A Penny saved is a Penny earned...

(From Penny and Aggie. Click on image to see full-sized image.)

I've been resisting writing a review for Penny and Aggie for a couple weeks now. It's not that I didn't want to write a review, or that it doesn't deserve a review. I do, and it definitely does deserve a tangent. But I seriously dislike this new character, Rich.

Part of the problem is that I'm a geek. Let's face it, geeks everywhere have watched the pretty girls end up dating these suave manipulative boys who more often than not seem to mistreat their girlfriends and yet still have plenty of ladies ready and willing to date them (but rarely do these girls date the geeks; geeks might become friends with the popular girls in school, but rarely anything more. Or at least that was the way it was when I was a teenager. I doubt things have changed much, however). Girls have a variety of reasons as to why they go after these "dangerous" guys over their more genteel brethren. But part of it is (more often than not) "image."

We've seen inside Rich's head. We know he's targeting Penny specifically because she's one of the most popular girls in the school, with her own little group ready to ape her actions and words. If I hadn't seen inside Penny's head as well, and seen that she isn't nearly as bad as some people think she is, I'd probably care less as to the mind war between Penny and Rich. But I don't want Penny to get hurt by this smarmy manipulator.

Still, it's been quite fun to see Penny see through Rich's manipulations and sometimes play along to see what he does. She's been surprised by him. He's been surprised by her as well. And if it wasn't for this I'd just shrug and watch things develop.

I will admit, I miss seeing Aggie in the strip. Aggie is a good counterpart for Penny; she is the artist to Penny's aristocrat. She claims not to be interested in popularity and to look down on Penny and her cadre's mind games and the like. Yet she is not the protagonist to Penny's antagonist. Aggie can be as cruel as she thinks Penny is. (I mean, Penny tries to step outside her illusion of shallowness, from time to time.) Instead, they're human. Neither is the "good guy" or the "bad guy" of the comic. Instead of this being a story, Penny and Aggie is more of a slice of life, looking at these two girls in high school.

So I'm left to wonder what Aggie is up to while Rich tries to woo Penny. I also hope that Rich isn't going to use Penny as a stepping stone to fame or riches. But the glimpses we've seen of Rich don't do much for his case. It's more like Penny is a conquest on his path out of his "lower class world." And Rich isn't taking a constructive route to move beyond his current world, but opting to manipulate his way into what he wants.

*wry chuckle* If Aggie were there, and if she thought highly enough of Penny, I could easily hear her warning Penny that Rich is just trying to use her. And Penny would probably just brush off the warning, pretending she doesn't care, but actually listening to it and affirming what her own gut feelings in this matter are.

But Penny would listen. That's where she's different than the stereotype she almost portrays. Heck, she'd probably even thank Aggie for her warning when she had a chance and no one was around to overhear.

I have to admit today's update is especially amusing for me. Rich has brought Penny to a skating rink in the hopes of leveling the playing field... and we catch a glimpse of Penny's past, a happier time when she was a little girl, skating with her parents. Sadly, more recent glimpses of her parents suggest that this earlier happiness has faded to mere existence; I don't know if her dad is being worn down by his job or just doesn't care anymore or what.

Young Penny intrigues me. I'd love to see more than just this brief glimpse. It deserves a closer look. And who knows... maybe in time we'll get to see it.

In the meanwhile, Rich is on a slippery slope with Penny, and one of his own doing. I can't wait to see what happens next; but then again, with T. Campbell writing (and Gisèle Lagacé's talented art), that's to be expected.

Robert A. Howard
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