous. Second, the sexual humor in this issue was over the top, and it really detracted from the story. I sometimes wonder why Clover doesn't just crack Alan's skull and be done with it. The actual story is about the kids getting stuck at Erin's place at a Halloween party when the power goes out. To bide their time, they tell each other scary stories, which of course involve them in various ways. About the only thing that this issue did was re-inforce that I like Erin the best.

The last issue, and most recent, is Nobody's Fool. This issue was very good, and it actually contains two different stories. First we find Clover being annoyed by the boys singing Irish songs to her for St. Patty's Day (she's Irish, BTW). She tries to escape it all, but finds out that her family is having everyone over for a party! So she runs off and gets into trouble, from which Victor "rescues" her. It was a little over the top, but not too bad. The second story involves Victor dressing like a goth and going around school on April Fool's Day sweet-talking all the ladies. Victor as a goth is totally hilarious, and the ending is very sweet. I liked that story a lot.

It was good to revisit the Blue Monday crew, especially since it will likely be a year or more until more issues come out.

Blue Monday Painted Moon, issues 1 and 2, by Chynna Clugston-Major, Oni Press

Finally, another Blue Monday series! The issues started coming out a few months ago, but I had to harass my comic book seller for a while before he would get the stuff for me. It is finally here, though, so let the fiesta begin!

The events in this series take place after the events in the second TPB, Absolute Beginners. Basically, Bleu thinks that her life is a complete mess, and while Clover tries to cheer her up, everyone else ends up bringing her down, especially Gomez, whom Erin is still trying to get together with Bleu, so that she can go after Alan. Ah, teenage love triangles (or squares, or pentagons...). The only problem I have with this series is the fact that the second issue revolves around Bleu learning how to masturbate. I kid you not. No, you don't see anything, but Chynna makes sure you know exactly what is going on. While I thoroughly enjoy this series because of the interplay between the characters, I am starting to get annoyed at all the overtly sexual stuff that the author has started putting in. As I don't approve of that, I may have to drop the series if it doesn't tone itself down a bit in the next few issues.