SCOOTER GIRL was Chynna Clugston-Major’s first solo comic to follow her BLUE MONDAY series, and it was a runaway success. Now Oni is pleased to announce that the six-issue miniseries will be collected into one volume this coming May, presented in the digest format. SCOOTER GIRL is a black romantic comedy about two opposite characters who crash into one another unsuspectingly. Neither Ashton Archer nor Margaret Sheldon want to admit what they’re really feeling, and they’ll do just about anything to get out of it-even try to kill each other!
Ashton Archer is the coolest guy in his town. He’s got just about every girl in class dangling from his hook, he’s got the sweetest ride, and even the teachers think he’s pretty nifty. Then, one day, Margaret Sheldon transfers into his school, and everything changes. Every time he gets around her, he becomes a nervous freak. His entire world crumbles. Upon graduating, he moves away to start over, only for Margaret to eventually find her way there, as well. When his nutty grandfather tells him this is all part of an ancient curse the Sheldons have put on the Archers, Ashton decides he must get Margaret away from him any way he can-but will all of his efforts only bring her closer?
“Love can be nasty business,” Clugston-Major said. “People do messed up things when they fall in love, and sometimes they do even worse stuff when they want to fall out of it. This is the makings of comedy gold-only I wanted it to be black gold. I wanted a dark comedy. No punches pulled here. Nasty remarks, violence, evil plots-isn’t that what relationships are like for everyone?”
“I like to think Chynna is working in a classic tradition,” Oni editor in chief Jamie S. Rich added. “Think of Tracy and Hepburn, Grant and Dunne, other golden-era duos. Their interaction was riddled with verbal sparring. Chynna goes even better and literally puts her couple at each other’s throats, WAR OF THE ROSES-style! Her cartooning on the slapstick is fantastic.”
Also noteworthy in SCOOTER GIRL, once the comedic dust settles, is the scooter scene Clugston-Major set the story in. The use of fashion and Italian scooters garnered her notice in scooter-related publications, the Washington Post, Spin Magazine, and Bust. Clugston-Major even designed a T-shirt for an all-girl scooter rally in Southern California. “Really, I just dress them up in things I like,” she said. “It’s sort of a bonus that so many people who like the same things found pleasure in it. It’s certainly not necessary to the enjoyment of the book, though, it’s just another layer. The real appeal comes in how the characters deal with one another, and that’s something anyone can relate to.”
Marco Pirroni, guitarist for Adam & the Ants has said of the book, “Why anyone would want to be a mod in San Francisco in 2004 is beyond me, although I have to grudgingly admit that I am pleased that some people are, because without them we would not have SCOOTER GIRL–who is not only the sexiest mod girl I’ve ever seen but also bears a curious resemblance to her creator. Is this Chynna Clugston-Major’s scream for understanding in a mechanizied ethos or a teenage love story between two ’60s obsessed Mod revivalists? Don’t ask, just buy it!”
Yes, don’t ask. Just buy. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Marco!
SCOOTER GIRL is a 168-page trade paperback presented at 5.5″ X 8 ½”. The highly acclaimed, black-and-white series is recommended for mature readers. It features a new color cover by Chynna Clugston-Major and Guy Major, as well as extras from the artist’s vaults. It carries a $14.95 price tag and the isbn 1-929998-88-0. Expect the book in stores on May 19, 2004.
Scooter Girl ? & © 2004 Chynna Clugston-Major.
