Young Liars, Vol. 3: Rock Life

Young Liars

by David Lapham

YOUNG LIARS is a rip-roaring, hardcore urban adventure from indie comics auteur David Lapham, the creator of Stray Bullets. The story revolves around Sadie Dawkins, a young rich girl who turns into a fearless adrenaline junkie after getting shot and having a bullet lodged in her brain. Now she leads her misfit friends on an insane quest to get rich and famous in a desperate attempt to salvage their crushed dreams.

In this final volume, despite Annie X's attempts to stop him, Danny's obsession grows, and Loreli's life is in extreme danger. But are Annie's actions noble - or far more sinister? And in a town where everything goes your way, is there ever a breaking point? As events spiral out of control, Danny stumbles upon the ultimate secret; one that changes everything not only for himself and Sadie, but for the entire world.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Crime

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2010

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the comic books Young Liars #1-18 that cover the entire series. Issues 1-12, Young Liars, Vol. 1: Daydream Believerand Young Liars, Vol. 2: Maestro have a near genius plot about the lies a group of people tell to themselves and one another as they get caught up in a conspiracy centred round the search for a missing heiress. However the later issues #13-18, in this volume, 'Rock Life' are not as good, as the series began to lose its way. Still, overall an astoundingly good start to colour comics by David Lapham. This is a must-read for graphic novel readers that are tired of reading superhero books, as there isn’t a sniff of them in this complex, transgressive and interesting series. This volume 8 out of 12, Four Stars - so still pretty good compared to most reads, just not as good as the previous two volumes.

2013 and 2017 read

[Andrew Somers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a little lost, but I still really enjoyed it.

[Ill D · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was stupid.

[Clay Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first exposure to David Lapham was in his critically acclaimed worked Stray Bullet's volume 1. That book continues to stick with me even though it's been nearly a decade since I read it.

So when I stumbled onto his more colorful, manic and confusing drug trip series Young Liars I was eager to read Volume 1.

Both volume 1 and 2 get progressively more confusing and the line between what's really happening and what's just drugs or a dream get progressively harder to determine.

Personally I spent much of my 20s, basically a full decade in a drug induced haze and suffered similar hyper paranoid delusions involving friends, governments and doctors and the police, so Lapham's confused characters really work for me and the whole "what the hell is going on" vibe works.

Yes this is what its like to waste away your lifes on drugs and party to the excess.

Yes this is a good book, but not everyone will relate.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I love David Lapham's comics. But honestly, by the third volume, I wanted some resolution and answers - riddles within lies within reality-rewrites were starting to become frustrating rather than intriguing. But add it all up, particularly the first book and some compressed version of the latter two books, and Young Liars is simply terrific. Lapham's amazing in his ability to craft losers who you can relate to, but still manage to screw everything up morally and personally constantly.

On one hand, it's a shame this book didn't last longer. On the other, letting it go on much longer might've been too many lies piled on top of one another.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, the more experimental this book got the more hooked I was but the less I liked it. By the somewhat truncated ending, what was and wasn't reality had become (intentionally) impossible to parse; the last issue's metafictional trappings make it clear that this was intentional commentary. But nonetheless, the bizarre scenarios and fast-moving punk rock plot still kept me reading to the slightly bitter end.

[Jason Seaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reaching the end, I'm still not sure what is real and what is delusion in David Lapham's Vertigo series, but that's part of the joy of it: It reads equally well as a story about spiders from Mars invading Earth or one about disturbed young people on the run from their parents. This final volume doesn't give us much of an answer either way; it has the characters in a small town in Arizona, doped into normalcy or fantasy, trying to get a handle on what is real or at least get each other to share their particular madness.

David Lapham is still excellent, of course, both in making us care about the characters in his twisted story and in how the art manages to always suggest that something is very wrong without being over-the-top grotesque (except for Annie X; I get the heebie-jeebies looking at the anorexic former model).

18 issues (and three trades) isn't a bad run, and it's been interesting to see him work in full color. I'm eagerly awaiting Lapham's next project, whether it be more "Stray Bullets", the rumored thing he's working on for Avatar, or anything else.

[Clayton Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Still have no clue what happens and to whom. So many new loose ends and context switches. It was a fun read for sure. It still doesn't quite have the thrill of the first volume, closer to a 3.5 rating for me on this one. I'll have to get out my pins and strings and piece the mystery all together later.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a great series. Usually re-inventing yourself is mundane. In David Lapham's hands the re-invention of these superficial and vulgar characters is spectacular. It's a supersonic kick in the ass.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

this goes all crazy, real crazy. still good though.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series ended too soon.

[Patrick Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprisingly satisfying conclusion to a very uneven series. Don't try to think too hard about what you just read -- it is about lies, after all.

[Gabriel · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the hell was that? This seems like a colossal waste of time. Someone tell me what's up or I'm gonna be pissed.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars at best. It makes a little more sense, but is still just completely ridiculous, and with characters that are annoying as hell.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously, what the hell?