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HOPELESS SAVAGES #2
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 |
With Andi Watson covers,
Clugston-Major flashback sequences, and Van Meter and Norrie on the interiors,
this book has a lot of talent behind it, and it shows in the final product. It's
got a comedic edge to it, but it also has serious characters that we can connect
with, and Van Meter has taken what I thought to be mostly a gag strip and made
it an ensemble cast that I can really care about. This is a kidnapping/rescue
story, but it's also a story about family and the complicated (and often
dysfunctional) relationships that can develop between them, and both stories are
equally interesting. You also have to give credit to Norrie for the artwork, a
style that has the clean lines of Andi Watson and the expressiveness of Tim
Levins or Clugston-Major and is just absolutely perfect for the book.
I continue to enjoy Skank Zero's use of
"cue cards" to give us exposition. It's a nice way to bring new readers and old
up to speed as well as maintaining that connection to music, evoking mental
imagery of the videos of Bob Dylan and INXS. It also helps to maintain the feel
that Zero, the youngest of the group, is sort of our narrator, which is nice
since I think she's my favorite character.
The themes of this book are about family
and how the past comes back to haunt you. That's true of the villain who has
kidnapped the Hopeless-Savage parents, Rat having to face down his own family in
his new life or simply the flashbacks. The flashbacks connect amazingly well to
the main story, revealing information that you then want to go back and look
for, such as Zero's made-up words or the hints of the person who Rat used to be
in the person he had become. The flashback this issue, as with last issue, is
the emotional part of the story, the one that really connects on a more serious
level, and it helps to give the rest of the series more grounding.
That serious undercurrent helps the story,
but that doesn't mean the humor is gone at all. The portrayal of Monjava's
advertising executive is hilarious, especially with the play-acting that Zero
and her brother engage in to sneak in with her. And the horrific nature of
popular culture, whether it's Monjava corporate or a 1973 cutesy pop single,
makes for some amusing moments as well. The humor doesn't come from making fun
of the counter-culture views of the main characters, however, but in making us
understand them and then seeing just how bad giving in to something like
business dress and speak is for them.
The artwork on the book is every bit as
good as the writing. Norrie's style contains room for subtle facial expressions
and visual gags, and her storytelling is clear and simple. She really does
combine the best of an "animated" style such as Steve Rolston, Tim Levins or
Clugston-Major with the clean lines and simplicity of an Andi Watson or Adrian
Tomine. The result is expressive and often funny work that's easy to enjoy.
Clugston-Major does her standard terrific job on the flashback sequences as
well.
While I love most of what Oni produces, every so often a book comes along from them that stands out as one of their "home runs." Fortune & Glory was one, Breakfast After Noon was another, and Hopeless Savages is definitely of that caliber.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
