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Jam! Tales from the World of Roller Derby
Jam! Tales from the Derby Girls is an anthology, written by the girls who skate in the roller derby! Selected stories range from slice of life to the fantastic, and each girl brings her own unique experiences of the roller derby to their stories. Sexy and free-spirited, each story is drawn by professional comic book artists, and includes such notable talents as Robbi Rodriguez (Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen), Rick Lacy (The Venture Bros., Labor Days), and Steve Rolston (Queen & Country, The Escapists).
192 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2010
About the author
Various
1,360 followersVarious is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 6, 2025
As a derby player myself, I love seeing the community represented. Some of the stories are fun super hero style comics that made me laugh, and some are heartfelt stories of belonging that brought a tear to my eye. If you're in the community and looking for a fun read, or something unique to add to your bookshelf this might be for you.
April 2, 2014
I liked it. I might give it a 3.5, but this time I am rounding down.
Sixteen short comic book stories bound up into one collection; almost exclusively written by skaters, and a number illustrated by people directly involved with roller derby in some capacity. The quality of the illustrations from the strongest to the weakest is top notch. It's the stories themselves that run along a wider spectrum. They run the gamut from memoir (or memoir-esque) to extreme SFF to one story ("A Story of Derby Love") that is a curious mix of the two.
The more personal stories are a mixed bag of quality. Not that they don't each have satisfying elements. "Flat Track U" is the strongest. "This One's for You, Grandma!" has an amusing twist. "Stripes" is an homage to referees. But most are textbook shaggy dog stories that have a tendency to slide sideways without strong narrative arcs and/or to end jarringly without proper resolution. "Reno: Where Dreams and Derby Socks Come to Die" is a humorous albeit loosely constructed drunk story. "From Geek to Freak to Emergency Room" tries to make a strong point, but suffers from weak execution. "Trainwreck Taghurt" builds and builds as if it's going somewhere poignant but doesn't quite deliver in the end. "Skatertots" and "Sisters of the Flat Track" are the most meandering. However, if read more as poetry, if read as impressions of arguably universal roller derby experiences, all of these impart something interesting and engaging. Taken as a whole, the collection is a worthwhile read.
The SFF offerings tend to have a bit more structure as short stories, and are satisfying but beg to be expanded to at least one a full comic book length. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the most polished and complete. "Poor Frankie" is a refreshing underground comix curve-ball. "Galzilla: Beware the Clownquistador" reads a just one installment of a serialized adventure; while "Mad Maxines" and "Time Jam" are noticeably abridged due to space constraints.
"Maybe It's All a Dream" written by Philly's Antidote stands out as a poem to a jam, with delicate ink and watercolor by Ray "Death Ray" Fawkes. It's lovely as both text and art, and like "Poor Frankie" provides welcome variety.
This is a worthy collection if you either like roller derby or like comic books, and given the dearth of such offerings well worth owning if you are a particular fan of both. It would be nice to see more book produced in this particular genre.
Sixteen short comic book stories bound up into one collection; almost exclusively written by skaters, and a number illustrated by people directly involved with roller derby in some capacity. The quality of the illustrations from the strongest to the weakest is top notch. It's the stories themselves that run along a wider spectrum. They run the gamut from memoir (or memoir-esque) to extreme SFF to one story ("A Story of Derby Love") that is a curious mix of the two.
The more personal stories are a mixed bag of quality. Not that they don't each have satisfying elements. "Flat Track U" is the strongest. "This One's for You, Grandma!" has an amusing twist. "Stripes" is an homage to referees. But most are textbook shaggy dog stories that have a tendency to slide sideways without strong narrative arcs and/or to end jarringly without proper resolution. "Reno: Where Dreams and Derby Socks Come to Die" is a humorous albeit loosely constructed drunk story. "From Geek to Freak to Emergency Room" tries to make a strong point, but suffers from weak execution. "Trainwreck Taghurt" builds and builds as if it's going somewhere poignant but doesn't quite deliver in the end. "Skatertots" and "Sisters of the Flat Track" are the most meandering. However, if read more as poetry, if read as impressions of arguably universal roller derby experiences, all of these impart something interesting and engaging. Taken as a whole, the collection is a worthwhile read.
The SFF offerings tend to have a bit more structure as short stories, and are satisfying but beg to be expanded to at least one a full comic book length. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is the most polished and complete. "Poor Frankie" is a refreshing underground comix curve-ball. "Galzilla: Beware the Clownquistador" reads a just one installment of a serialized adventure; while "Mad Maxines" and "Time Jam" are noticeably abridged due to space constraints.
"Maybe It's All a Dream" written by Philly's Antidote stands out as a poem to a jam, with delicate ink and watercolor by Ray "Death Ray" Fawkes. It's lovely as both text and art, and like "Poor Frankie" provides welcome variety.
This is a worthy collection if you either like roller derby or like comic books, and given the dearth of such offerings well worth owning if you are a particular fan of both. It would be nice to see more book produced in this particular genre.
November 18, 2015
The artwork for this collection is absolutely amazing. The stories on the other hand are definitely a mish mosh. Worth the read (and the trip down memory lane for those of you that remember minors and two whistle starts) if you're in roller derby; if you aren't some of these might be tough.
March 15, 2024
This is a fun celebration of the weird and wild world of flat-track Roller Derby. It's an anthology, so you've got a mixed bag of styles and even genre. It's pretty good, but it's also super niche. If, like me, you enjoy this particular little corner of outsider sport, give it a go.
August 9, 2018
If you’re not in the culture hard to get into.... only read half
January 8, 2026
Decent anthology based around the roller derby. The art was good throughout. Some stories were better than others. Some were weirder to others.
August 3, 2012
Hmm! I'm trying to get through every piece of literature about roller derby that's publicly available so that I can know what's out there and what is missing. The fact that this was loads of different authors and artists meant that some of them were great and some of them just weren't my style. My favourite one was the story about the woman who got injured and through the injury, connected with her family a little more. I related to that one the most. Other than that, I thought some of them were just a bit unhelpful in perpetuating the stereotype of derby girls enjoying pain and their entire lives being about derby. Graphic novels aren't my area of expertise, however, so maybe I was reading them a bit wrong.
Anyway, glad I read it for the couple of ones that I particularly enjoyed, but I won't be reading it again I don't think.
Anyway, glad I read it for the couple of ones that I particularly enjoyed, but I won't be reading it again I don't think.
August 20, 2012
I read it a while ago, so some of my recollections of the book are fuzzy --- but, that said, it was a fun read. The book is a series of (mostly) true-life tales from the roller derby scene, as written by actual roller derby players and illustrated in comic book form (full color). Each story is told/illustrated by different people, so each story has a different look and feel. The book also has bios of the writers and artists for each story and numerous 'pin-up' comic splash pages.
One thing that comes up in a number of stories is the fact of injury. Repeated injuries not only wear down players over time, but one serious injury can be the end of a roller derby career...
Note to GoodReads readers: the cover shown here is not the cover on the edition I read (but apparently the same ISBN).
One thing that comes up in a number of stories is the fact of injury. Repeated injuries not only wear down players over time, but one serious injury can be the end of a roller derby career...
Note to GoodReads readers: the cover shown here is not the cover on the edition I read (but apparently the same ISBN).
July 12, 2012
Loved this! Includes a story by someone from my home team, the Music City Roller Girls, and a funny bonus WisCon tie-in--a story by Jennifer Stevenson set in the Chicago of her Brass Bed trilogy. Lots of great art, too. Sure wish this roller derby phenomenon had started up while I was still in my 30's and didn't have a kid!
July 6, 2016
This book has many cartoon styles (contributions from various authors and illustrators), some I really enjoyed and found relatable, others were bizarre and didn't really makes sense/fit the roller derby theme. I would give it 2.5 stars. It's was okay.
August 11, 2010
Learned a lot about derby, enough that I might even go see some. Can't think of higher praise than that. Lots of pretty art too.
August 17, 2010
I wanna go see roller derby nooowww!!!
August 6, 2013
2.5 stars...MAYBE....kinda disappointing...
April 23, 2015
Cute book with different stories and art related to Roller Derby
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews