Why you should watch Amazon Prime Video’s Paper Girls (spoilers)
By Mark Lynch
Source material and storytelling
If you’re a fan of comic book movies and TV shows, you know that source material can make or break a project. The heart of the stories and characters should remain intact. Without it, the project might as well be called something else (looking at you, Joker). When it comes to Amazon Prime Video comic book adaptations, the streaming platform is 3-for-3. They keep the important parts and adjust everything else.
The Boys, Invincible, and now Paper Girls have sped up the story to fit the show. Sometimes, this can hurt a project. Not in these cases. With Paper Girls, some of the things that happened occurred after the first volume. A good thing since the show may not have worked if it happened exactly like this comic.
Comic book projects almost always rely on action. The first season of Paper Girls isn’t like most comic projects. It leans on storytelling. There were some action scenes in the first episode. People died, got shot, and traveled through time. However, it stopped for a few episodes. That means the dialogue and story has to be intriguing. Thankfully, they were top notch and easy to follow.
When the action did happen, it was worth the wait. The giant robot fight in episode 5 is quick, but done well. There were real stakes to the battle and it didn’t finish with a happy ending. People are used to seeing the heroes overcome odds and defeat the bad-guy. Not in Paper Girls. Sad things happen throughout and the consequences are permanent.