Paradox Girl – she’s a young woman who can teleport through time and space the same way we move through air. She is the superhero of Cityopolis, protecting it along with her sidekick Axiom Man – or given the trouble she creates, is that the other way around? Either way, written by Cayti Borquin, with art by Yishan Li, this is presently a six issue series that was funded through Kickstarter. Let’s look at what makes it such a great time travel comic.
One thing I want to mention off the top is that one of the issues with giving a character temporal powers is how close to omnipotent they become. How does Paradox Girl handle that? Well, the protagonist’s biggest enemy becomes, in a real sense, herself. She has argued with her other selves and acted so carelessly in the past, we begin at the point where she no longer has a single origin story, or a name, or even a history.
Running into herselves then becomes a common theme, as does the “one timeline” model, whereby we don’t change past panels, but rather we see them in a new light. And if that’s a paradox for you, one timeline but no clear origin? Well, it fits right in. Let’s begin in the thick of things with issue one, “A Day in the Life of a Paradox”.
WASH, RINSE, RETURN
Paradox Girl wakes up and goes into the living room, where she sees two other versions of herself watching television. She gets upset that the house is out of Waffos (banana flavoured toaster waffles that she likes) which she can’t buy in the present (they stopped making them in 1987). A fourth Paradox Girl arrives with a box for her.
Then two things happen simultaneously – a report on television about a Giant Monster, and a phone call by Axiom Man. As Paradox Girl is distracted on the phone, her other versions leave… along with her breakfast. So she travels back in time, becoming one of the versions watching television. Soon, she’s fighting herself for one of two waffles, while blinking through history.
The Paradox Girl who loses ends up training with Axiom Man. After that, she goes back to the television again, becoming the victorious version. Only to have her waffle stomped on by the Giant Monster from the earlier report. Beyond annoyed, she wails on the monster (simultaneously with herself), gets clobbered, healed in the past, checks on how she will defeat the monster, and steals the necessary sword from medieval times to do it.
Having been victorious, Paradox Girl is told by Axiom Man to stop fighting with herself – do something she’s never done before. So she goes to get a box of Waffos, and gives them to the Paradox Girl from the start of the issue. And after the phone rings, she grabs the second waffle for breakfast and departs.
Getting the gist of how this protagonist operates?
MORE (PSYCHOLOGICAL) ISSUES
Issue two, “Paradox Girl Versus (a) Wolverine”, opens with Paradox Girl on the couch. A future version of herself took over the bed, raving about monsters. The snoring is becoming too much though, so Paradox Girl throws her other self out – only to hear a noise. There’s a wolverine outside.
Paradox Girl trips over herself in pursuit, and the phone rings. One of them goes to the phone, the other travels back to catch the critter, and gets tripped over by herself. It’s Axiom Man on the phone, he needs help at the MacGuffin Robotics Facility. So Paradox Girl brings in a polar bear to fight the wolverine, and goes to help him out.
Returning from the battle (seriously, the fight’s one panel with a bunch of her), she discovers the polar bear lounging in the living room. To get rid of it, she gets – looks like an emu with rocket launchers? This escalates to a giant lizard. Which… she finally goes back to kick her past self out of bed, raving about monsters.
There’s one more twist though, which I won’t reveal in the hopes that you check out the issue. Similarly, I’ll only abbreviate the third issue, “Chekhov’s Gun’s Paradox”, which has Axiom Man and Paradox Girl facing off with a man who has a gun. Paradox Girl tries to explain to both of them how they got there.
We flash back to see the gunman (“The Paramaniac”) crashing an ambulance, which he stole after Paradox Girl knocked a robot into his car, which happened after he lost his job from her breaking into his shady boss’s office, and before that she was driving said ambulance and made him spill mustard on his tie. A hug and an apology helps clear some of that up. Again, read the issue for the literal Payoff.
THE SECOND TRILOGY
Issues four through six were the result of a second Kickstarter. “Time Wounds All Heals” is more of an emotional piece. Paradox Girl stops chasing herself long enough to check in on an old man on a bench, who is looking sadly at a broken pocket watch. We hear the old man’s tale (including insights such as “regrets make me who I am”), with more and more versions of Paradox Girl showing up to listen. In the end, she is invited to a funeral.
Issue five, “The Paradox Who Loved Me” is a send-up of James Bond plots. Paradox Girl stars as Agent Double O’Clock, Minuet Waltz and Aunt Agonist – all at once. We begin things from the perspective of the Agent, as she meets with Minuet on a train. One populated entirely by other versions of herself, from the bartender to the henchwomen.
Agonist soon reveals her evil plan: She got tired of playing all the roles before they were even half done, and has now constructed a literal time bomb, to erase this entire timeline. Eerily, “I’ve been everyone on this train. You can’t beat me, you become me.” A gunfight ensues (using non-lethal ‘pew pew’ sounds), Minuet helping Agent to escape.
They try to fight their way to the front of the train, Minuet remarking she “never disarmed the bomb as you” as they reach it – and in the end, this is all revealed to be Paradox Girl in a classroom telling the story during “Superhero Day”. You’ll still have to read that story to see how the penguins fit in.
The sixth issue, “The House of MMMMMM” has Paradox Girl discovering a boarded up “Waffo House”. She travels back to 1987 to indulge. But it’s a trap, “Doctor Doctor” has a means of preventing her time travel powers while inside. He intends to imprison her, for everyone’s safety, given all the fighting she does to obtain her Waffo waffles. And he succeeds! Until Paradox Girl works out who he is, and how his power blocking device will have been used to benefit Cityopolis in his future – is there a real villain here?
IN THE BEGINNING
Hopefully this little overview of the various plots of Paradox Girl has interested you enough to check out the official website for a more in-depth look. In fact, I originally sponsored the Kickstarter – meaning I also own the Axiom Man issue “Maxidrone Override” (a stretch goal). It doesn’t involve time travel, but rather Paradox Girl’s partner, as he looks inside the mind of a troubled “villain” using C.R.A.Z.Y. technology. His tale helps to flesh out their world a bit more.
As far as analysis goes, there’s a real thread of humour running through the stories, not only with wordplay, but also with the deconstruction of time travel. (And with superhero retcon issues.) Indeed, the author’s note in Issue 5 specifically says that at its heart, Paradox Girl is a satire. I should also point out that there’s more fun details in the art style, for instance when Paradox Girl uses her power there’s a red wavy line effect, which can track over to another panel. I also like that there’s detail where needed (both in art and script), but it’s not done to excess, letting a reader fill in some of the blanks themselves.
As to my favourites? Well, book one sets things up very nicely and book six bookends things in the same way. If you only check out one issue though, definitely take the time for issue four. Written in memory of the author’s father, it’s got a different tone to it, but as a consequence of it’s more down-to-earth plot, one gets more emotional resonance. That issue also helps to show the versatility of Paradox Girl, both the comic and the character.
So, did you know about Paradox Girl? Do you have any thoughts about her time teleport ability? Or what other paradoxes she might face with herselves? She also has a Twitter account you can look at for more, courtesy Hana Comics. Thanks for reading, please do let me know your thoughts, if you have the time.
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