Yes, my Queer Comic Book Characters series is back for Queer History Month. So sit back and enjoy the fun all October.
I’m kicking the series off with one of my favorite characters and one who’s pretty beloved by fans, Katchoo. Katchoo is one of those characters who gets under your skin, and she’s supposed to. Katchoo doesn’t like labels. And she doesn’t like them applied to her sexuality, but I think she’d be most happy with the word, queer. Katchoo appears in Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise.
Katina Marie “Katchoo” Choovanski
Katchoo is loud and bossy. She is brash and hopelessly in love with her best friend Francine. The two have an off-and-on again attraction, flirting, almost relationship thing going on. (Francine doesn’t consider herself gay, despite her attractions, and Katchoo has problems fully expressing her romantic feelings.)
Like any good character, Katchoo also had a past, which comes to bite her in the ass. As a teen, Katchoo runs away to live on the streets of Los Angeles. There she is picked up by Darcy Parker. Parker trains high-class call girls to work for the mob to infiltrate politicians and other powerful men’s lives. Katchoo is one of Darcy’s favorites. But Katchoo is also smart, and as we find out, targeted to join because her half-sisters Tambi and Bambi work as enforcers for Darcy.
Katchoo sells out the Parker Girls to a reporter and to the FBI. She “escapes” that life. Katchoo reunites with Francine (who she originally met in high school), and the two begin their life together and that’s where Strangers in Paradise technically starts.
Katchoo is always shown as whip-smart and the epitome of strong. She serves as tough counterpart to Francine’s open nature. Katchoo thinks that Francine is the most beautiful woman in the entire world and wants to show Francine what she see. It’s helpful that Katchoo also becomes a somewhat famous painter, and she attracts not only Francine’s attention, but also that of other characters including David and Casey.
There is no other comic character like Katchoo. And that’s awesome.
Read about Katchoo’s exploits for yourself and support this blog, buy Strangers in Paradise Vol 1 by Terry Moore.