Curb Stomp

by Ryan Ferrier (Writer), Devaki Neogi (Illustrator), Jeremy Lawson (Colorist)

Three gangs. Five girls. No way out. Machete Betty leads a small gang of women under the self-appointed task of protecting their home of Old Beach, one of three boroughs surrounding a rich metropolitan city. When Betty takes the life of a rival gang member in an act of self-defense, she sets off a chain reaction of retaliation, gang warfare, and unlikely allies. It’s up to the The Fever—Machete Betty, Derby Girl, Bloody Mary, Daisy Chain, and Violet Volt—to defend their turf at all costs.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, LGBT, Adult Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2016

Reviews

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm stuck between 3 and 4 stars on this but I think I'm gonna have to round down for a couple of reasons. The first is that while this is a great concept, it was definitely a little bit rushed and I would have loved to see a few more issues to really flesh things out. The second is that the artwork is ...sometimes not great. I like the style overall and it definitely has a vintage vibe that works well with the story, but sometimes the anatomy and facial expressions are just REALLY weird so that took me out of the story quite a bit. It's a fun short read about some super cute punk girls kicking ass, but I would have liked to see something a bit more polished.

[Marten Peters · Rating 2 out of 5]

a great cover, cool title and a girl gang. how could tthis go wrong?
well the art is stiff and misplaced and people move around and change looks or suddenly appear from one panel to the next, the writing is bad, the story cliched, overblown, rushed and full of holes.
if you like the cover art and think it a good idea to buy this: don't.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sucked. Cool concept, but the WORST execution.

[Michelle]

I only read one issue (out of four) but it was enough to know that this wasn't for me. The colouring is quite fun (a lot of bright colours, mostly pinks, blues and yellows), but the lines and inks were incredibly stiff. The writing was awkward (at best) and the world-building was lacking: what is the deal with Old Beach exactly? and the gangs that populate it and its surrounding areas? Maybe this would've been revealed if I had stuck with it, but eh.

I was so excited by the prospect of a women-centric story with female friendships being front and center, so this was a big disappointment. Ah well.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't just a story about a girl gang.
This is a story about friendship.
This is a story about sisterly love.
This is a story about fighting back.
This is a story about not backing down, but standing your ground.
This is a story about not giving up and that this means getting hurt a lot of times.

The art is just liked the story - rough, raw and reckless. This is not for the light hearted. This is full of blood, guts and gore. This is a desatuared colored version of a 70s blaxplotation and 80s action movies mashup.
Much like bitch planet, this is femplotation.

This is a great book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful and violent, a nice re-working of the basic concept behind the 70s movie, The Warriors. It needed a little more depth and tighter language; as it stands, it's a bit clumsy. However, the design of the five members of the Fever was phenom.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. The art was a little odd with the strange coloring. The story can be described as The Warriors with a female gang as the main character. It was a little hard to follow at times, but I think that may have been due to the odd coloring used on the art. The story wasn't terribly original but it wasn't terrible.

This was more average than anything else, but if the idea of a kick ass girl gang appeals to you check it out because that's a sparse genre.

[Tyler Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girl gang badassery, which I'm usually a big fan of, but this story felt rushed, packed full of so many plot twists and turns that as the reader I felt confused and pulled in so many different directions without the reward of any real resolutions. Loved the neon/psychedelically-colored illustrations.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise was there, but the execution was...not. Overall a 2.75 for me :/

[Devon Munn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dug the color palette in this comic, it was very nice to look out and it gave off a very 80's-90's vibe to it. The rest of the book was just fine in my opinion. The action scenes were also a little awkward cause in this style they didn't work (for me at least).

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

It sure SOUNDS like something I'd love but boy oh boy it's just not very good.

[Sarah Holton · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was not super fleshed out. I didnt really have a reason to care about any of the characters. The art is not bad, it is just not my style. The coloring however, I really liked.

[Kristen Suver · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really exceptional work by the colorist, but art and writing both cringey.

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Trying to be a pulpy gang graphic novel, comes off with teen angst and useless violence. Not an amazing enough plot to keep me interested.

[Ria · Rating 2 out of 5]

When oh when will I learn! Never judge a book by its cover. But what a gorgeous cover! I stumbled across this graphic novel in a Book Riot list and the concept sounded cool, the cover was stunning, so I sought a copy out.

Imagine my surprise when the cover was drawn by someone else. And someone I need to pay attention to - Tula Lotay drew the heartbreaking Tara issue in WicDiv, and her work here was equally arresting, The Fever look fierce and badass and you want to know them better.

Inside the book, the art was ok... There are some really striking panels, there's obviously talent there. But the dynamism was lacking, some of the expressions were off, and the characters look and feel varied inconsistently. I really liked the colour work though and it's great to see female artists taking centre stage.

As for the story, I was a bit disappointed. Everything felt a bit rushed, you don't really get to invest in the characters before betrayals and deaths and high stakes take place, so there was never an emotional punch.

So I'll keep an eye on these creators, always nice to see new talent, I just hope there are lessons learned for the future.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is trying way too hard. You get all these members of the girl gang tossed at you with a panel or two to introduce each. I don't know how I'm supposed to remember who is who let alone care about them with that little of an intro. And then suddenly there's violence everywhere. One of them curb stomps a rival gang member, I guess because she looses her temper? And then everything keeps escalating and everyone acts all tough, but who the hell cares. People get kidnapped and die and there are gangs and some plot with the mayor or something. I started skimming about halfway though because I was pretty much done by then. Honestly, it's a mess.

[Seth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story wasn't particularly bad, it was really mediocre all around. The artwork could have been better, the story could have been more interesting, and the characters could have been more likable. The colors were very vibrant and added a different element to the story. As a whole this story had a lot of potential, but it seemed to really fall flat for me. It's like the creative team had their hearts set on spotlighting the Street Gang culture with heavy Hardcore Punk elements, but in the end I think it came across like they were just trying too hard.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading other reviews I get the impression that some people liked a single aspect of the book - the theme or the art or the story - but the rest of Curb Stomp's execution let it down. However, everything worked for me; the pulpy punk art, the Warriors style setting, the gang story, the DIY community themes, I really loved it. It isn't for everyone, but if you have an opportunity to give it a read I would!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 5 member girl gang is set upon by another gang so the mayor can win an election. This felt kind of unrealistic with the gang being so small, but it was cool to see an all-girl center stage. I could have used some more fleshed out world building.

The art is solid but I found the colors (even though they were bright) made some of the characters hard to follow when a whole page would only be one or two colors.

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been great if there were any women involved in the storytelling. As it was, it just felt hollow - like the women had not been filled out at all. Also the art style was so jarring from the cover work, and characters were so inconsistently drawn throughout I was really disappointed. We could have had it all. One star for there being a decent concept, one star for execution.

[London Heady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strong, visceral, grounded, and intriguing to begin with. Love the colors in the book and overall I think the illustrations fit with the tonal abrasiveness of the narrative. But as the chapters continue the plot deteriorates. It's really got something going for it in the beginning, but somewhere on its way to its conclusion it really lost me.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girl gang badassery in neon and leather. Makes about as much sense as a 70s gang movie, but that's part of the charm.

[Chrystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting exploration of sisterhood, loyalty and love framed by a story about saving your home. Also, quite a bit of butt-kicking. It will be made very clear why it's called Curb Stomp.

[Elin's Reading Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give it 3.5 stars

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent concept, but a rushed story with little in the way of character development or understanding of motivation. The art is very inconsistent, too.

[Paisley Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story wasn't great and the art was even worse.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this series. The first issue was pretty solid. A girl gang version of The Warriors and all that. But being a limited series, there was just way too much going on, too many plot holes, and very little resolution over the course of the 4 issues. Honestly, there were no repercussions at the end of the book? Legal ones, lasting emotional ones, nothing. I know that The Fever was meant to be all hardened by their lives in Old Beach but a pizza and a nap is not going to heal anything, yaknow?
Yeah the art inside isn't the greatest, I feel like it was more rushed looking as the book went on. Almost like there were deadlines that were coming dangerously close to not being met. As someone who reads comics I didn't feel mislead by the cover art (the TPB art is the same from #1, which was done by Tula Lotay who I have heart eyes for all day.)

[Derek Royal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had higher expectations for this title. I have enjoyed Ryan Ferrier's other comics -- such as D4ve and the recent Kennel Block Blues -- and thought I might like this, as well. Plus, BOOM! Studios has been releasing good stuff over the past couple of years. So what went wrong with this book? The story is sketchy in places, but it's the art that ruined it for me.

At one point we were going to discuss this on the podcast, but after giving it serious consideration, we decided against it. We just didn't want to come across as too negative on the podcast.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this series. The art was fun and punk-y and fit the tone and subject matter nicely. With only 4 issues it's hard to get a lot of character depth but all 5 of the Fever girls were distinct and interesting characters with their own motivations and struggles. The gentrification plot (pun intended) felt very appropriate to what is happening in a lot of similar neighbourhoods all over the world.

Overall, an enjoyable and poignant read.