Best-selling novelist (Why Girls Are Weird, You Take It from Here), animation writer (Moana, the Wreck-It Ralph sequel), and comics writer (Rick and Morty) Pamela Ribon and artist Veronica Fish (Archie, Silk, Spider-Woman) dive into the fast-paced, hard-hitting world of roller derby!
Jennifer Chu and Maise Huff (aka Knockout and Ithinka Can on the track) have been best friends since their first day of Fresh Meat Orientation for the Eastside Roller Girls, but when they get drafted for two different teams they'll have to figure out if the bond between them is stronger than the pull of a team when a win is on the line.
You get slammed on the track and slammed in life, and in both cases you have to take your hits and get back up again!
Pamela Ribon is a screenwriter (Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Bears), performer, TV writer, comic book writer, best-selling novelist, and a Film Independent Directing Lab Fellow.
She is currently adapting her original comic book series SLAM! — co-created with Veronica Fish — as an animated half-hour with Rooster Teeth and Minnow Mountain for HBO Max. She is attached to direct (with Paul Franklin) her live-action feature adaptation of her critically-acclaimed graphic novel My Boyfriend is a Bear (co-created with Cat Farris). She is also adapting her comedic memoir NOTES TO BOYS (AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULDN’T SHARE IN PUBLIC) as an animated series for FX’s CAKE.
Pamela was a flagship contributor to Television Without Pity, and is known as a pioneer in the blogging world with pamie.com, where she launched such viral essays as “How I Might Have Just Become the Newest Urban Legend” and “Barbie Fucks it Up Again,” the latter of which led to #FeministHackerBarbie, a revamp of Mattel’s products and marketing for Barbie, and the creation of Game Developer Barbie as “Career of the Year.” Pamela’s stage work has been showcased at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival and she created the accidental international scandal known as Call Us Crazy: The Anne Heche Monologues.
A former Austinite with a BFA in Acting from the University of Texas, Pamela has been entered into the Oxford English Dictionary under “muffin top.” That is not a joke. @pamelaribon | she/her
1. Slam! is about two best friends who are derby girls and have to face the challenges of being on different teams and growing apart. If that very bare plot summary doesn't hook you, I don't want to be friends.
2. This series was written, drawn, and colored by women, which makes me very happy because I like to see more women with credits on a comic book page. This is primarily female-run book, and it shows in how it treats the characters and the topic.
3. If you like or love roller derby, this is a comic book you need to be reading. Hardcore derby fans will enjoy it. People who have seen Whip It a few times will like. Anyone who enjoys a fun comic book with strong female characters will enjoy it.
4. The characters are real, fully-developed people. Jen and Maisie are completely different but wholly compatible as friends. They are given real emotions, fears, and anxieties. They are actual people, and it's too often in comics that women don't get to be people.
5. The writing of this book is excellent.
6. The art of this book is fun, detailed, and perfectly matched to the story.
7. The coloring is vivid, interesting, and well-done.
8. Slam! does an excellent job of depicting the sport of derby: the triumphs, the difficulties, the work that goes into it, etc. It also gives newbies to the sport a good introduction that is easy to follow.
9. The friendship between Maisie and Jen is amazing, and it's nice to see that as the focus of a series with a background of roller derby.
10. If all these reasons don't make you want to read this series, take a glance at the covers. The covers will make you want to read it. I guarantee it.
I just loved this graphic novel. It mainly follows two college-age friends who sign up for roller derby for the first time and how it affects their lives- both positively and negatively. Their friendship is tested, their time management, and their emotional and physical well-being. I can't wait for more installments in this series!
More of a 3.5 star rating but gave it 4 stars because it got me interested in roller derby. I really like the introductory feel of this issue and overall how it shows insight to both girls’ lives before entering roller derby. It doesn’t leave too many questions about the characters themselves while also setting up the storyline nicely. I’m both curious and excited for this series.
So much potential for greatness! Derby life is crazy to me but awesome. I'm liking the two MC's. I have a feeling they will either form a team or be in one together one way or another.
Fun story, female focused with such a great emphasis on friendship. Modern views, nice peek into the Roller Derby world and beautiful illustrations. Can’t wait to read the next one!
A wonderfully written look into the bank track derby world. As a derby player myself (flat track) I think it does a wonderful job at showing the culture and love the derby community holds.
As a roller derby girl (flat track), I love this comic. Derby brings so many different women together in this sport. The first issue did a great job capturing all of the excitement and fear that comes along with taking those first steps on skates. I love the artwork, the derby names, and the way each of the ladies are portrayed. I picked up a second copy for our team at the warehouse, and I can't wait for the next issue.
I LOVED this. It captures the feeling of being in the roller derby community so perfectly. This first issue just introduces the main characters and the story's premise, but the plot hasn't gotten underway yet by the end of it. I'm excited to see where this story goes. And: the art is delightful!
[Some] facts about your new derby life: 1. You will have fun. 2. You will get hurt. 3. You will want to quit this forever. Every time. 4. You won't. Because you love it more than you've ever loved anything in your life.
I LOVED this and I can't wait to read the next issue.
A really nice, quick read! The artwork was amazing and I like how close Jennifer and Maisie are. I'll stay tuned. P.S. Jennifer is my next derby crush!
This off to a great start - funny, empowering, and exciting. Makes me want to sign up for roller derby even though I can't skate five feet without ending up on my rear end - even without the help of derby girls knocking me around.