Paper Girls #7

So. The paper girls have met one of their future selves and it looks like there’s more of her in the timeline, from some other timeline maybe, or an alternate timeline? Either way the mystery in Paper Girls continues to grow without ever being close to getting any answers (yet).

Publisher: Image

Writer: Brian K. Vaughn

Artist: Cliff Chiang

Colours: Matt Wilson

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

The most fascinating thing about Paper Girls is that every time you think you get what’s going on, another curveball gets thrown into the mix. For example at the end of the previous issue there’s another girl who looks exactly like another Erin, but she’s a Traveler. She certainly speaks the same language as them at the very least, and she’s capable of traveling like them. But we don’t know for certain who she is, and why she’s where she is. One thing is known, she’s brought something with her that she wasn’t supposed to. That ‘something’ only raises the fantasy-mystery of the whole ordeal and seeming put the world in a whole lot more danger.

Beyond the supernatural elements, it’s still a coming-of-age story. 12-year-old Erin goes out to investigate with her future(?)- older self and they spend some quality time with one another. It’s cute, because everyone can relate to Erin on some level, both young and old. Young Erin thinks the older her is kind of crazy, but older Erin is just an adult, grinding away at her job, wishing she did more with her life, and dealing with anxiety. Naturally that anxiety accumulates as she tries to wrap her mind around spending time with her younger self, disappointed that their future is a total let down. Any reader 20+ will probably find it a little too relatable perhaps. Thankfully older Erin catches a break in the most comforting manner when her younger self reassures her that her future isn’t as bleak as she thinks it might be, strange time traveling and aliens and missing friends, aside. It’s a gracious, heart warming break from all the madness that’s about to go down.

While the Erins go to investigate further with the mind-Apple tech, Mac and Tiff start their own investigation in hopes of perhaps finding their own future selves to help. What they find out about their future, isn’t what they were hoping for.

Chiang’s art remains as stirring as ever. The characters are continually expressive and unique and no panel is repetitive in its action. Even on panels or pages with no dialogue, it’s coherent exactly what the characters are thinking. Paired with Wilson’s colours, once again, it brings a visual feast for the eyes, one that is vibrant enough to capture a reader’s attention, much like everything else of Paper Girls.

Though readers are left with more questions than answers much like every issue, it’s a mystery that captivates an audience and doesn’t leave them feeling exhausted yet, for it balances it out with a lot of genuine human emotion and plenty of 21st century allusions that adds a fun flair to the reading, not bog down the readers with the supernatural of it all.