Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 40x40: Bad Reputation / I Love Rock-n-Roll

by Jazzlyn Stone, Amanda Deibert, Evgenia Vereli (Illustrator)

Comics biggest talents come together to form an exciting all woman team of creators and bring you stories to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Joan Jett's seminal albums!

"BAD REPUTATION and I LOVE ROCK ‘n' ROLL hit audiences like an atom bomb, defining a sound that became a soundtrack that would span generations. Now, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of these seminal albums, an unparalleled team of women creators bring these songs to life as 20 stories."

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Music, Anthologies, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 5, 2022

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

An anthology of short stories inspired by the hit songs from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
The artistry is amazing and the concept is pretty cool.

Notable favourites include the stories featured in the I Love Rock’n’Roll half.

[Written by Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a longtime fan of Joan Jett, I was really excited to get this, but it turned out to be a great disappointment. There were only two or three stories that were slightly interesting to me because they actually had a rock and roll/music theme. Everything else was just all over the place.

I was under the impression that this graphic novel would have stories inspired by the two albums, I Love Rock N'Roll and Bad Reputation, by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; turns out, most of the stories do not have any connection whatsoever to the song titles that were given to them, and this is the greatest disappointment of all. To be frank, it feels like this is just a cash grab. The heart and soul of rock n'roll, something that Joan Jett has embodied her whole life and career, is missing in this. It's not just about being rebellious; it's about the music, too. So where's the rock?

This has a major scifi influence and seems geared towards young adults. I wouldn't recommend it to any Joan Jett fan unless they would like a nice book cover to look at on their shelves, which is exactly what I'm going to use this for. The cover art is amazing. The inside? The meat? Not so much...

[Severind Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I'm being honest here, this is a cool book to have if you're a huge Joan Jett fan. But even then, it's not all that spectacular. There are 20 short stories in graphic novel form throughout the book, each of them pertaining to a song from either Bad Reputation or I Love Rock N Roll. Unfortunately, not many of those stories appealed to me. I liked more of them from the ILRnR half than I did from Bad Reputation. None of them were all that fleshed out, so you don't really grow attached to any of the stories, characters, or the meanings behind them. If you love the songs and you're interested in reading about stories others created to go along with those songs, then by all means, try it out. But I was skimming through the last few, and really didn't see much of a point to either volume.

[Michael Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Z2 Comics music-inspired graphic novel I have read and it is pretty solid. It’s an anthology of sequential shorts by female talent based on each track of Joan Jett’s first two solo albums. As with most collections, some interpretations worked better for me than others, but each contains captivating art. The entire package is well produced and the stunning cover by Tara McPherson is worth the price of the entire book. Overall, it is great to see the music of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer still resonates with folks and this is a nice companion to two of my favorite albums. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Chaitanya krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional tribute to an icon! The stories are a fun and diverse range from based in reality to the fantastical. Some of the art is just fantastic and i kept re-reading to go over the art once more.
My favorites are
Make Believe by Norzine,
You Don't know what you've Got by Leonie O'Moore, Kelsey Ramsay and Kelly Fitzpatrick,
And of course my absolute favorite is You Don't Own Me by Leah Moore and Devaki Neogi.
The others are pretty great too! This will go front and center on my bookshelf.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

About 90% of the “art” in this book is awful. Even the 10% that isn’t bad is still rather juvenile.
The writing, the stories, are all pretty bad
I’m a fan of Joan Jett - saw her once at free concert at the Michigan State Fair around 1982 before she was well known, and was very impressed.
This book does not do her justice.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

variety of art and stories is super cool. also lots of queer and poc characters. sick graphic novel. wouldve been a cool zine too.

[Hattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read with gorgeous art! Love all the JJ songs chosen and all the queer & disabled rep. Also love that everything was done by femme creators!

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely artwork!

[RebL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Loved the art. Didn't care for the words or the concept. Would just as soon listen to the records over again.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed it but i would have liked a binding storyline to connect the stories

[The_J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Perhaps it might mean more to a fan. At least one piece was some fun.