The chronology of the collected editions is different from the numbering. Timewise, the volumes come in the order: one, two, four, three. As several stories make reference to past events, this order can become confusing. In an add-on comic in volume four, Clugston addresses this issue.
The Kids Are Alright An escalating war of
pranks breaks out after Alan and Victor give Bleu and Clover
cookies stolen from
home economics class, resulting in
detention for the girls. Bleu desperately tries to get tickets to see her favorite rock musician,
Adam Ant, in concert, but is frustrated at every turn. She tries to win a contest for the tickets by performing the song "
Stand and Deliver," but despite her good performance the drunken
male chauvinist emcee instead gives the tickets to the busty winner of a
wet T-shirt contest. She finally wins the tickets in a radio phone-in contest, but the obnoxious
bouncer and
receptionist at the concert venue refuse to let her in without photo ID, which she doesn't have because she's too young for a driver's license. Meanwhile, she begins to develop a crush on Mr. Donovan, her substitute history teacher.
Absolute Beginners The kids are invited to a themed party at a friend's house in which they will act out a 1930s murder mystery. After having wine spilled on her at the party, Bleu takes a bath and is secretly filmed naked by Alan and Victor, who then threaten to circulate the tape around the school. In retribution, the girls challenge the boys to a soccer match, with the real purpose being to beat on and humiliate them through the use of "
hooligan rules." Bleu reluctantly agrees to go on a date with Alan to get the tape back, which ends up being a humiliating experience for him as Erin and Seamus the Pooka both separately conspire to sabotage the evening.
Inbetween Days This collection consists of the holiday-themed
one-shots "Dead Man's Party" (
Halloween), "Lovecats" (
Valentine's Day), and "Nobody's Fool" (
St. Patrick's Day and
April Fool's Day). "Dead Man's Party": The gang attends a Halloween costume party at Erin's house but are stranded when there is a
power failure. They pass the time by making up and telling horror stories. Victor tells a
zombie apocalypse story that heavily references
The Return of the Living Dead, Bleu a
gothic vampire romance based heavily on the original
Dark Shadows, and Clover a parody of
The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meanwhile, a pair of supernaturally floating Jesus heads (knocked off a statue in a cemetery in a previous story) keep trying to kill Clover because they mistake her
devil costume for the real thing. The heads may be a tongue-in-cheek homage to the
Hexham Heads as they are similar to size and are responsible for unwanted paranormal activity. "Lovecats": a Valentine's Day dance is approaching and Victor tries to work up the courage to ask Clover. There is a flashback scene to an earlier Valentine's Day dance when Bleu met Clover, Alan and Victor for the first time. After many complications, Victor and Clover kiss and begin a covert relationship. "Nobody's Fool Part 1: Everything's Gone Green": It's St. Patrick's Day, and Clover is in a foul mood because of the Irish stereotyping that accompanies the holiday. After drinking too much
punch, she dreams that she is made to work as a scantily-clad "
booth babe" at a
convention attended by lecherous
leprechauns. "Nobody's Fool Part 2: Everybody Plays the Fool": While reminiscing on his birthday (April 1) about his younger days, Victor dresses up in his old
Goth makeup and clothing and is spotted dancing in his bedroom by Bleu and Clover. To avoid being embarrassed by their gossip, he shows up to school looking like
Robert Smith of
The Cure, intending to pass it off later as an April Fool's Day joke. When all the girls at school swoon over him, though, Victor decides he may have a good thing going.
Inbetween Days also includes the short story "Blue Belles," a
crossover with
Paul Dini's
Jingle Belle. The gang has a memorable Christmas Eve encounter with
Santa's wayward daughter.
Painted Moon This story follows immediately after the end of
Absolute Beginners, and before
Inbetween Days. Bleu is still upset and depressed over the incident with the videotape. Erin tries to manipulate Victor into asking Bleu out, so that Alan will stop thinking about her and date Erin instead. Victor's attempts to romance Bleu go drastically wrong, however, much to the embarrassment of both. Bleu resorts to
masturbation to try to cure her insomnia, but becomes addicted to it and is mortified when she thinks Mr. Bishop suspects her "dirty secret." Erin covertly spreads a rumor that Clover is gay, in hopes that Victor will lose interest in her and pursue Bleu instead (with some success, though he is disappointed by the rumor). To dispel the rumor, Clover ostentatiously kisses Monkeyboy while the gang is at a
bowling party. This upsets Victor, but ultimately prompts him to realise his feelings for Clover and apologise to her, to amend their friendship. Bleu, meanwhile, finally confesses her feelings to Mr. Bishop. He lets her down gently, telling her the story of how he once thought he was in love with one of his own teachers. Bleu is undeterred, however, assuming that Mr. Bishop is only put off by the fact that she's underage, and vowing to try again when she's
legal. Alan, tired of Bleu's obsession with her teacher, begins dating Erin.
Thieves Like Us A fifth miniseries, entitled
Thieves Like Us, was scheduled for release in 2009, but only the first issue was published. In an interview conducted at WonderCon 2012 (March 16–18, 2012), Chynna Clugston Flores stated that she was working on "finishing up"
Thieves Like Us after its extended hiatus. In January 2013, Clugston Flores stated that she had finished scripting
Thieves Like Us, was in the process of drawing it, and had many more
Blue Monday stories left to tell. In July 2015,
Image Comics announced that it had acquired publication rights to the
Blue Monday series and would be releasing
Thieves Like Us as a series in 2016. However, Image has released no new volumes of the series since
Inbetween Days, and the status of this story is unknown. In the first issue of the series, the gang makes a springtime visit to the local zoo, and Bleu is mortified at the sight of all the animals
mating. Embarrassed by her lack of experience, she resolves to lose her
virginity.
Germfree Adolescents In July 2015,
Image Comics announced that it had acquired publication rights to
Blue Monday and would be releasing a single-volume anthology containing all previously published miniseries and one-shots, entitled
Germfree Adolescents. Continuing the
Blue Monday tradition of music-related titles, this volume is named after the
1978 album and song by British punk band
X-Ray Spex. In May 2016, Chynna Clugston Flores clarified that
Germfree Adolescents would be released in 2017, so that it could include the new miniseries,
Thieves Like Us. However, the Image Comics editions of
Painted Moon,
Thieves Like Us and
Germfree Adolescents have not appeared. ==References==