When Strangers in Paradise debuted in 1993, it hit comics like a bomb -- there was nothing else like it. Alternately side-splittingly hilarious and deadly serious, Strangers in Paradise followed the relationship of two women -- Francine Peters and Katina “Katchoo” Choovanski -- through cheating boyfriends, thwarted romantic (and social) expectations, and lingering sins past (often in the form of an extremely nasty crime cartel).

RELATED: Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise to Return in 2018

Terry Moore wrote and illustrated Francine and Katchoo’s lives for more than 100 issues until 2007, when both characters finally acknowledged what Katchoo wanted all along – that they loved each other and wanted to build a life together. Although they settled down to raise their children together in that final issue, not every shadow of their previous lives had been accounted for. Now, 10 years after the SiP finale, 25 years after it all began, Terry Moore returns to his most famous characters to see what these women will have to do to maintain the life and the family they’ve finally found in one another.

Strangers in Paradise XXV, Moore’s long-awaited return to Katchoo’s life story, debuts this week from Moore’s own Abstract Studio. He took some time out to answer CBR's questions about coming back to his most famous creations, the lingering shadows from Katchoo’s past and the status of the recently announced Strangers in Paradise film, which he's working on with Professor Marston and the Wonder Women director Angela Robinson.

Strangers in Paradise XXV #1 cover by Terry Moore.

CBR: Terry, I guess I wanted to start with what brought you back to Strangers in Paradise. There are any number of good reasons -- the 25th anniversary being a huge and obvious one. What made this the time to come back to Francine and Katchoo?

Terry Moore: The only good reason is, the story’s not finished. There is a glaring unresolved matter that has to be dealt with. So, as a creator, I’m not finished telling the story. And of course, the anniversary is the perfect time to get this done.

Was coming back to Katchoo and Francine like putting on an old shirt? Was there any awkwardness in finding their voices again after the time away?

It’s like reconnecting with friends and the time away just disappears. It’s a nice feeling, like going home.

How much time has passed since we last saw Francine and Katchoo?

A few years.

Where are they now? Will XXV be a direct continuation of the stories from the original series or will these be entirely new directions and stories?

I don’t want to spoil the plot for people who haven’t read the previous series. Let’s just SiP is about Francine and Katchoo. And how fierce some people will fight for the ones they love.

What is this threat to their lives now?

Well, Katchoo is a family woman now, but she has this bad past, remember? It’s a long story and I wrote a book about it. Anyway, she was involved with Darcy Parker, who had a criminal empire and an elite group of women called "Parker Girls" who did scary things. One of the surviving PG women is writing a tell-all book about the whole operation. If the book comes out, it will destroy Katchoo’s family. So Katchoo is determined to stop her. The problem is finding her. The new series is about the search.

When you initially ended SiP, you talked about how all great stories need an ending. You always knew there were more stories to tell with these characters, but when did you start to realize that you really wanted to tell those stories?

There were a lot of stories in the SiP series, but at the root of it all was a love story and the resolution of that ended the series. But the world has changed so much since then. And there is always that one person who can destroy everything you hold dear. And if you’re someone like Katchoo, who has fought so hard for what she has, you don’t let that happen. You fight for what you have. You hunt your predators, to the ends of the earth if you have to.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='How Strangers in Paradise XXV Ties Together Motor Girl, Echo and Rachel Rising']

Your last series Motor Girl was a brief 10 issues, and your two series previous to that -- Echo and Rachel Rising -- had more or less definitive arcs that moved steadily toward their conclusions. Do you have an endpoint in mind for XXV? (Which wouldn’t rule out a third SiP series somewhere down the road!)

Yes, SiP XXV is a shorter story with an ending, like an Agatha Christie book that uses an ongoing character. Or any writer who has been fortunate enough to create a unique character that inspires a series of books. Katchoo is that once-in-a-lifetime character for me. She inspires me to keep writing.

When you and I talked about Motor Girl last year, you talked a little about how your art technique has varied with each of your series. Assuming this is a return to the brush line of the first SiP series, have your subsequent series changed anything about how you draw these characters? Or even your approach to laying out the story in a page?

Absolutely. With SiP, every page was different. With Echo I used a classic PHI ratio format for page layouts, like the Greeks and da Vinci used, because it subliminally supported the mathematical premise of the story. I kept that layout for Rachel Rising, but switched from brush to pen so the lines would be more frenetic and nervous. Anything to work the subliminal effect on the reader, to make the page have an emotional effect. Like all the scenes of nature and endless vine-wrapped pens lines… it's all there to make the line between human and nature seem almost nonexistent. Rachel came from the ground, all these people are going back into the ground at some point. The story happens in between that phenomenon, and I wanted the art to show a connection.

Then with Motor Girl, I switched back to brush for a looser style and also switched to rough surface paper. I didn’t want to use solid blacks in a desert setting, so the rough paper kept the lines rough with lots of paper spots showing through blacks. I also changed how I colored in large black areas, deliberately leaving a lot of white dots and marks. The overall effect was a dry brush, dry hot atmosphere. It looks like there’s sand everywhere, and weathered wood.

I could go on and on about the art side. I’m rarely asked about the art, but that’s the part that takes the most time so I put a lot of thought into it.

All of your series have shared a universe -- with certain characters crossing into other series to tie them together in small ways. Will anything or anybody from Echo, Rachel Rising or Motor Girl bleed back into SiP now?

Actually, yes. In fact, SiP XXV ties them all together. It’s like I told you all those stories so I could tell you this one. For the person who actually reads them all and then reads SiP XXV, I think they will enjoy the story on a whole different level. I know I will.

RELATED: Angela Robinson on Strangers In Paradise Movie, Potential Comics Return

You announced fairly recently some exciting SiP movie news, namely that Angela Robinson is on board to develop and direct an SiP film. How involved with that are you?

Angela and I are working closely together. This is something we’ve been talking about for over 10 years, so now that we have the chance we’re all about it. I’m writing the story script, but Angela is an incredible writer as she proved with her recent movie about Professor Marston, and she will turn the script into what the film should be. I really couldn’t be happier with the whole thing. I’ve turned down good offers in the past because it meant handing the story to strangers. Angela is someone I know and believe in. She’s the director we need, and she knows SiP inside and out. In Angela we trust.

Do you have anything else in the works now or any specific post-SiP XXV ideas fomenting?

I am all about SiP XXV until it’s done. That’s how I work, with tunnel vision. We do have other projects in the works, but it’s Katchoo’s turn and she wants my full attention.

Strangers in Paradise XXV #1 is available now.