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Not surprisingly, Vaughan’s latest is a successful mash-up of tropes and teasers

If I’m doing the math right, it’s been more than 20-something years since I was slinging newspapers, and now I’m writing for them. Back then I was just getting into comics, and any money was spent solely on my newly burgeoning addiction.

Now that I’ve got adult responsibilities, I’ve continued the tradition of taking my paycheck and spending it at my local comic book store.

While I can’t remember exactly when all this was happening, I do still travel the streets of my paper route. I could accurately pinpoint the customers I had on Water Street, not to mention the time I filled in one street over on Main for a buddy of mine. I also remember being plenty bored, thus also beginning my first forays into storytelling.

And then you dovetail my love for writing comics. Full circle.

So that brings me to Brian K. Vaughan’s newest series, “Paper Girls.” Our story focuses on four papergirls from Stony Stream, Ohio, way back in the year 1988. The date is specifically the day after Halloween, notorious for problems that arise from the mischief that has occurred the night before – and that may still be occurring. Expecting harassment from teenage boys was our heroines’ biggest hurdle, they’ve yet to factor in rival factions of super-powered adults, time machines and iPods.

I’m a huge fan of Vaughan, and maybe a little biased, but he seems to hit me on a level that’s ethereal to say the least – even if I’ve no clue what’s going on. “Paper Girls” is only five issues deep in the first story arc, but Vaughan throws together a mish-mash of tropes and sets them on simmer. Vaughan has written for some very long-lasting creator-owned comics titles, not to mention shows like “Lost” and “Under the Dome,” so we know he’s a good cook.

Coupled with some really nifty images by Chiang and Wilson – and let’s not forget lettering of some weird-looking language by Jared Fletcher – I’m okay with not knowing for the moment. As long as they keep coming up with new ways to keep us drawn in with late-80s nostalgia, not to mention quite the retro letters page, I’ll be showing up on Wednesdays for new issues.

All five issues of “Paper Girls,” from Image Comics, now are on sale, as well as the collected trade of issues 1-5, at your local comic shop. The series will take a brief hiatus and return to comic shops the first week of June. Catch up while you can.

“The Oracular Beard,” aka Jared A. Conti, resides in the upper echelon of nerd-dom, meditating on comics and the like for sustenance.

He currently is at work on a post-apocalyptic young adult novel series set in central Pennsylvania, as well as a superhero short story collection. His alter-ego is a barista at Avenue 209 Coffee House in Lock Haven.

“The Oracular Beard … So you wanna be a comic book nerd” typically runs the first Thursday of each month in the Showcase.

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