[[quoteright:354:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SiP.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:354: The cover of the Treasury edition showing [[DoggedNiceGuy David]], [[{{Tsundere}} Katchoo]], and [[GirlNextDoor Francine]].]]

->''"I can sniff out the potential SIP fans, those looking for something different, some character driven drama with fear and loss being the kryptonite and love being the hero. This book will always continue to draw new readers in."''
-->-- Guest review of ''Strangers in Paradise'' from [[http://flyingcolorscomics.com/blog/2007/06/strangers-in-paradise-echoes-of-home.html "The View from Flying Colours"]].

First there is Francine, a nice but insecure girl who dreams of a perfect marriage and cannot quite let go of her JerkAss ex-boyfriend. Next there is Katchoo, her edgy best friend who is madly in love with her. Finally there is David, a sensitive young man who is in love with Katchoo despite her constant (and harsh) rejections.

Then there is the Mafia, who Katchoo used to work for. Some of them want her back, others just want her head.

That is how ''Strangers In Paradise'' '''starts'''. First published by Creator/AntarcticPress in November 1993, the series moved by Abstract Comics, creator Terry Moore's own company, between 1996 and 2007; it consists of over 90 issues. It is generally acknowledged as a SliceOfLife classic, although the occasional vergings into crime drama were not quite as well-received, and it is frequently hailed as the number one comic book to give to your girlfriend. What that means is a bit unclear, but it probably means ''something''.

In early 2018, Terry Moore revived the title with a new story, ''Strangers In Paradise XXV'', published 25 years after Antarctic Press published the first series.

Not to be confused with the film ''Film/StrangerThanParadise'' or the video game ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin''.

----

!! ''Strangers In Paradise'' contains examples of:

* AbortedArc: Frequent. Some loose ends are left loose forever, and some seemingly important insights and revelations are never mentioned again. The TimeSkip moments were believed to fall under this banner until Francine explained that they were her psychic visions and / or speculations of the future based on her choices. One of the biggest was the "Body Bomber" storyline that was ramping up in the last couple years of the comic, and then was suddenly abandoned (possibly due to Moore deciding to end the series after starting the arc).
* AbusiveParents: Katchoo's step-father [[RapeAsBackstory beat and raped her when she was fifteen]]. [[ParentalNeglect Her mother then told her to stop making up vicious lies.]]
* TheAlcoholic: Recovering. Katchoo began attending AA meetings when she was eighteen. Now she is in something of an odd place; she drinks recreationally, but manages to avoid any severe over-indulgences...[[OffTheWagon except for when things get out of hand]].
* AllJustADream: Happens from time to time. Sometimes the dream sequences are surrealistic parodies and clearly not "really" happening, other times it isn't clear whether or not it's a dream until much later.
* AmazonianBeauty: Tambi Baker. Even as a fictional character she is tough and ''hard''. To a slightly lesser extent, her twin Bambi. Even Katchoo can only tell them apart by Tambi's scarred hands.
* ArtEvolution: It's very gradual, but Terry Moore's art gets much less cartoony, a lot more realistic and detailed, and with much finer and surer inking.
* ArtShift: Some sequences are drawn in radically different styles. The dream sequences are most prone to this, sometimes imitating the styles of other comics.
* AscendedExtra: Casey, who is introduced as Freddie's "rebound fiancee" and initially seems mostly like a joke character, gradually gets more and more major roles in the storylines until she's one of the main characters. She easily eclipses Freddie in screentime and importance to the plot.
* TheAtoner: Katchoo and David, both of whom are hoping to make up for the mistakes of their youth.
* BadBoss: Darcy Parker was vicious and disliked by all of her staff.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:David dies from his brain tumor as expected, leaving Katchoo pregnant as planned along with a note telling her to move on with Francine. Katchoo and Francine embrace their love for one another, ending up together and raising their children, living each day to the fullest as a couple.]]
* {{Bookends}}:
** The covers of the first and last issues are nearly identical: Francine and Katchoo in an art gallery, in the same poses. Notably, on the first issue cover, Katchoo wears a necklace with two interlinked venus symbols, indicating her sexual preference. On the last issue cover, Francine wears the same necklace. The tenth and last issue of ''Strangers In Paradise XXV'' also has the two in the same pose, this time accompanied by their daughters.
** At the end of the very first issue, after Freddie breaks up with her because she wouldn't sleep with him (right after she discovered he was cheating on her), Francine has a minor breakdown and angrily strips naked in front of him, throwing her clothes at him while yelling at him. In the penultimate issue, after Katchoo has accused her of not being willing to commit to a relationship, a much more in-control Francine angrily begins stripping naked in front of her and throwing her clothes at her. Luckily for them both, this time everything turns out a lot better.
* BrawnHilda: The Baker twins are tall, muscular and scarred from battle (And self-infliction) and aggressive enough to overpower any other character in the series. Unlike most examples of the trope they are not unattractive, but their long hair is their sole "girly" trait.
* BreakTheCutie
* BreastExpansion: Casey gets breast implants. Twice.
* BrokenBird: Katchoo is introduced as a SourOutsideSadInside {{Jerkass}} with severe anger issues, who verbally and physically abuses people around her for petty reasons and sometimes for no reason at all. But frequently she lapses into a BrokenBird state where she just gives up, wallows in depression, alcoholism and self-loathing.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Darcy has an...unhealthy interest in her half-brother.
* ButtMonkey: Freddie just can ''not'' catch a break. Of course, maybe if he did not set himself up for so many falls...
* CharacterDevelopment: The series defining characteristic as, without an overarching plot beyond day-to-day life, the progression of the characters is what drives the story.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Casey, the sweetest girl there is, had no idea that Katchoo was talking about joining the new iteration of the Big Six when she mentioned "going back to work." [[ThePowerOfTrust It was this display of naiveté]] that helped keep Katchoo out of the game and got her painting again, which was what Casey thought she meant in the first place.
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: It shows Francine’s growth [[CharacterDevelopment on how she views sexuality and relationships]] when she’s more upset at Brad for not just ''telling her'' he was attracted to another woman, [[DoWrongRight instead going behind her back and cheating on her]].
--> '''Francine:''' Did you ever ask me to do anything I couldn’t handle? If you wanted to be with another woman, [[StatingTheSimpleSolution why didn’t you just ask me instead of going behind my back?]] I might have said ''yes''. [[DidntThinkThisThrough Did you ever think of that?]] Maybe I like women too. We could have had a three-way.\\
'''Brad (stunned):''' [[AThreesomeIsHot ...Really?]]\\
'''Francine:''' Well, now you’ll never know, will you?
* {{Crossover}}: In Terry Moore's subsequent series ''ComicBook/{{Echo}}'', Ivy Raven, an NSB agent who has gotten involved in the potentially [[ApocalypseHow world-shattering]] events of the story, begins to suspect that her superiors in Washington might not be as trustworthy as she had previously believed. The other characters ask if there is anybody she can go to for help, somebody ''outside'' the system who would nevertheless be able to give the important answers, and Ivy mentions that she might have somebody she can call. The next panel is apparently [[{{Cliffhanger}} Katchoo getting a phone call.]] Tambi guest stars two issues later, #28, where she tracks down a former Parker Girl who stayed in her cover as a member of the US military after the operation collapsed.
** ''Five Years'', a new title Terry Moore started in May of 2019, ramps this up into a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover as Katchoo and Francine encounter cast members of ''ComicBook/{{Echo}}'', ''ComicBook/RachelRising'' and ''Motor Girl'' in an effort [[spoiler: to save the world from the threat of the Phi Bomb, a proposed weapon that, once it's completed in five years, will start a chain-reaction that will [[ApocalypseHow destroy all hydrogen atoms. Everywhere.]]]]
* DarwinistDesire: After Darcy Parker's death, Katchoo's half-sister Tambi demands that Darcy Parker's half-brother David have a child with Katchoo to ensure her family line will have a legacy in the Parker empire. To her shock, [[BadassPacifist David]] turns the tables and offers to make Tambi the mother instead, which would leave Katchoo free to pursue Francine. Later, we see it didn't work, but she had a great time trying.
* DeadpanSnarker: Katchoo speaks almost entirely in sarcasms and quips. Good-natured ones if she's happy, hurtful ones if she's annoyed or upset, ''LOUD'' ones if she's angry.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler:David Qin/Yousaka Takahashi]]
** Later on, [[spoiler:Katchoo also impersonates Darcy, in order to confuse and distract Veronica and rescue Francine.]] Of course, it's not a long term impersonation, but it still qualifies.
* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Of course, ''which'' hypotenuse is the more tricky question.
* DepravedBisexual: Darcy and Veronica, both of whom are just ''fucked'' up people.
* DerailingLoveInterests: Conveniently, Francine's husband turns out to be cheating on her.
* DirectLineToTheAuthor: In the (possible?) future, Katchoo and Francine's daughter Ashley is attempting to publish a story, based on their life, titled ''Strangers In Paradise''. Since the canonicity of this future isn't quite clear, it's a little vague whether this scene means the entire comic is actually Ashley's fictionalized retelling of Katchoo and Francine's story or not -- though it does rather neatly explain away some [[SeriesContinuityError continuity errors]] and {{Aborted Arc}}s by having Ashley admit that since she's writing about things that happened before she was even born, she got some details wrong.
* DirtyHarriet: Special Agent Sara Ryan
* DoesNotLikeMen: Katchoo. David is a begrudging exception, except when he's not.
* DoggedNiceGuy: David is potentially the very epitome of this trope.
* TheDon: Sal Tucciani, chairman of the Big Six.
* DoorClosesEnding: How the finale ends.
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: The comic is quite generous with showing women beating on or otherwise heaping notable abuse on men, and either playing it entirely for laughs or brushing it off as no big deal. Katchoo slapping and punching David is shown as proof of her terrible mental state, but the narrative still treats their relationship as basically romantic. This aspect of the comic is toned down considerably in later issues, though.
* DragonLady: Darcy.
* DrowningMySorrows: Katchoo is a recovering alcoholic. She's mostly on top of things, but when life slaps her too hard she hits the bottle ''hard.''
* EveryoneIsBi: Seemingly all of the women. [[MostWritersAreMale Oddly, none of the men]].
* {{Flanderization}}: Not within the main comic, but in the SpinOffBabies mini-series ''SIP Kids'', which re-imagines the characters as young children, David has been hit with this ''big'' time. While the other characters are mainly [[CharacterExaggeration slightly exaggerated]] and more childish version of their adult selves (Darcy is a SpoiledBrat, the TomboyAndGirlyGirl contrasts between Francine and Katchoo are more pronounced), David's NiceGuy and ButtMonkey status have been exaggerated to make him a FriendToAllLivingThings and an outright ChewToy. He's also become a total {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who only makes the occasional contact with reality.
* FormulaBreakingEpisode:
** "Molly and Poo", a dark psychological thriller.
** "Princess Warrior", a ''[[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]]'' parody in which Francine is cast as Xena while Katchoo plays Gabrielle. David, of course, gets into the act as Joxer.
** "Not With My Cape, You Don't", nominally a superhero parody, but one that keeps going off the rails and being more about the comically awful relationship between waitress Casey and loser supervillain Freddie, with Katchoo as an amnesiac superheroine who accomplishes nothing except falling off a skyscraper (she forgot she couldn't fly), before Freddie accidentally blows up the world, leaving everyone arguing with each other in the afterlife. It's AllJustADream.
* FreudianExcuse: Katchoo's sour, bitter attitude is the result of her TraumaCongaLine of a life: raped by her stepfather as a teenager, living on the streets of Los Angeles as a homeless alcoholic, working as a call girl, and getting involved with Darcy and her criminal empire. Frankly, it's a wonder she's as functional as she is.
** Freddie also has one, though it's only detailed in one issue: his father was an alcoholic who bullied and criticized him constantly, and his mother smothered him in affection to try to make up for the lack of fatherly love.
* FunbagAirbag
* GambitPileup: It would be faster to list all of the characters who ''weren't'' working under the auspice of some secret agenda at least once during the series.
* GenkiGirl: Casey, "cheerleader for the soul"
* GeniusBruiser: Tambi, whose terror-inducing physical presence is ''almost'' equal to her abilities to pull the strings.
* GenerationXerox: They don't play a very large role, but in ''XXV'' and ''Five Years'' it gets increasingly obvious that Francine and Katchoo's respective daughters Ashley and Koo both take ''heavily'' after their mothers, not only in looks but in personality as well -- though thankfully they seem to be a lot more well-adjusted. They're both rambunctious little girls, but Ashley is the sweet-natured and romantic CuddleBug while Koo is the cheeky MouthyKid and FearlessFool.
* GenreBusting: It's a SliceOfLife story, mixed [[QueerRomance lesbian romantic comedy]], [[TheSyndicate crime drama]], and on occasion a Series/{{Xena|Warrior Princess}} parody.
* GenreShift: From [[SliceOfLife relationship comedy/drama]] to crime drama and back again...and again...and maybe a third time, too.
* GirlNextDoor: Francine really is a sweet, good natured girl from a small town. This is what makes her so special.
* GirlishPigtails: Casey occasionally wears them, after she divorces Freddie and her GenkiGirl persona really begins showing.
* HandwrapsOfAwesome: The Baker-Choovanski family's HarbingerOfAsskicking.
* HeelFaceTurn
* HeirClubForMen
* HiddenDepths: ''Everyone''. Especially Casey, who debuts as an apparent DumbBlonde before showing her softer and more insightful side, and [[spoiler:having been a near-Parker Girl assigned to protect Katchoo from assassination attempts all along]].
* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Tambi and Bambi Parker are both tall, blonde bodybuilders with extremely long hair, with only one detail differentiating them: Tambi has [[spoiler: SelfHarm]] scars on her hands.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Pretty much Katchoo's opinion of sleeping with David.
* IntimateArtistry: Art and its creation is a recurring theme:
** Katchoo uses her art to express her anger, resentment and guilt spurred by her abusive childhood and drug/criminal early adulthood. She starts the series working mainly in male figures of exaggerated sexualization, but branches out into different styles as she grows and deals with her issues. Her portraits of Francine, [[OneTrueLove who she has had feelings for since childhood]], are regarded by everyone as an expression and profession of love.
** The trope is [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] when FBI agent Sara Bryan goes undercover to get close to the Katchoo, showing how the emotional connection can be dependent on the intent and thoughts of the participants. She originally asks to be Katchoo's assistant, but agrees to be an artistic model after Katchoo says that she does not need an assistant. To Katchoo, their interactions and resultant artwork are expressions of femininity and personal beauty (Not to mention a general friendship), but behind the cover identity Sara feels ashamed and violated by the semi-erotic portraits and the intimacy of the situations. She particularly dreads the reaction from her parents and the rest of the Bureau after the artwork is disseminated to galleries and collectors across the country. When the truth of Sara's background comes out, Katchoo feels crushed and betrayed.
-->''First meeting between Katchoo and Sara, looking at old paintings of Francine''\\
'''Sara:''' Can I ask you something? Did you love her? Or is it an illusion--this feeling of intimacy in your work? Are you really this insightful...this tender...or just a gifted mirror?\\
'''Katchoo:''' It's not my place to say.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Various characters are doing this constantly. Freddie, however, inverts it.
* JerkAss: Freddie really is a jackass son-of-a-bitch. Despite being given a fair amount of development throughout the series and at times even seeming sympathetic, he never stops being a jerk... [[spoiler:though there are hints of him slowly developing more compassion during the later parts of the story, and during his last appearance he gives the upset Casey a surprisingly heartfelt and insightful pep talk, telling her not to give up on her friends. While he never really loses his SmallNameBigEgo tendencies, it does seem like he TookALevelInKindness to some degree.]]
** JerkassHasAPoint: Ok, Freddie Femur is a jerkass of the first water; he's a creepy obsessive patronising sleazebag who treats women like sex objects, has all the tact and charm of brain surgery performed with a hammer and chisel, and he thinks he's hilarious while he's just slimy and cheeseball -- but that doesn't mean his often mean-spirited comments are always ''wrong.'' In fact, on several occasions he has a point, especially considering Katchoo and her toxic attitude.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: With everything he does, Freddie also goes out of his way to try and get a rapist convicted because it's the right thing to do, (rarely) helps people because why not, and [[spoiler:successfully recovers David's inheritance, fully knowing that Katchoo, who he barely tolerates, is going to inherit it, out of respect for the trust David had in him when he gave him the job]]. Also, when [[spoiler: Casey is about to leave for home after being revealed to have been working as a Parker Girl all along in David's will]] his attempt to convince her why she should stay after all is actually kind, pretty endearing and most of all honest and completely correct - and lo and behold it helps work everything out. Ok, [[spoiler: he makes a pass at Casey while he does it]] might just be showing form on his part, but it seems more likely he's actually trying to be a nice guy while making a joke at his own reputation as a horndog jerk to his ex-wife.

* KillAndReplace: [[spoiler: Yousaka Takahashi began to live the life of David Qin after he killed him in a pointless gang fight]].
* KissingCousins: The Takahashi family has a few issues.
* [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Knight Templar Big Sister]]
* KudzuPlot: Between the espionage drama, the soap-opera romance drama, the fantasy sequences and the visions of possible futures... yeah.
* LipstickLesbian: Casey experimented in college and is more than open to a relationship in the present.
* LockedInARoom: {{Invoked}}. [[spoiler:Casey, sweet ''devious'' Casey, figures out how to help Katchoo and Francine make up]]
* LoveDodecahedron: Katchoo, David, and Francine are the constant objects of desire for every character in the series, including each other.
* LoveTriangle: Which gradually grows and evolves and turns into a LoveDodecahedron (See above)
* LovingAShadow: A big conflict amongst the cast is they all want to be loved for who they are rather than the idealized version their potential partners have in their heads. Even as Francine becomes more amendable to loving Katchoo, she still thinks Katchoo puts her on a pedestal and doesn't see the messy, flawed person she is.
* TheMafia: The people Katchoo worked for are somewhere between this and TheIlluminati.
* TheMole: Almost everyone at one point or another. Well, maybe not Francine or Freddie. Maybe.
* MoralityPet:
** Francine is a big one for Katchoo. Especially in the early comics, it's quickly established that while Katchoo is ''incredibly'' angry at the world, she's got the world's biggest soft spot for Francine. Their relationship isn't perfect by any means (on some occasions it can come across as directly abusive), but Francine is the person that Katchoo will consistently try to be a better person for.
** Later in the comic, Casey too gets this role for Katchoo. As [[SuspiciouslyspecificDenial somebody who is not involved in any way with Francine or the Big Six or the Parker Girls]], she often gives Katchoo a good grounding in reality and at least once helps pull her away when she starts to sink back into her past life.
* MurphysBullet: Bambi's death is caused by a stray bullet.
* NaiveEverygirl: Francine is a clear example of this trope in the high school flashback stories; she's sweet and not terribly aware of herself or the world around her, but she's got a ton on insecurities and body issues. In the main story, and to some extent in the "potential future" segments, Francine is an example of what might happens when a NaiveEverygirl grows up and has to live in the adult world -- turns out she's not the world's best at coping.
* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Tambi's default attitude towards romance for most of the series. In the last few chapters, she admits to [[spoiler: Casey]] that she's grown tired of always maintaining the badass facade and IJustWantToBeLoved.
* NotHelpingYourCase: Brad insists his affair didn't mean anything and he doesn't love her like he loves Francine. That makes it worse, that he was willing to risk their marriage for something less than love.
* NotSoStoic: Tambi, if this exchange in SIP XXV #1 is any indication:
-->'''Katchoo''': Okay,I know that look, what's wrong?\\
'''Tambi''': I don't have a look. I'm stoic.\\
'''Katchoo''': Oh please. Y'know I used to think you only had two looks, mean and meaner. Then I saw you hold my babies.
* [[ObfuscatingStupidity Obfuscating Genki]]
* OffTheWagon: Katchoo [[TheAlcoholic has a pretty rough history with drugs and alcohol]] that she tries to keep a handle on, but when things go bad and she winds up back with Tambi she loses control and goes wild.
* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Big Six, who have controlled America since TheGreatDepression...sort of. Their actual level of control of the government is never specifically nailed down.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Katchoo is only ever called by her legal name of Katina by people who aren't familiar with her: among her circle of friends, it's exclusively "Katchoo".
** Even more than her is Tambi and Bambi: it's not even clear at first that those ''are'' nicknames until an argument between Tambi and Katchoo reveals her real name: [[spoiler: Mary Beth]]. A later issue gives us Bambi's legal name as well: [[spoiler: Sara]].
* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Tambi/Casey]], which came way out of left field even with recent revelations.
* ParanoiaFuel: In-universe. Katchoo's life is so full of spies and double crosses that by the end she's flatout asking people to their faces if they're setting her up. Couldn't help her preexisting trust issues.
* ParentalNeglect: Katchoo's step-father [[RapeAsBackstory beat and raped her when she was a teenager]], but her mother's refusal to take it seriously, even telling her to stop making up these vicious lies, caused just as much lasting damage to her psyche.
* PolarOppositeTwins: Tambi and Bambi Baker fit this to a T: Tambi is calm and stoic, not to mention more calculating and ambitious, while Bambi is more hot-headed, impulsive, and emotional. They also balance out their respective employers: Tambi works for the loud, violent, angry Sal Tucciani, while Bambi is a lieutenant for the colder and more scheming Darcy.
* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:Katchoo, David and Casey, for a while]], as they deal with troubling news and try to make each other happy until the end.
* ThePowerOfTrust: At one point, when it looks like Katchoo and Francine are ''really'' over (No, do not ask which time, there are too many to count) Katchoo decides that she might as well "go back to work." [[GenkiGirl Casey]] is delighted to hear this, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint since she has always loved Katchoo's paintings and letting out some of her emotion will be good for her]], and Katchoo never has the heart to tell her she originally meant "work" to mean joining the new iteration of the Big Six.
* PowerTrio
* ProgressivelyPrettier: Two of the main themes of the series are Francine losing weight and gaining self-confidence while Katchoo gets a handle on her drug/alcohol problems and deals with her personal issues stemming from her youth, [[JustifiedTrope both of which result in slimmer, healthier, more-together women than were present at the beginning of the series]]. How this explains Francine's longer legs and Katchoo's expanding bustline, [[{{Fanservice}} however....]]
* PsychoLesbian: Darcy, who has the "psycho" part down pat.
* RapeAndSwitch: Played straight...sort of. To the end of the story Katchoo never self-identifies as gay, but her experiences in her youth have made her permanently [[DoesNotLikeMen opposed to a relationship with men]].
* RapeAsBackstory: Katchoo's step-father beat and raped her for her fifteenth birthday. [[ParentalNeglect Her mother asked her to stop making up these vicious lies]].
* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: A very realistic example; Francine is the target of lust for a lot of characters (Katchoo, Freddie, etc), but she deeply resents it. Partly it's because of her body issues, and partly it's because she wants someone to love the ''real'' her rather than some idealized version they've created in their head.
* ReWrite: Issue 43. A much older Katchoo and Francine have a daughter, an author, who is trying to publish a story [[DirectLineToTheAuthor based on their life]]. At the end of this little interlude it says "end of version one," and the same events are retold in a slightly different fashion. Fandom's reaction was... mixed.
* RingRingCRUNCH: The first issue begins with Katchoo shooting her alarm clock and [[RunningGag they keep getting broken throughout the series.]]
* ScarsAreForever:
** Katchoo has scars on her wrist in a "z" shape, but there was never an official explanation for their cause.
** Tambi Baker is covered with scars, with the ones on her forearms the most obvious. [[spoiler: She used to [[SelfHarm cut herself]] while in the employ of [[BadBoss Darcy Parker]].]]
* SceneryCensor: Sometimes, parts of the room or environment conveniently censor naughty bits whenever a character is completely or partially nude.
* SelfHarm: [[spoiler: Tambi Baker used to cut herself while in the employ of [[BadBoss Darcy Parker]].]]
* StalkerWithACrush: Freddie is not a DoggedNiceGuy, he is just creepy and offensive.
** Rusty's stalker in the Las Vegas subplot. Like him or not, Freddie was ''never'' like that.
* ShaggyDogStory: The FBI investigation of Katchoo spans dozens of issues, but changes virtually nothing in the end.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: {{Subverted}}. Casey is introduced as the silicone-infused-aerobics-instructor, and this seems to be all there is to her, but as the story progresses her character, personality and history are [[CharacterDevelopment expanded to equal any of the main characters.]]
* SpinoffBabies: A four-issue mini-series called ''SIP Kids'', where the main characters are re-imagined as six-year old kids.
* SlasherSmile: Casey of all people gives a great one of these while conspiring with David how to get Katchoo and Francine to start talking with each other again. Particularly brilliant because she's almost never shown with anything but a big smile on her face, and this evil grin is so out of nowhere that it's incredibly funny.
* SliceOfLife: Despite sliding into crime drama quite often, and sometimes playing around with other genres, "slice of life" is probably the comic's main genre.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: This is about as civil as Katchoo and Freddie ever manage to be towards one another.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: [[spoiler:Planned out by Casey and Katchoo when they find out David has a brain tumor.]]
* SourOutsideSadInside: There are a couple of examples in this comic, but none more prominent than Katchoo -- ''especially'' in the early issues. After a hugely messed-up life and suffering tons of trauma, she's by all accounts a ''terrible'' person, especially towards [[DoesNotLikeMen anyone who happens to be male]], she actively pushes everyone away and keeps them at an arm's length by being verbally and sometimes physically abusive. Later in the comic she slips into BrokenBird more often, but her abusive tendencies still rear their ugly heads from time to time.
* SuperheroEpisode: Two of them, but both turn out to be AllJustADream.
* TheSyndicate: The Big Six are apparently every''where'' with their influence stretching over every''thing''.
* TattooedCrook: Former Parker Girls can be identified by the lily tattoo they all wear somewhere on their body.
* {{Textplosion}}: It did this from time to time, under the pretence that the reader was looking at pages from a ''SIP'' prose novel.
* TimeSkip: Frequent, none of which end up corresponding to what actually happens in the story proper.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Downplayed, but very much present, with Katchoo and Francine. The dynamic is repeated with their daughters Koo and Ashley.
** [[spoiler:ButchLesbian[=/=]LipstickLesbian: Tambi and Casey, and eventually Katchoo and Francine if you are pretty loose with the definition of "Butch" and "Lipstick"]]
* TookALevelInBadass: David in the ''Child of Rage'' arc.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler:David dies in the final act.]]
* {{Tsundere}}: Katchoo, towards David.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: For quite some time, this was the main dynamic of the comic, with David, Francine and Katchoo. The dynamic got a little mixed up with characters moving apart and back together again several times, plus Casey getting bigger roles and essentially becoming the fourth main character.
* VillainousBreakdown: Veronica's starts pretty much the moment she becomes the boss.
* VillainousIncest: Darcy tries to hit on her brother David. He's ''very much'' not interested.
* VillainyDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Veronica's demise]].
* WallOfText: [=SiP=] can be quite wordy, and Moore frequently abandons the graphic format altogether and just resorts to full-on prose passages for several pages. "Molly & Poo" is told almost entirely in prose, with only a few accompanying illustrations.
* WHAMEpisode: Reading the will.
* [[WHAMLine WHAM Word]]: [[spoiler:Casey]] saying Darcy's name when Katchoo mentions indirectly her past, the only forewarning about TheReveal of her being [[spoiler:a near-Parker Girl that has been assigned to protect Katchoo from assassination attempts]] that happens during the reading of the will.
* WorstNewsJudgementEver: A RunningGag is that the news tend to focus on the less important news and are incompetent about it. For example, in "Molly & Poo" the news that Molly has been [[spoiler:aquitted in spite of overwhelming evidence because they forgot to [[MirandaRights read her her rights]]]] interrupts a reportage about the US bombing ''Alabama'', and both the newscaster and the reporter on site fail to explain why in spite of ''Molly's lawyer saying it very clearly'' (to the reporter it was too complicated, and for the newscaster it was "too boring").
* {{Yakuza}}: The Takahashi family.
* {{Yandere}}: Veronica.
* YoyoPlotPoint: Will they or won't they? Or ''they''?
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