Blue Monday

Oni Press. Series of B&W minis, collected in digest-sized trades. Written and drawn by Chynna Clugston-Major.

1 The Kids Are Alright (3-issue mini, misc. shorts). [From Oni Press: Being a teenager can be a difficult job, something the adult world can never understand. While to her parents and teachers getting Adam Ant tickets is no big deal, to Bleu L. Finnegan it means everything. This could be the defining moment of her life, and there is no guarantee that she will ever acheive it. On the way, Bleu must deal with the travails of adolescence - from prank-playing, porn-addicted boys to sexist-pig radio disc jockeys to trying to figure out how to show that dreamy substitute teacher that she's his perfect mate. It all culminates on that fateful night when Bleu and her best friend, Clover, go to the club and try to get in at any cost! Nothing will bar Bleu from the pop idol of her dreams!] Old Book of the Week 5/24/06: I was torn between Blue Monday and Hopeless Savages; the clincher was I love saying "Chynna Clugston-Majors." This spiritual great-great-grandmother of Scott Pilgrim (in internet time, anyway) has a lot of the manga-tinged loopy rompiness of Pilgrim, although with a touch more of a dark edge. Bleu, the main character, is a high school girl with tons of high school drama in her life, much of it self-inflicted. Sometimes, you just want to slap her, but that's half the fun. The rest of the time, you want to be back in high school and date her—and who knows, you might just have had a chance!
2 Absolute Beginners (4-issue mini). [From Oni Press: It's the second mini-series, all under one cover! Things start off bad as a costume party goes all wrong, and the brain-damaged, hormonally-challenged boys videotape Bleu in the bath. From there, Bleu and Clover will stop at nothing to get the tape back, while Erin makes it her personal mission to make sure everything stays screwed up! You see, this deranged action is actually a mating ritual in Alan and Victor's eyes, and Erin can't help but pit them against each other.]
3 Inbetween Days (various shorts). [From Oni Press: The third BLUE MONDAY trade has a host of goodies, bringing together all of Chynna Clugston-Major's holiday-themed stories, along with new sequences and sketches. Swoon at Clover's shamrock underpants! Giggle to Seamus doing the Humpty Dance! Cry for Bleu as she tells her pathetic Halloween story! Gasp at Victor's shocking new image! All the stories are here, in between fantastic new covers. ]
4 Painted Moon (4-issue mini). [From Oni Press: Recently Bleu’s finding herself pent up with a heavy dose of teenage lust! Not content with Alan and Victor's pathetic attempts to woo her, she grabs Clover and hits the town in a side-splitting search for some real boys, only to discover that there aren't any! With only one candidate in Bleu's mind — her teacher Mr. Bishop — she makes the decision to tell him how she really feels, but things never go as planned in the crazy, mixed up world of Bleu L. Finnegan]
Official Blue Monday web site.