Blue Monday, Vol. 1: The Kids Are Alright

Blue Monday #1

by Chynna Clugston Flores

Being a teenager can be a difficult job, something the adult world can never understand. While to her parents and teachers getting Adam Ant tickets is no big deal, to Bleu L. Finnegan it means everything. This could be the defining moment of her life, and there is no guarantee that she will ever achieve it. On the way, Bleu must deal with the travails of adolescence—from prank-playing, porn-addicted boys to sexist-pig radio disc jockeys to trying to figure out how to show that dreamy substitute teacher that she's his perfect mate. It all culminates on that fateful night when Bleu and her best friend, Clover, go to the club and try to get in at any cost! Nothing will bar Bleu from the pop idol of her dreams! Collects the debut mini-series as well as the various short stories that preceded it in independent comic book anthologies.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Fiction, Music, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jan Philipzig · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story is officially set in the high-school milieu of the early 1990s, its protagonists appear to be stuck in the early 1980s for some reason. The title "Blue Monday" is an homage to the (obviously completely awesome!) New Order hit from 1983, main character Bleu is a huge fan of new wave icon Adam Ant, and the mod revival of the same period finds expression in almost everybody's wardrobe ("The Kids Are Alright" is also the title of the Who's original mid-60s mod anthem, of course).

Why a teenager of the 1990's would be crazy about early-80s pop culture I do not know, but being a child of the 80s myself I ain't complaining - after all, I still have a few Adam Ant 45's in my own (less than mature) record collection...

The story? Well, Shakespeare it ain't, but I found its unpretentious happy-go-lucky celebration of peer and pop culture charming and enjoyable enough. The sense of silly high-energy fun is all-pervasive, thanks in no small part to the fast-paced, carefree, manga-esque artwork.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I really didn't like this one.

The art was somehow OK but the characters were unpleasant. I didn't like any of them. The idea of egging or throwing toilet paper on a tree as a retaliation... That's not a funny way to keep the story going.

Apart from the musical references, I didn't have the feeling that we were in the early 1990s.

There was a lot of text in the panels but the things that were written were... let's say very boring! And I couldn't understand why the author used such a weird spelling for some words.

And yeah, if this is supposed to ba a manga-like comics... SIGH!

Life's too short to read bad comics...

I'll donate this one to the library with no regrets at all!

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage. Complete garbage.After reading the Hopeless Savages Volume 1 series, I figured I'd give more of Clugston's work a try. And oh my gosh was that a mistake. The artwork was fine when not depicting teenage girls in their undergarments or wearing shirts that show off their balloon-breasts. But the dialog and the story... what the hell?!?First of all, I could not figure out if Victor and Alan were friends or just guys who follow the main characters around and sexually harass them. The whole prank war in the first chapter and having "panty shots" of Clover is beyond messed up. I also hated that the females just put up with it. When the boys are outside the window, watching them get dressed, they just tell them to go get ready. Seriously? I almost threw this trash across the room.Scene after awkwardly-horrible scene depicts the teenage girls being degraded (wet t-shirt contest? Really?) and doing nothing about it. They get mad, but they don't usually speak out against any of the harassment. I am so disappointed that I actually bought this.I'm not sure if this was supposed to point out sexism's existence since it really didn't play into the plot very much, but if anything it trivialized it. It makes sexual harassment a joke. It gives the message that it's okay to comment of a female's breast size, big or small. It says voyeurism is normal and funny. It is degrading and demeaning. I can't believe I wasted time and money on this. At least I know now that Clugston's other works are not for me. The short stories at the end were no better. I think "Cuntageously Yours" sums it up pretty well, in which one of the guys accidentally asks an "unattractive" girl to a dance. The only reason I got through this awful thing was because I told myself once I posted a review, I could actually throw the book.Update: Throwing the book across the room has made me feel slightly better about my loss of time. I will never get those minutes back, but at least I got to throw something. The only other time I've ever throw a book was when I sunk to reading Twlight, so take from that what you will.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this in a Goodreads giveaway, and I'd have to say it's the single coolest book I've obtained that way so far. It's certainly a thrill to get a package from Image Comics and know that it contains free stuff ...

So I've actually read the original black and white version of The Kids Are Alright ages ago. I loved it then, so it's no surprise that I love this version. It's been colored, and bonus materials, short stories and such, have been added, but this is the same Blue Monday we all know and love. Bleu Finnegan and her friends are fifteen, and obsessed with British pop from all eras, the 60's through the 90's at least--not too surprising considering all these stories appeared during the 90's. They play pranks, dread substitute teachers, go to shows, and just generally have fun. Bleu certainly has better taste in music than I did at that age. It comes off something like an Archie comic created by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. It's delightful, and I'm always happy to visit Bleu and her friends. Kieron Gillen's introduction, new to this edition, is worth the price of the book all by itself. Recommended!

[Lara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Welllll, I did not like this one much at all. To me it basically felt like Archie (which I also do not like), but way grosser. There are a lot of nasty pranks, a lot of sexual harassment, and a lot of just plain meanness here, and I didn't really end up liking any of the characters. At all. Plus, the setting really confused me. It seems they are in America (I think in California?), but they're constantly using British and Irish slang and phrasing, so I dunno. I couldn't connect with anything here, other than once having had a friend who was also obsessed with Adam Ant. Not planning on reading more of this one. :/

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend recommended this when I was looking for graphic novels written or drawn by women. Unfortuantely I really didn't care for it at all. It was taking the 80s troupe of high school girls and making them into Brit pop and post punk 80s music. But it was just SO suburban American and the kids were so straight laced it hurt! The first three adventures were basically rock and roll high school retold and cleaned up! The young 15 year old, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke and definitely doesn't have sex, is obsessed with getting free tickets to see Adam Ant in concert. (Why she doesn't already have tickets isn't explained - at least this was covered in R&RHS!). I mean it was obviously the authors tribute to things she liked, but it was just boring, it was like despite loving all this music, they'd not actually understood the point of any of the lyrics! It was in all ways the opposite of Love and Rockets.

[Mina Addams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most perfect series in existence.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archie if Archie was the way kids really were (in the late eighties/mid nineties).
Honestly one of my favorite comics of this genre.
Ace.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

[Taliesin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was unpleasant.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d kill for Bleu’s t-shirt collection

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to start with a disclaimer that I know the author, and while I think she's amazing, I will not let that color my review. And I'm drinking.

That being said.

It took me way to long to not just skim the great art Chynna has done in all of her books, but I decided to sit and read "The kids are alright" and loved it. It's rare nowadays to really get a great treatment of the real "outsider" types of kids we were or knew in school. Now that Hollwood and literature uses the theme so much you get writers who really weren't that different in school(compared to average) writing about experiences they have no clue about. Chynna nails it. Much like Ghostworld, you really get that her characters are apart. The experiences are real and there's wonder and love for the difference, and the sub-culture they inhabit. It has weight beyond a story crutch. It's their life. It's their thing. It's their time. I highly recommend this to any comic fan that is looking for fun and creative flair from a wonderful artist. It's funny and fun. It's cool because it's honest.

-JR

[Kaelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up with this series on my radar ever since Bryan Lee O'Malley mentioned Blue Monday as an influence of his (probably in the back of a Scott Pilgrim). Overall, I REALLY LIKED the main story and the short stories were pretty good too. The art was an INTERESTING fusion of eastern and western, which worked for me. Bleu's crush on Adam Ant (other artists and the substitute teacher) was HILARIOUS (oh, and the Jesus head curse - that was so weirdly funny). The only things that fell short with me were that Clover's accent didn't really feel like it fit most of the time, and Bleu referenced a lot of oddball movies and books that you either knew, or most likely didn't. A GREAT LIGHT READ for teens and comic lovers alike. :)

[Kiki]

cute little counterculture teen romp on the surface, but honestly i was shocked when the characters mentioned they were 15. what goes on on this story is a bit much for their age.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I’m the wrong generation to appreciate the nostalgia factor to help overcome so much bad... it would have been better if it was just the girls, but i really hated their guy “friends”. I don’t like reading about gross teenage boys if that’s their only character trait — bedroom full of porn?! Lol that’s just his thing! Pube in the food prank? Aw man we really gotta get them back for this!
It is nice that one guy gets decked for his creepiness at one point but for the most part, it’s just who they are and that’s how it’s going to be.
No thanks. It’s not that long but I ended up skimming through the last issue because I just wanted to be finished with it. Boring story, gross boys...
but I bought it, so I read it... going to half price books next!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel was too realistic for me, which for some might be a selling point but I just couldn’t relate. The gist of the plot is that a teenage girl named Bleu is trying to win Adam Ant tickets off the radio. I had a twitch of nostalgia with the 80s setting - Bleu actually has to use a land line or a pay phone when she calls the radio. Bleu’s trio of girlfriends play pranks on their trio of friends who are boys. I feel like I should like it – it’s got some great girl power moments in it, like the fact that Bleu won’t stoop to a wet tee-shirt contest to win her Adam Ant tickets. It just didn't click with me.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stand And Deliva!
This was one of those books I stumbled upon on amazon late at nite. Clicked on the preview and fangirled the shit out of this. Ooohhh Loorrrdd! Adam Fookin' Ant!!!!!
Imagine having your idol in town and you tryin with all your might to win tickets. You fail... fail again and yet again fail... until Eureka its all yours. Squeal!!!
You make it and they wont let you in. No no no no no!!!
But some how you wind up meeting him and then getting a ride home. You have special weird luck. Score one for the mods.
It claims to be in the 90's but its a totally 80's moment. Loved it none the less.

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I have to choose a story to make a film about it where is music and people and a naive teenager who wants to begin life... I will choose Blue Monday, 90's Britpop a naive character that somehow remind me to myself when I was 17 or so and group of characters that makes you laugh and sometimes, cry

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. This was put out by Image, so I figured I would enjoy it. It was definitely interesting, but has more of a teen feel than most of Image's other stuff. That said, while this has a young adult feel, and teenaged main characters - the language definitely makes this a more mature book. There's some cursing, for sure.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read and reread this one. I can't explain why I enjoy it, but I do. It's over-emotional, coarse, and hugs a lot of clichés, but for some reason I can sympathize with the characters and enjoy their hijinks.

[Sans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cute. I can see how it was really influential to a lot of artists and creators. It's very nostalgic, I was a lot like Bleu in high school (minus the friends, I was definitely the loaner type). Blue Monday is cute and fun, a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

[RatGrrrl]

Not rating as I DNF'd at about a third of the way in purely on subjective enjoyment.

Music and movie obsessed anglophile teen, Bleu, is too cool for school and the fools she's stuck with. Hijinks and hyperfixations abound.

I love this in theory and there was a huge element of this being me, though I was more vacillating between incredibly cringe white middle class English kid in Wu Wear, a serious Juggalo phase, and everybody's favourite pretentious black and white thinking 16 year old punk. I'm frustrated because the me I was then would have hated this for not being 'pure' to punk or some other bullshit those who have no sense of self so they become entirely evangelical and puritanical about whatever they're into. But now, it's just a bit too juvenile and doesn't grab me enough - these are absolutely me problems subjective taste, no shade here.

A version of me that had the opportunity to be honest about who I really am at that time would have absolutely loved it. And I love that for her.

It's really cute and I just want to like it more than I actually do.

Also, people (in comfortable, safe situations) outside of the UK romanticising it is genuinely hilarious to me. Section 28 was still very much a thing in the time that this was set, so Queer and trans didn't exist for whole generation of us growing up. We existed, but through repression and silence. Thankfully, now we acknowledge we exist. Careful what you wish for, as now they want us exterminated. I think people forget that just because we didn't have Lineham and Rowling doing high profile hatred, this place has always been ultra conservative and hateful. Hell, the only ostensibly leftwing government we had is the one who lied to commit ear war crimes in Iraq!

Ah yes, the classic neurodivergent 'not actually a review just a rant'

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Monday is basically everything I wish I had in my high school experience. Like Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine, The Office) says in his review, Chynna Clugston Flores is basically the John Hughes of the late 90's (just a little bit more grungy). There is never a dull moment when it comes to Bleu and her squad on her crazy adventure to get tickets to see her musical icon, which is something I'm sure we all can relate to because who doesn't have a band or an artist that just means that much to them that there are no extremes when it comes to getting tickets to the one show they're having in your hometown that just happens to be sold out because the world is just cruel that way sometimes? Answer: no one. While there are some things that bother me, like the blatant sexism from Bleu's best guy friends--Alan and Victor, I'll forgive them since they were created almost twenty years ago and I still watch friends (God, that's insane…twenty years ago. Wild.) So next time you're at your local comic shop or just browsing on Amazon when you should be doing homework or some other responsible shit that nobody ever wants to do(something I do way more often than I'd like to admit), then I would highly recommend picking up a copy of Blue Monday (make sure you start with Vol. One!)
Happy Hibernating😊

[Wombo Combo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I'd describe it as Scott Pilgrim with an even bigger music on music and without the crazy video game/ boss battle stuff. This book is set in California instead of Canada, but for the most part, Blue Monday and Scott Pilgrim appeal to the same niche crowd.

The characters are all very exaggerated and are nothing like the kids I knew in high school, but it works in its own goofy way. The main story can be summed up as "Bleu wants to win Adam Ant ticket," which ends up being pretty fun. The back of the book has a few short stories that range from not great to excellent.

The art is very goofy and cartoony, which I really liked. Colors are done by Jordie Bellaire, who is one of the best colorists probably ever. Her colors add a lot to the tone and feel of the story.

Pick this up if your looking for a fun time. It's not for everyone, but it's a lighthearted story that I greatly enjoyed.

[Mikey The Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this graphic novel, at first the dialog bubbles made me very apprehensive to reading this one through. It seemed like a lot of dialog and the possibility of the story crawling to a halt seemed possible. I had to get through the first 25 pages to really start appreciating this piece of 80s/90s gold.

This graphic novel gives me many flashbacks of how the world used to be. The soundtrack suggests are a MUST!!!! They give this graphic novel something so special that anyone who reads this without listening to the suggested tracks is missing out! I’ll absolutely be reading this again!

[April Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun slice of life comic that reminded me of an earlier version of Giant Days. I felt close to the characters and felt that they were relatively fully developed in such a short space. The art is fun although not necessarily my favorite style, but it was interesting to see the development from the style in the short stories to the series. Overall, a worthwhile read if you're looking for friends to hang out with for a few issues.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a fun book and the art is great, but it's also kind of annoying. The humor shows it's age, with LOLrandom sensibilities and anime references. It's also a bit creepy, as these 15 year old girls are pretty sexualized. There's also a fair bit of gross out gags that I didn't like at all. Seeing high school girls eating burgers completely infested with pubes is not my idea of a good time. Actually skilled and interesting artwork paired with really weird and off-putting writing.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will not lie. I did not get through this graphic novel. I was a teenager, but I was never one of these teenagers. The harmless pranks were no bother, but it was at the point of "pub burger" and I was done. Theses were the kids I would avoid in high school for being immature, so why would I want to read about them?

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - NGL, I was surprised at how much I liked this bc manga and anime-isms are usually too OTT for me. However, I found myself totally invested in Blue's quest to connect with the one person she feels "gets" her - we've all been there.

Oh yeah, the kids are horny and too young to drive. Been there, too.

[wbforeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why this book is well liked it’s a very good teen/youth book. it kind of reminded me of an Archie book, but with more believable, realistic teenagers. The art style is very manga influenced, especially with the character designs. My only complaint with the book is sometimes Word Balloons were just a word salad, that never stop and made me zone out on the book.