Jen Van Meter

My sister lent me this book ages ago and I adored it, so as I mentioned in a previous post, when feeling guilted into spending money at the local comic book store, I knew it was a safe bet. Unfortunately the printing I purchased was a little low-quality. On several pages, part of word balloons were cut off the top of the page. Lame. So maybe not the best material for recruiting new readers, no matter how cute Skank Zero is.

But the story itself is great fun. The basic idea: what happens when two punk rock legends get married, move to the suburbs, and have four kids?… (mehr)

I was at the library with Solomon, mostly just to return all our library books and pick up a hold before we went on vacation, when I saw the danger sign: The Book Burrow was open. New plan: load up on cheap library discards to keep the kids entertained in the car. We ended up buying eight books. Clearly, this was one. I snatched it off the shelf, delighted. It had been years and years and years since I had read Hopeless Savages. I couldn't remember where I had left off or had any idea where in relation to this story that might be, but I figured it would be a diverting vacation read in any case.

Somehow, this book is exactly where I left off. In fact, the last issue I read was the first one included in this collection. Perfect!

This volume is mostly about Arsenal Fierce. If you're not already familiar with the Hopeless-Savage clan, Arsenal is the oldest daughter of retired punk rockers Dirk Hopeless & Nikki Savage. She runs a martial arts dojo, and the story of this volume takes place on a trip to Hong Kong for a match.

This series is fun. It features many girls and women who kick ass in all kinds of ways, a fierce punk rock ethos, a functional and relatable gay couple (ten years later, that's still hard to find in comics -- what's up with that?), spies, chase scenes, some great reversals, and, can I say it one more time? Strong women.

Recommended to fans of punk and girls who take names. Also, if you like Scott Pilgrim, read this!… (mehr)