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HOPELESS SAVAGES #1 (Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Oni Press
Writer: Jen Van Meter
Artist: Christine Norrie
Flashback Artist: Chynna Clugston-Major
Editor: Jamie S. Rich
Price: $2.95 US |
I've enjoyed the short segments of this feature, whether it was in the color specials or on the Oni website, but they didn't really prepare me for what the series itself would actually be about. The notion of a family where the parents are old-school punks and they've raised their kids with an anti-establishment attitudes is a great concept, but the limited exposure I've had to the book so far has been mostly in the form of very short strips, which led to my viewing it as largely a vehicle for quick gags. Now that the concept has been given a full issue (and full series) to run with, it's clear that there's more to it. There are interesting character dynamics, commentary on family (conventional and otherwise) and generational conflict, as well as the establishment vs. anti-establishment theme that I liked in the first place. I've gotten to the point where I expect to be impressed by the first issue of any Oni project, and it's books like Hopeless Savages that have earned them that reputation.
The feel of the book is sort of laid-back
and humorous, but not really cartoonish. Norrie's style would be well-suited to
animation, with simple lines and great expressions, but she works well in the
comics medium with very detailed backgrounds as well. Her storytelling is some
of the most impressive I've seen from a relatively new talent, as she can handle
anything from a midnight raid to a simple conversation with equal skill. And I
love the distinctive look she has given the various members of the Hopeless
Savage family. And of course you can never go wrong with Clugston-Major, who
provides the flashback sequence.
While the book is an ensemble piece about
the entire family, it's the youngest daughter, Skank Zero, who takes center
stage. And I have to admit, I'm completely in love with this character. She has
a very tender and vulnerable side when it comes to her relationship to her
parents and siblings, but she's also got a rebellious and outrageous streak that
can be seen in her enthusiasm for music or her spirited tirades. And I
absolutely love the narrative structure, which finds Zero using hand-written
signs as transitions and exposition. I'm not sure if it's a reference to the
INXS video with a similar style or not, but that image tied in to music enough
for me that it gave me an instant feel for the tone of the series and the
character of Zero, before she'd said a word.
I love the way the book treats these
characters. They're not exactly your average family, made up of creative people
and unusual lifestyles, but there are recognizable conflicts. Instead of the
black sheep of the family being the crazy one who decided to be an actor or a
writer or a musician, the crazy thing to do in this family was to join the rat
race and go normal. Van Meter could easily have taken this to extremes, making
the characters basically cartoons, but she keeps them grounded, real people with
unusual amounts of creativity and free spirit rather than simply vehicles for
jokes, and the result is that the book grabs me not just because it's funny, but
because I honestly care about these characters and what is going to happen to
them.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
