There’s murder. There’s embezzlement. There’s fraud. There are a whole lot of little mysteries lurking around very picturesque places. A group of women is in the middle of it all. It’s okay: they know what they’re doing in Parker Girls #1. Writer/artist Terry Moore throws mystery and intrigue at the page with clever nuance and a sharp sense of using a black and white format to its greatest advantage. Comics veteran Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise) shows a deft hand in building a mystery that sharply hooks readers into a promising new series. 

There’s a guy roaming across the beach somewhere in the Turks and Caicos. He looks sad. An attractive woman has taken an interest in him. She has a hell of a time trying to get him to notice her. They have a few drinks at the bar. She gets him to talk. Turns out he’s in a lot of trouble. Maybe she can help him out. Maybe she can’t. What does this have to do with a dead actress washing up on a beach in Venice? What does either of these things have to do with the Parker Girls? There’s no such thing as the Parker Girls. (Haven’t you heard?)

Moore opens the series with an issue that balances one mystery against another. The narrative moves back and forth from one story to the other with an even hand. There’s just enough of a zinger at the end of any one scene to carry through to the mystery of the next scene. In addition to sharp plot construction, Moore does a beautiful job of conjuring impressively organic dialogue that feels natural while also advancing the plot of an engrossing mystery. The dialogue between the man and woman at the bar in the Turks and Caicos carries its own kind of understated brilliance. 

As an artist, Moore does some really impressive work moving the action across the page. The peaceful resonance of a beach in paradise is delivered as a woman lounging in a chair watches some guy pass by her over the course of three panels in the middle of the page. Moments later, there’s grizzly brutality. One of the more impressive moments of visual storytelling in the entire issue has a major plot point strike the page from a computer screen. Computers generally don’t work in a dramatic context, but Moore does a brilliant job of making the moment hit by focusing on the two characters’ reactions for a single page. No view of the screen. No dialogue necessary. Brilliant. 

The opening chapter of Moore’s new series is a clever fusion of art and story. There’s enough going on in the issue to keep the mystery of the title characters from being a major concern. Precisely what the Parker Girls are and what they’re involved in will doubtlessly be revealed in time. For now, the mystery in the foreground is enough to draw readers to the second issue.

Grade: A