The strongest part of the strip is definitely the depth of these characters. While Penny may be a stuck-up popular girl on the outside, inside she resents the distance that her popularity creates between herself and the rest of the school. Aggie’s tart tongue and sharp wit give her power despite her outcast status, yet she becomes an incoherent spaz whenever her crush, Marshall, is around. With such intricate personalities the characters become much more believable and well-rounded, and readers are sure to find someone they can relate to on one level or another.
The storyline begins very simply, establishing the tension between the two girls and dealing with very simple and family-friendly concepts. These are mainly social issues such as the rivalry between Penny and her one-time protégé Karen, or familial issues such as Aggie’s coping with the loss of her mother. Campbell and Lagace initially had hopes to get their comic into newspapers, thus the largely PG-rated plot. However, they eventually committed to their online readers with their “Behind Closed Doors” story arc, which shows several of the characters exploring the pros and cons of sexual relationships, and took the strip into more controversial territory.
High school and college girls will find themselves especially engaged by the storylines as they see the characters pass through events that they have recently dealt with themselves or may even be involved in at the time. The friendship and dating plots, in particular, tend to veer into very universal issues, as well as the strips about two of the characters questioning their sexualities.
Guys may find some connection to the comic as well. Although the strip focuses primarily on the female characters and their interactions, the storylines with Rich and his second bananas Stan and Jack unearth issues that many boys deal with during their high school years, including the slightly unhealthy hero-worship relationship between Rich and Stan and Stan’s sexual conquests and complications.
Penny and Aggie is updated three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with an occasional update on Tuesday and Thursday if the strip’s creators feel inclined. The strip can be found at http://www.pennyandaggie.com/, along with fan art and links to Campbell’s blog and other webcomics the pair has worked on. Check out Penny and Aggie today – it’s a cathartic reflection on the highs and lows of the high school years which will leave readers feeling unexpectedly nostalgic for those “he said, she said” days.
Article comments
1 - Mel
Very good review. I hadn't heard about this.