Imagine being an average teenager, riding your bike, hanging out with your friends, getting asked to the school dance by Jeremy Tays… and then something strange happens… it's call the rapture and YOU are not invited...That's right, the day of the rapture begins and all the faithful are lifted up towards heaven. Bethany Black is not one of them. While her family sits down for their daily bible study, Bethany is out hanging around with her friends, drinking coke and smoking. No surprise she's not going anywhere…
In Strange Girl by Rick Remender, as soon as the rapture happens, Demons swoop onto earth and enslave the rest of humanity. Bethany is swept up by a pretty mean demon lord named Belial to be sort of a pet, and the story shifts to 10 years later, where we find Bethany working in a bar, still serving Belial, and best friends with a wise-cracking dwarf of a demon named Bloato. Tiring of the rat race on Earth, Bethany and Bloato soon hatch a plan to find salvation, or in other words, to find the one last secret doorway to Heaven that's been rumored to still exist. Bethany steals a little magic from her boss, steals some transportation and off she goes on a road trip through Hell (literally) with Bloato by her side. It's some adventure too…
Rick Remender uses Strange Girl as a catharsis for his feelings on organized religion. There are some deep conversations along the way between the characters about Religious Dogma, atheism, ethics and even the afterlife. But as readers we don't feel put upon, we are more part of the debate. And, the story is great! It's funny, and sad, and thought-provoking at different points in the story. Rick Remender does a good job of making his characters come alive off the pages and into our hearts. Especially the friendship between Bethany and Bloato.
The Strange Girl Omnibus collects all 18 issues of the Strange Girl comics into a beautiful full color hardcover book. Really the best way to read this. The artwork is great and then, not so great. Eric Nguyen starts out illustrating Strange Girl, (chapters 1 - 6) and then is followed by 7 other artists. Some are definitely better than others, but the story itself is what makes you come back for more. High speed adventure with a great storyline.
Would you enjoy Strange Girl? If you like graphic novels and adventure stories you'll enjoy this series. Great plot, well developed characters, good flow to the story, and nice artwork(but sometimes inconsistent). Bethany is a great female protagonist too, so I give the story an extra thumbs up for that. All the makings for a memorable read, and I really enjoyed it.
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