Over at Oni, Chynna Clugston-Major (arguably the single least plausible real name in comics) begins her six-issue miniseries Scooter Girl.

Clugston-Major is best known for the various Blue Monday series, and it doesn't take a genius to spot the obvious thematic link here.  Aside from the fact that both of them are set in high schools, both exist in a slightly dislocated parallel world where all the cool kids at school are into mod culture of several decades ago.  It is possible that I missed the US mod revival, but I tend to think it's more likely that Clugston-Major is engaging in a degree of wish-fulfilment.  Mind you, it was probably Blur's strongest period, so you can't blame her.

Despite the title, the lead character is actually Ashton Archer.  Coming from a long line of womanisers, Ashton is the alpha male of his school, thanks for his impeccable mod credentials.  If you're unconvinced of the ineffable cool of mod, then just take my word for it: it's one of those things you're going to have to live with if you want to read Chynna Clugston-Major's comics.  Sure, it lends all her stories a certain detachment from reality, but she gets away with it because her version is clearly better, especially when it comes to the soundtrack.

Archer is the coolest boy in school up until Margaret Sheldon, the eponymous Scooter Girl, turns up.  She operates on an entirely higher and transcendent level of cool, of a sort that places her almost on fantasy level.  Frankly, the biggest problem with this issue is that Margaret barely even exists as a character; she comes across more as a collection of traits that Clugston-Major regards as impeccable and cool, not least in her forty-year-old fashion sense.

All that said, despite the typically retro stylings of this series, it does work.  Ashton is a character who clearly deserves his comeuppance at Margaret's hands, but by telling the story from his perspective, Clugston-Major also makes sure that he's sympathetic enough to make us want to stick with him for another five issues.  In lesser hands, there'd be enough in this basic asshole-gets-lesson plot to fill an entire stories; she uses it as the set-up for issue #1.

Thanks to her slightly curious mod obsession, Clugston-Major's comics all have a certain artificiality to them.  But that shouldn't detract from her skills as a storyteller and an entertainer.  Sure, it's a little over the top, but this is still typically solid material. 

Rating: B+

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