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Hopeless Savages #1-3
Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits 2000-2010
It's the total swerval return of the First Family of Punk! Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Strange went from the parties, touring, and recording studios of rock stardom to the quiet of the suburbs, but that's no reason they can't still be themselves. Join Dirk and Nikki, along with their kids Rat, Arsenal, Twitch, and Zero as they bounce their way through kidnapping plots, first love, and international intrigue in this massive collection of the Eisner Award-nominated series!
360 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
October 1, 2012
For this year's Band Books Week, I thought I'd revisit one of my favourite comic series, one that charts the lives of the nuclear family of former punk all-stars Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage. Hopeless Savages is delightfully rollicking and more indie than it is punk.
[Skank Zero = the hooskiest]
Writer Jen Van Meter teams up with artists such as Christine Norrie, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Ross Campbell, and Chynna Clugston to deliver three very different volumes that exist as easily digestible stand-alone stories. Approaching them sequentially does enrich the reader's appreciation for Van Meter's world, but it isn't entirely necessary and I will sometimes loan out volume 2 to friends whether they've read the first or not.
Since this is like a special holiday week—what with it being Band Books Week1 and all—I'm going to approach this review a bit differently and tackle each volume in a quick-paced mini-review sort of fashion.
What ho.
Hopeless Savages
Volume 1, simply titled Hopeless Savages, is the weakest of the three. It's not bad by any stretch, but it serves mostly to introduce the family—by way of the kidnapping of the Hopeless-Savage parents. Dirk and Nikki are grown-up-and-settled-down former punk rock legends. Or maybe they're current legends and former stars. Something like that. In any case, they've been stolen and Van Meter uses their theft to introduce and spend time with the four Hopeless-Savage offspring (from youngest to oldest), Skank Zero2, Twitch Strummer, Arsenal Fierce, and Rat Bastard (all their real names!).
It's an amusing cast, but with the focus on 1) the kidnapping and 2) finding the prodigal Rat (he betrayed the family and went corporate a decade earlier), we don't get enough time with individual members to allow their personalities to shimmer. It's a fine diversion, but nothing spectacular.3 We'll leave spectacular for...
Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero
Volume 2 is one of my comics heroes. A book that gets it and gets it done. Ground Zero, drawn principally by O'Malley in his pre-Pilgrim days, is a love story and one of the best I've read in comics form. It's also perhaps the most frisky that Van Meter gets with her narrative order, hopping back and forth and in and out of sequence, keeping things always lively, tense, and on the go.
Ground Zero features most prominently Zero, who is introduced in the volume at a hearing before her school's triumvirate to defend herself against the charge of a recent expulsion-level catastrophe at a school assembly. The title refers, at the least, to both the fact of this explosive event and the more literal (though punny) fact that Zero spends the entire volume truly and deeply grounded.
The reason for all of this, it turns out, is a boy (named for Ginger Baker!). Several characters remark on how OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT A BOY and how cliche and obvious that all is. Van Meter basically says "Screw that noise. I'm writing this thing about a boy and it's going to be awesome and it will make you wish you had your own story about a boy, so shut up forever."4 And she does—she does write an awesome story about a boy, about a girl, and about finding out that you're in love and that love can be this awesome, dangerous, rewarding beast of an abstract thing.
Ground Zero makes me fall in love with love.5
Too Much Hopeless Savages
After volume 2, I was excited to maybe get more of Zero and Ginger—because I know it would be incredible. Instead, Van Meter aims her camera more squarely at Arsenal. I was disappointed at first but Van Meter delivers a solid adventure.
Where volume 1 plays as an introductory comic romp and volume 2 turns in a very very sweet romance, Too Much Hopeless Savages spins out an international espionage thriller with comic leanings. Arsenal and Twitch are visiting Hong Kong with their boyfriends (to visit family and so that Arsenal might compete in a martial arts tourney against on old antagonist). In typical silly fashion a Russian sneaky type, knowing that customs is on to him, slips a package into Arsenal's luggage—thus beginning a series of bumbling interception attempts involving the Russians, a couple British spies (playing off Greg Rucka's Queen & Country characters6), the Hong Kong authorities, and eventually the entire Hopeless-Savage clan.
Because there are so many characters running in and out of frame, there isn't much (or enough) time spent with any one character and we get something of a similar problem to what hinders volume 1. It's not quite as bad because Van Meter does lean toward making this a story about Arsenal and so nearly all the flashbacks concern her, giving the reader at least one anchor in the tumult. Still, it's a fine volume and the focus missing from volume 1 isn't quite as necessary here because most of the characters are familiar by now.
If there is one unfortunate issue that slightly mars the book, it's the change in artist for the final chapter (of four). Ross Campbell (of Wet Moon and Shadow Eyes) makes his published-comics debut in Too Much Hopeless Savages, drawing the flashbacks for each issue. He does a wonderful job and plays a great counterpoint to Christine Norrie's beautiful lines. For reasons unknown to me (as a mere consumer of the work), Norrie falls off the book with the third chapter and Campbell picks up for the entirety of the fourth. It's not a gentle transition, as Campbell's style is very distinct from Norrie's; and while Campbell's art might have been fine if expected, the jarring nature of the transition7 leaves a sour taste that lingers over the volume's conclusion.
Some Final Thoughts
Over the course of the series, Van Meter makes marked use of flashback. Every chapter contains a several-page flashback (drawn by a secondary artist so that it's easily discernible from the main story). These flashbacks not only embellish the current storyline, giving motive to otherwise unexplainable actions, but they serve to give the series a grounding in history. It's one thing for us to hear that Nikki Savage used to be a wild thing on stage but another to actually see what she was like back then. It's one thing to know that Rat left the family because of a girl but another to see it play out. These bits and pieces lend credibility to the work. Kind of like how Tolkien's inclusion of songs and legends helps the realization of his LOTR world.
One of the recurrent themes of Hopeless Savages is family and its essentiality. With the exception of Zero (who is, I believe, a junior in high school), all of Dirk and Nikki's children are grown and leading their own lives (and generally pretty successfully). Dirk and Nikki are on the verge of being empty-nesters. But far from being on the verge of a certain lonely liberation, their family is still very close and they spend more time together than many families that share a single roof. For all of the Hopeless-Savage's anarchic roots, the governance of valuing family rules each of their hearts almost completely. It's a joy to see—and as a father to young children, I hope to see my life somewhat a mirror to theirs twenty years from now.
Hopeless Savages is an enjoyable series and three volumes is tragically too few for characters who deserve far more. I very much hope Van Meter will eventually return to this creative corner and round out the cast a bit more—or at least give us a story about college-aged Zero and Ginger.
_________________
Footnotes
1) Look. I know it's banned books and not books about bands. I may play at it, but I'm not entirely thick. Really, I just needed an excuse to write about Hopeless Savages and I have a friend who loves puns more than he loves breathing. So here we all are then.
2) She goes by Zero. Or by Zed or Zee or Skankabelle. And talks in a smattering of fabricoated words that convey their swoo through sound and context rather than through any squalling relation to the English language.
3) Though I will admit to enjoying Van Meter's framing device in which she allows Zero to narrate through subterranean-homesick-blues‒style placards.
4) And in a supporting story that is also about a boy and runs parallel to Zero's, Van Meter gives us a touching bit of insight into and resolution to Twitch's own story. It's well done and plays well against Zero's heart and heartbreak.
5) Plus, O'Malley draws Zero wearing the hooskiest clothes and how can you not love such a book. Actually, I think I may prefer his work on Ground Zero to either Lost at Sea or Scott Pilgrim, both of which I enjoy inordinately.
6) Rucka is Van Meter's husband, so I presume it's alright.
7) The jarring nature of the transition as well as the fact that he may not have been quite ready to draw this type of story. He's not here able to capitalize on any of the things that made him such a delightful artist in that era of his career.
_________________
Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad
[Skank Zero = the hooskiest]
Writer Jen Van Meter teams up with artists such as Christine Norrie, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Ross Campbell, and Chynna Clugston to deliver three very different volumes that exist as easily digestible stand-alone stories. Approaching them sequentially does enrich the reader's appreciation for Van Meter's world, but it isn't entirely necessary and I will sometimes loan out volume 2 to friends whether they've read the first or not.
Since this is like a special holiday week—what with it being Band Books Week1 and all—I'm going to approach this review a bit differently and tackle each volume in a quick-paced mini-review sort of fashion.
What ho.
Hopeless Savages
Volume 1, simply titled Hopeless Savages, is the weakest of the three. It's not bad by any stretch, but it serves mostly to introduce the family—by way of the kidnapping of the Hopeless-Savage parents. Dirk and Nikki are grown-up-and-settled-down former punk rock legends. Or maybe they're current legends and former stars. Something like that. In any case, they've been stolen and Van Meter uses their theft to introduce and spend time with the four Hopeless-Savage offspring (from youngest to oldest), Skank Zero2, Twitch Strummer, Arsenal Fierce, and Rat Bastard (all their real names!).
It's an amusing cast, but with the focus on 1) the kidnapping and 2) finding the prodigal Rat (he betrayed the family and went corporate a decade earlier), we don't get enough time with individual members to allow their personalities to shimmer. It's a fine diversion, but nothing spectacular.3 We'll leave spectacular for...
Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero
Volume 2 is one of my comics heroes. A book that gets it and gets it done. Ground Zero, drawn principally by O'Malley in his pre-Pilgrim days, is a love story and one of the best I've read in comics form. It's also perhaps the most frisky that Van Meter gets with her narrative order, hopping back and forth and in and out of sequence, keeping things always lively, tense, and on the go.
Ground Zero features most prominently Zero, who is introduced in the volume at a hearing before her school's triumvirate to defend herself against the charge of a recent expulsion-level catastrophe at a school assembly. The title refers, at the least, to both the fact of this explosive event and the more literal (though punny) fact that Zero spends the entire volume truly and deeply grounded.
The reason for all of this, it turns out, is a boy (named for Ginger Baker!). Several characters remark on how OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT A BOY and how cliche and obvious that all is. Van Meter basically says "Screw that noise. I'm writing this thing about a boy and it's going to be awesome and it will make you wish you had your own story about a boy, so shut up forever."4 And she does—she does write an awesome story about a boy, about a girl, and about finding out that you're in love and that love can be this awesome, dangerous, rewarding beast of an abstract thing.
Ground Zero makes me fall in love with love.5
Too Much Hopeless Savages
After volume 2, I was excited to maybe get more of Zero and Ginger—because I know it would be incredible. Instead, Van Meter aims her camera more squarely at Arsenal. I was disappointed at first but Van Meter delivers a solid adventure.
Where volume 1 plays as an introductory comic romp and volume 2 turns in a very very sweet romance, Too Much Hopeless Savages spins out an international espionage thriller with comic leanings. Arsenal and Twitch are visiting Hong Kong with their boyfriends (to visit family and so that Arsenal might compete in a martial arts tourney against on old antagonist). In typical silly fashion a Russian sneaky type, knowing that customs is on to him, slips a package into Arsenal's luggage—thus beginning a series of bumbling interception attempts involving the Russians, a couple British spies (playing off Greg Rucka's Queen & Country characters6), the Hong Kong authorities, and eventually the entire Hopeless-Savage clan.
Because there are so many characters running in and out of frame, there isn't much (or enough) time spent with any one character and we get something of a similar problem to what hinders volume 1. It's not quite as bad because Van Meter does lean toward making this a story about Arsenal and so nearly all the flashbacks concern her, giving the reader at least one anchor in the tumult. Still, it's a fine volume and the focus missing from volume 1 isn't quite as necessary here because most of the characters are familiar by now.
If there is one unfortunate issue that slightly mars the book, it's the change in artist for the final chapter (of four). Ross Campbell (of Wet Moon and Shadow Eyes) makes his published-comics debut in Too Much Hopeless Savages, drawing the flashbacks for each issue. He does a wonderful job and plays a great counterpoint to Christine Norrie's beautiful lines. For reasons unknown to me (as a mere consumer of the work), Norrie falls off the book with the third chapter and Campbell picks up for the entirety of the fourth. It's not a gentle transition, as Campbell's style is very distinct from Norrie's; and while Campbell's art might have been fine if expected, the jarring nature of the transition7 leaves a sour taste that lingers over the volume's conclusion.
Some Final Thoughts
Over the course of the series, Van Meter makes marked use of flashback. Every chapter contains a several-page flashback (drawn by a secondary artist so that it's easily discernible from the main story). These flashbacks not only embellish the current storyline, giving motive to otherwise unexplainable actions, but they serve to give the series a grounding in history. It's one thing for us to hear that Nikki Savage used to be a wild thing on stage but another to actually see what she was like back then. It's one thing to know that Rat left the family because of a girl but another to see it play out. These bits and pieces lend credibility to the work. Kind of like how Tolkien's inclusion of songs and legends helps the realization of his LOTR world.
One of the recurrent themes of Hopeless Savages is family and its essentiality. With the exception of Zero (who is, I believe, a junior in high school), all of Dirk and Nikki's children are grown and leading their own lives (and generally pretty successfully). Dirk and Nikki are on the verge of being empty-nesters. But far from being on the verge of a certain lonely liberation, their family is still very close and they spend more time together than many families that share a single roof. For all of the Hopeless-Savage's anarchic roots, the governance of valuing family rules each of their hearts almost completely. It's a joy to see—and as a father to young children, I hope to see my life somewhat a mirror to theirs twenty years from now.
Hopeless Savages is an enjoyable series and three volumes is tragically too few for characters who deserve far more. I very much hope Van Meter will eventually return to this creative corner and round out the cast a bit more—or at least give us a story about college-aged Zero and Ginger.
_________________
Footnotes
1) Look. I know it's banned books and not books about bands. I may play at it, but I'm not entirely thick. Really, I just needed an excuse to write about Hopeless Savages and I have a friend who loves puns more than he loves breathing. So here we all are then.
2) She goes by Zero. Or by Zed or Zee or Skankabelle. And talks in a smattering of fabricoated words that convey their swoo through sound and context rather than through any squalling relation to the English language.
3) Though I will admit to enjoying Van Meter's framing device in which she allows Zero to narrate through subterranean-homesick-blues‒style placards.
4) And in a supporting story that is also about a boy and runs parallel to Zero's, Van Meter gives us a touching bit of insight into and resolution to Twitch's own story. It's well done and plays well against Zero's heart and heartbreak.
5) Plus, O'Malley draws Zero wearing the hooskiest clothes and how can you not love such a book. Actually, I think I may prefer his work on Ground Zero to either Lost at Sea or Scott Pilgrim, both of which I enjoy inordinately.
6) Rucka is Van Meter's husband, so I presume it's alright.
7) The jarring nature of the transition as well as the fact that he may not have been quite ready to draw this type of story. He's not here able to capitalize on any of the things that made him such a delightful artist in that era of his career.
_________________
Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad
December 24, 2012
Jen Van Meter's Hopeless Savages is infuriating. The set-up, a family drama centered around a now-settled punk couple (Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, the Hopeless-Savages) and their many children, is rich with possibilities, but it stumbles from the first issue. Our narrator and surrogate is Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage. Let that name settle for a minute. That's the kind of 'edgy,' overwritten nonsense you can expect to encounter in every panel. Skank (or Skankabelle or Zero or Zee or Zed) has the adorable (read: agonizing) habit of littering her speech with invented words. This is meant to signify her rebel nature and self-actualized personality existing beyond the limits of society's straight line. In practice, it is like reading second-tier Whedon fan fic. It is "squalling" annoying. It is most definitely not "swerval."
The plots spring from two categories: cartoonish absurdity and banal teen melodrama. Three pages into issue one and the titular parents are kidnapped, forcing the gaggle of kiddies (Twitch, the gay tech wiz, Arsenal Fierce, the Matrix-caliber martial artist, and Rat, the oldest brother who ditched the punk lifestyle and went civilian) to go vigilante in bringing their folks home safe and punishing the guilty parties.
This is the kind of plot that is written into a dying TV staple limping through a late season and trying to shake up the formula, but it forms the baseline for Hopeless Savages. At least they wait until the final arc to bring in international espionage and ancient Chinese fortune telling. I think Van Meter was going for a screwball farce effect, but she forgot to include the comedy. The stories are full of sound, fury and teen angst, endless incident, troweled-on sentiment, but no real humanity.
None of the characters feel genuine. They are neutered punk icons, made fuzzy, quirky and safe enough for office radio. Zero feels like a more contrived Avril Lavigne, totally grrl power and intense, but also sweet and into that nerdy kid that others dismiss. Arsenal is Trinity, but without so much personality. Twitch is a non-entity who seems to exist solely for his sexuality. The whole enterprise feels like a high school kid's idea of counter-culture. It's like that guy who thinks you've never heard of The Doors and insists on talking your ear off about Jim Morrison.
The plots spring from two categories: cartoonish absurdity and banal teen melodrama. Three pages into issue one and the titular parents are kidnapped, forcing the gaggle of kiddies (Twitch, the gay tech wiz, Arsenal Fierce, the Matrix-caliber martial artist, and Rat, the oldest brother who ditched the punk lifestyle and went civilian) to go vigilante in bringing their folks home safe and punishing the guilty parties.
This is the kind of plot that is written into a dying TV staple limping through a late season and trying to shake up the formula, but it forms the baseline for Hopeless Savages. At least they wait until the final arc to bring in international espionage and ancient Chinese fortune telling. I think Van Meter was going for a screwball farce effect, but she forgot to include the comedy. The stories are full of sound, fury and teen angst, endless incident, troweled-on sentiment, but no real humanity.
None of the characters feel genuine. They are neutered punk icons, made fuzzy, quirky and safe enough for office radio. Zero feels like a more contrived Avril Lavigne, totally grrl power and intense, but also sweet and into that nerdy kid that others dismiss. Arsenal is Trinity, but without so much personality. Twitch is a non-entity who seems to exist solely for his sexuality. The whole enterprise feels like a high school kid's idea of counter-culture. It's like that guy who thinks you've never heard of The Doors and insists on talking your ear off about Jim Morrison.
April 29, 2015
I think I got lost chasing the macguffins in each of these books instead of just enjoying the concept. I think the first book was the best but the resolutions of each were mostly unsatisfying. For me, there were too many characters and I was often confused as to which character I was looking at, especially since different artists jumped in and out of the series and there were a lot of flashbacks. A couple characters really stood out and the one-shots at the end of the collection were snappier and more cohesive for me than the larger stories. Overall a neat concept that reminded me of Runaways and Scott Pilgrim with a twist of Nick Hornby.
November 23, 2016
Jen Van Meter has my undying gratitude for writing these stories about the Hopeless-Savage family. (I may or may not have kissed the cover after I read this book the first time. There is no video evidence either way, is all I'm saying.)
The Hopeless-Savage clan is comprised of two parents who met during their careers as punk rock musicians, then settled down to have four children, in a suburban setting which isn't always the best match. Whether they're foiling their parents' kidnapping, de-brainwashing their oldest brother who is working for a corporate coffee chain, or living through a documentary film crew following them around, the Hopeless-Savages make up one of the most genuine and wonderful families I've had the pleasure to read about.
The first arc is centered on the youngest daughter, Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage. (Um, yeah, there's a lot of "language" in this book, just so you know.) We also get good arcs about each older sibling, including her gay older brother Twitch and his (awwwww!) sweet relationship with his boyfriend. His lost romance and his little sister's fledgling one collide beautifully at one point, and it's so sweet it practically brought me to happy tears. This is is not a "suffer because you're gay" story. This is a "sometimes love is hard, and sometimes it's awesome" story with a happy ending.
One of my fave books to recommend for anyone who's into YA, indie comics, or just zany stories about good people!
The Hopeless-Savage clan is comprised of two parents who met during their careers as punk rock musicians, then settled down to have four children, in a suburban setting which isn't always the best match. Whether they're foiling their parents' kidnapping, de-brainwashing their oldest brother who is working for a corporate coffee chain, or living through a documentary film crew following them around, the Hopeless-Savages make up one of the most genuine and wonderful families I've had the pleasure to read about.
The first arc is centered on the youngest daughter, Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage. (Um, yeah, there's a lot of "language" in this book, just so you know.) We also get good arcs about each older sibling, including her gay older brother Twitch and his (awwwww!) sweet relationship with his boyfriend. His lost romance and his little sister's fledgling one collide beautifully at one point, and it's so sweet it practically brought me to happy tears. This is is not a "suffer because you're gay" story. This is a "sometimes love is hard, and sometimes it's awesome" story with a happy ending.
One of my fave books to recommend for anyone who's into YA, indie comics, or just zany stories about good people!
April 29, 2012
Tis swerval.
October 30, 2010
Once in a while you'll find comics that you fall in love with instantly, that cater to your every desire. Hopeless Savages is one of those comics. Not only are the main characters interesting & original, but the artwork is drawn by many of the big names in the indie comic circuit.
The plotline consists of Skank H-S discovering that her parents have been kidnapped by persons unknown with the only note saying for her not to call the police. After freaking out, she calls her siblings to help discover where her parents have been taken & by whom. From there the story goes into a variety of scenes ranging from flashbacks that tell the backgrounds of each character to funny or action filled scenes.
My description really doesn't do this series justice. It's difficult trying to write about a series that literally has a bit of everything. I do have to say that I would really recommend this to any indie comic fan or to anyone who wants to get into comics but doesn't like the super hero genres. This series also give a good look into a couple of punk rockers who have traded in their crazy superstar lives for a slice of suburbia.
The plotline consists of Skank H-S discovering that her parents have been kidnapped by persons unknown with the only note saying for her not to call the police. After freaking out, she calls her siblings to help discover where her parents have been taken & by whom. From there the story goes into a variety of scenes ranging from flashbacks that tell the backgrounds of each character to funny or action filled scenes.
My description really doesn't do this series justice. It's difficult trying to write about a series that literally has a bit of everything. I do have to say that I would really recommend this to any indie comic fan or to anyone who wants to get into comics but doesn't like the super hero genres. This series also give a good look into a couple of punk rockers who have traded in their crazy superstar lives for a slice of suburbia.
January 15, 2011
This is the most amazing comic ever. I had gotten these from the library, and then my sweetie got me this really nice compendium as an anniversary gift. When we first started dating, I made him read Ground Zero, and he asked me if I saw myself as Zero and him as Ginger. <3
The Hopeless-Savages are the best family ever. Dad is a Sid Vicious-type punk rock guy, Mom is sort of along the lines of Kathleen Hanna. They made it big, got clean, got married, settled down, and had 4 distinctly interesting kids. These three volumes of Hopeless Savages tell us more about Aresenal (the combative hardcore chick-turned-martial arts asskicker), Rat Bastard (the street punker-turned Starbucks marketing douche), Twitch (gay mod artist), and Skank Zero (the youngest, sweet and spunky rocker). Interspersed are flashbacks to the parents' pasts and the kids' formative years. Each story is the perfect mix of action, humor, and sweet, sweet love.
Read these if you like music, good stories, and great artwork.
The Hopeless-Savages are the best family ever. Dad is a Sid Vicious-type punk rock guy, Mom is sort of along the lines of Kathleen Hanna. They made it big, got clean, got married, settled down, and had 4 distinctly interesting kids. These three volumes of Hopeless Savages tell us more about Aresenal (the combative hardcore chick-turned-martial arts asskicker), Rat Bastard (the street punker-turned Starbucks marketing douche), Twitch (gay mod artist), and Skank Zero (the youngest, sweet and spunky rocker). Interspersed are flashbacks to the parents' pasts and the kids' formative years. Each story is the perfect mix of action, humor, and sweet, sweet love.
Read these if you like music, good stories, and great artwork.
November 29, 2012
Hopeless Savages features a sort of 'who's who' of indie comics from the period, and explores a sort of domestic punk world--the world of classic punk rock moving into family life. It's cute, and illustrates the sort of social consciousness which came from that movement on a familial scale: what do children of punks idealize, and in what manner of tiny ways? The genre skips around from series to series, but always makes a point to high light a better world through punk's dying--and forgotten by the majority of the population--influence, through the eyes of children who live through a subculture which focused on group identity well after that identity has been replaced by 21st century homogony. While contemporary punk culture is still trying to fight the good old fight, the kids in HS had that fight handed down from them from parents the way religion and politics often are handed down; the Hopeless-Savages are a stronger familial unit even than functional families of a more conservative bend, possibly because their ideals are so fiercely inclusive.
October 8, 2010
I truly love this collection! I own the stories in issue form, but I love having a collection that is easier to find and read.
September 30, 2017
I picked this book up at a book fair and had no background to the characters or the story. I was pleasantly surprised as this is a really engaging family. Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage are a couple of punk rockers who have four children, Rat, Arsenal, Twitch and Zero. The stories are primarily told through Zero who is your typical teenager, all gung-ho emotion and thus erratic. The dialogue is quite humorous and the stories rocket along.
There are several artists involved in the series and you do get different interpretations of the characters. This can be a bit confusing as sometimes Nikki and Arsenal are so similar by a couple of the artists that you are not sure who is who. It is a minor quibble in what I thought was a really good series.
There are several artists involved in the series and you do get different interpretations of the characters. This can be a bit confusing as sometimes Nikki and Arsenal are so similar by a couple of the artists that you are not sure who is who. It is a minor quibble in what I thought was a really good series.
March 9, 2018
If the narrator's name, Skank Zero Hopeless Savage, doesn't clue you in, this is an over the top punk adventure. Things happen in an extreme, and often not quite believable way, but it's a fast paced and fun roller coaster, packed full of family, drama, music, fashion, fighting, and more.
February 24, 2018
The art is all over the place, but the writing has an undeniable, quirky wholesomeness to it--like a punk rock Addams Family.
May 6, 2018
I almost wanted to start re-reading it again right after finishing it. It's that good. I really hope Jen Van Meter decides to write more of this comic someday.
August 13, 2018
This was interesting. That art style.
March 25, 2019
Not bad, but it just wasn’t for me
September 16, 2019
If you are a fan of the punk rock scene, bands like the Sex Pistols, and families...this is a great book. Needless to say I loved it.
May 11, 2012
Zero Hopeless-Savage has quite an unusual family. There's her mum Niki Savage, and dad, Dirk Hopeless, famous English punk rockers (now retired) her two brothers, Rat and Twitch, and her sister, Arsenal. Dirk and Nikki might be retired, but they'll never lose their punk rock roots and they've raised their kids the same way. No matter what happens, whether it's her parents getting kidnapped or she's dealing with problems at school, Zero knows she'll always have her family behind her.
LOVED. So much. I wish there were more. Greatest Hits is the collection of all the Hopeless-Savage stories, which Van Meter wrote between 2000-2010. Are there going to be more? I can only hope. There were so many awesome things about these stories. Where to begin?
One thing I liked was how much you learned about the characters. With each story more and more is learned about the family and we come to understand even better where these people are coming from. We learn all about Dirk and Nikki's past. We knew why Rat had left the family and went into *shudder* business for a while, and what brought him back. We knew about Arsenal's history of getting kicked out of schools and how she took her fighting skills and turned them into a career. We knew about Twitch and his lost love and how the family will always love him even though he's mod. And most of all we know about Zero.
Zero is awesome. She makes up her own words, which I found hysterical and want to use some of them in daily conversation because they just explain things so well. The first story is when Zero's parents are kidnapped and she and her siblings have to rescue them, but the second story is about how Zero and her mother and going through a rough patch and dealing with a boy she likes at school. There's plenty of the crazy-rocker lifestyle, but there's also just a lot of regular family stuff. There aren't a whole lot of books that really show a fully functional family living together and dealing with each other on daily basis. Either parents are absent, or things are dysfunctional somehow.
The Hopeless-Savage family had to deal with the prejudice of their neighbors because of how they looked. They are quite a bit different from the other suburban families, and it was often difficult for the kids. They handled it together as a family though.
A few of my favorite stories were the short "extras" at the end. Through these we see Zero when she was little (an adorable child with a mohawk) and learn how she met the different friends who would eventually be her band mates.
The art changes depending on the story. My favorite artist was definitely Christine Norrie. Luckily, she did the majority of it. I got used to seeing the characters a certain way though, and when it switched I didn't like it at all. It didn't seem like the same characters that I had at that point become quite attached to.
But such fun. Read it!
LOVED. So much. I wish there were more. Greatest Hits is the collection of all the Hopeless-Savage stories, which Van Meter wrote between 2000-2010. Are there going to be more? I can only hope. There were so many awesome things about these stories. Where to begin?
One thing I liked was how much you learned about the characters. With each story more and more is learned about the family and we come to understand even better where these people are coming from. We learn all about Dirk and Nikki's past. We knew why Rat had left the family and went into *shudder* business for a while, and what brought him back. We knew about Arsenal's history of getting kicked out of schools and how she took her fighting skills and turned them into a career. We knew about Twitch and his lost love and how the family will always love him even though he's mod. And most of all we know about Zero.
Zero is awesome. She makes up her own words, which I found hysterical and want to use some of them in daily conversation because they just explain things so well. The first story is when Zero's parents are kidnapped and she and her siblings have to rescue them, but the second story is about how Zero and her mother and going through a rough patch and dealing with a boy she likes at school. There's plenty of the crazy-rocker lifestyle, but there's also just a lot of regular family stuff. There aren't a whole lot of books that really show a fully functional family living together and dealing with each other on daily basis. Either parents are absent, or things are dysfunctional somehow.
The Hopeless-Savage family had to deal with the prejudice of their neighbors because of how they looked. They are quite a bit different from the other suburban families, and it was often difficult for the kids. They handled it together as a family though.
A few of my favorite stories were the short "extras" at the end. Through these we see Zero when she was little (an adorable child with a mohawk) and learn how she met the different friends who would eventually be her band mates.
The art changes depending on the story. My favorite artist was definitely Christine Norrie. Luckily, she did the majority of it. I got used to seeing the characters a certain way though, and when it switched I didn't like it at all. It didn't seem like the same characters that I had at that point become quite attached to.
But such fun. Read it!
October 20, 2010
From the Oh YA! Comics blog.
When Zero Hopeless-Savage wakes up one morning to find her punk rocker parents, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, kidnapped by fascist music execs, it's up to her and her siblings, martial artist Arsenal, mod theater designer Twitch, and the long-lost Rat--who rebelled and became a respectable businessman--to team up and rescue them. But it is only the first of many quagmires that the family find themselves in. In this bind-up volume collecting three previously published stories, this punk-rock family takes on enemies ranging from the paparazzi to international smuggling rings to high school administrators--and none of them escape the Hopeless-Savages unscathed!
I want to join this family so badly. Forget the Cullens or the Weasleys, if I could join one fictional family, it would be the Hopeless-Savages. Who wouldn't? Famous parents, a badass older sister, a burgeoning rocker younger sister, a cool gay brother, and yes, even a corporate coffee shill eldest brother-- all of them forging their own paths in life, with the full love and support of their wholly unconventional family (though Zero did take it pretty personally when Rat "defected"). Nothing that comes their way in their awesome adventures can beat them as long as they're together, at least in spirit. Supporting the main storylines are some "bonus tracks" and "B-sides" with some fun vignettes revealing, among other tidbits of Hopeless-Savage lore, the origins of Zero's band, the Dusted Bunnies, and how Twitch and Arsenal met their boyfriends.
Van Meter's writing is wonderfully scored by a range of fantastic artists, including the frenetic Chynna Clugston, the soulful Ross Campbell, and this blog's perennial favorite Bryan Lee O'Malley. But don't take my word for it-- check them out, and then get the whole book:
Previews: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
When Zero Hopeless-Savage wakes up one morning to find her punk rocker parents, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, kidnapped by fascist music execs, it's up to her and her siblings, martial artist Arsenal, mod theater designer Twitch, and the long-lost Rat--who rebelled and became a respectable businessman--to team up and rescue them. But it is only the first of many quagmires that the family find themselves in. In this bind-up volume collecting three previously published stories, this punk-rock family takes on enemies ranging from the paparazzi to international smuggling rings to high school administrators--and none of them escape the Hopeless-Savages unscathed!
I want to join this family so badly. Forget the Cullens or the Weasleys, if I could join one fictional family, it would be the Hopeless-Savages. Who wouldn't? Famous parents, a badass older sister, a burgeoning rocker younger sister, a cool gay brother, and yes, even a corporate coffee shill eldest brother-- all of them forging their own paths in life, with the full love and support of their wholly unconventional family (though Zero did take it pretty personally when Rat "defected"). Nothing that comes their way in their awesome adventures can beat them as long as they're together, at least in spirit. Supporting the main storylines are some "bonus tracks" and "B-sides" with some fun vignettes revealing, among other tidbits of Hopeless-Savage lore, the origins of Zero's band, the Dusted Bunnies, and how Twitch and Arsenal met their boyfriends.
Van Meter's writing is wonderfully scored by a range of fantastic artists, including the frenetic Chynna Clugston, the soulful Ross Campbell, and this blog's perennial favorite Bryan Lee O'Malley. But don't take my word for it-- check them out, and then get the whole book:
Previews: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
May 27, 2021
This collection was fun and a great introduction to the Hopeless Savages that left me wanting more. It was engaging and original and I found the characters interesting. However, the stories could be hard to understand or follow at times, and there were several problems with the art, including:
-the art shifts
-difficulty distinguishing characters from one another or recognizing them from one art shift to another
-inconsistency in character design between art shifts
-particularly Skanky's height/size/proportions: she looked first 16, then 17, then 14, then 12. It took me until her actual age was stated to figure it out.
-Some derpy expressions or nonsensical poses.
Another issue I had is that story and character development seemed rushed and incomplete. Example one, the way Zed behaves towards Rat throughout the first story. She goes from hating him to defending him, then to hating him again, then to forgiving him, all in very quick succession with no transition or reasonable progression. Example two, Dirk seems concerned about telling Nikki he was in a teeny bop boy band when he was thirteen...for some reason? and the way they talk about it is like he's admitting an affair or a criminal history or something.
As for good points, this series' strong suit appears to be the relationships between characters, especially within the Hopeless-Savage family. The siblings are just the right number, with their individual and collective relationships with each other feeling real and sweet, and Dirk and Nikki's relationships with each other and the kids are adorable. I also particularly liked the relationship of the Dusted Bunnies (one other complaint though: If they've been friends since forever, why would they kick Zee out of her own band? ... Is that how punks roll or something? Tough love af?)
Skankbelle with her quirkiness and many awesome names is my favorite. Her slang can be annoying, especially towards the beginning, because it can feel like an overused gimmick, but I got a bit fond of some of the swerval vocab. I really squalling like the word 'hilty'. I can totally gnash why it sounds like the perfect word, just based on how it sounds.
-the art shifts
-difficulty distinguishing characters from one another or recognizing them from one art shift to another
-inconsistency in character design between art shifts
-particularly Skanky's height/size/proportions: she looked first 16, then 17, then 14, then 12. It took me until her actual age was stated to figure it out.
-Some derpy expressions or nonsensical poses.
Another issue I had is that story and character development seemed rushed and incomplete. Example one, the way Zed behaves towards Rat throughout the first story. She goes from hating him to defending him, then to hating him again, then to forgiving him, all in very quick succession with no transition or reasonable progression. Example two, Dirk seems concerned about telling Nikki he was in a teeny bop boy band when he was thirteen...for some reason? and the way they talk about it is like he's admitting an affair or a criminal history or something.
As for good points, this series' strong suit appears to be the relationships between characters, especially within the Hopeless-Savage family. The siblings are just the right number, with their individual and collective relationships with each other feeling real and sweet, and Dirk and Nikki's relationships with each other and the kids are adorable. I also particularly liked the relationship of the Dusted Bunnies (one other complaint though: If they've been friends since forever, why would they kick Zee out of her own band? ... Is that how punks roll or something? Tough love af?)
Skankbelle with her quirkiness and many awesome names is my favorite. Her slang can be annoying, especially towards the beginning, because it can feel like an overused gimmick, but I got a bit fond of some of the swerval vocab. I really squalling like the word 'hilty'. I can totally gnash why it sounds like the perfect word, just based on how it sounds.
July 30, 2014
It's not enough that Oni Press raises the bar on what comics can do to tell stories. They also have to go ahead and put out books like Hopeless Savages which in inundated with 70s punk culture. As such, this book is a treat for music (and especially punks) from the get-go.
Hopeless Savages is a lighthearted and hilarious account about a punk rock mom and dad who ended up having kids and being parents. Fully immersed in punk rock and counter culture, the kids turn out street punk, goth, mod, and just plain pissed off.
Greatest Hits covers the entirety discography of the Hopeless Savages output and even includes the b-sides (the bits that didn't make the main stories) and the bonus tracks (the side-stories which actually help us understand a little better where the characters are coming from). Although the book starts as an absolute tribute to punk rock (with mom and dad getting kidnapped by skinhead punks because their old manager wants the rights to an old song dad wrote), the following stories focus more on character developments in the midst of punk culture. Youngest daughter Zero deals with her emotions for a boy, and eldest daughter Arsenal mixes up the whole family in a detective type heist in China. While the plot and details are a bit hard to follow sometimes (like why did Zero almost get suspended and who's who in the China heist?), there is nothing but heart all throughout.
And don' get me started on he art. While Christine Norrie is the main artist behind the series, there are a ton of contributions from artists such as Brian Lee O'Malley (right there is a reason to rejoice) and the mind blowing Ross Campbell whose art makes one slow down just to be able to take it in a little better.
Filled with content and character development (mostly through flashbacks), there is a mammoth of material in this collection, and it's clear that writer Jen Van Meter has completely submitted to her love of punk rock for which we just can't help but love her back.
Hopeless Savages is a lighthearted and hilarious account about a punk rock mom and dad who ended up having kids and being parents. Fully immersed in punk rock and counter culture, the kids turn out street punk, goth, mod, and just plain pissed off.
Greatest Hits covers the entirety discography of the Hopeless Savages output and even includes the b-sides (the bits that didn't make the main stories) and the bonus tracks (the side-stories which actually help us understand a little better where the characters are coming from). Although the book starts as an absolute tribute to punk rock (with mom and dad getting kidnapped by skinhead punks because their old manager wants the rights to an old song dad wrote), the following stories focus more on character developments in the midst of punk culture. Youngest daughter Zero deals with her emotions for a boy, and eldest daughter Arsenal mixes up the whole family in a detective type heist in China. While the plot and details are a bit hard to follow sometimes (like why did Zero almost get suspended and who's who in the China heist?), there is nothing but heart all throughout.
And don' get me started on he art. While Christine Norrie is the main artist behind the series, there are a ton of contributions from artists such as Brian Lee O'Malley (right there is a reason to rejoice) and the mind blowing Ross Campbell whose art makes one slow down just to be able to take it in a little better.
Filled with content and character development (mostly through flashbacks), there is a mammoth of material in this collection, and it's clear that writer Jen Van Meter has completely submitted to her love of punk rock for which we just can't help but love her back.
December 5, 2012
Omni have just published a complete collection of four of the Hopless Savages books and yesterday I sat down and read the whole thing cover to cover. It was really great!!! I think that if there were one comic book world I'd like to live in this would be it. While the ageing punk parents didn't seem to be utilised enough the happy punk family was great. There was a goth daughter who loved kung fu a cute gay mod, and the youngest daughter, who despite a blonde pony tail, was the most punk. The stories were cute and light hearted. The first adventure saw the kids' parents being kidnapped and then they had to go rescue them. The 2nd saw the youngest daughter falling in love with a boy at school and the third story was set in Hong Kong and featured cops and bad guys trying to get a device smuggled into the country. The last part of the comic was a collection of short stories, and contained some of the nicest parts. My only complaint about the book was the inconsistency of the art. The collection spanned 10 years and there were a LOT of different writers with a lot of different styles, some of which I think worked better than others. Having different styles for the flashbacks worked well but when it changed so dramatically between issues at the end of the third book it was very confusing. While I liked the art in the 2nd book least the story was the best and I ended up crying loads at the end. Definitely one I'd recommend.
June 25, 2011
I really, really, REALLY wanted to give this book at least a 4, but the constant changing in art style really bothered me. Part of the appeal of graphic novels is getting comfortable with the characters and what they look like and their mannerisms...or at least this is true for me, so when the artwork was changing from book to book (and in the case of the last book... changing DURING the book) it was distracting and disappointing. I loved the story, the characters, and the awesomeness of the Hopless-Savage family...but it would have been even better if one artist would have done the whole series.
Beyond that, Twitch was my favorite character! And I didn't know he was gay!! I was wondering why he dressed so nicely! Hahaha!! And I wish I could be a bad ass fighter like Aresenal!
Anyway, despite the obnoxious mood ring of artwork, the book was pretty rad! Great stories and fantastic characters. You just wanted to hang out with this family of awesome rockers!
Beyond that, Twitch was my favorite character! And I didn't know he was gay!! I was wondering why he dressed so nicely! Hahaha!! And I wish I could be a bad ass fighter like Aresenal!
Anyway, despite the obnoxious mood ring of artwork, the book was pretty rad! Great stories and fantastic characters. You just wanted to hang out with this family of awesome rockers!
July 22, 2015
The plots in this book are so ridiculous that my disbelief was suspended beyond its breaking point within the first ten pages. But it absolutely didn't matter, because within the first five pages I'd already come to love this delightful rabble of characters. I want to wrap Zero in a blanket and take her home with me. I want to be Twitch or Arsenal (depending on mood). And I'm just generally in love with this family of misfits and rebels, misunderstood, picketed, even reviled--and loving and protecting each other all the more fiercely because of it.
(PS Even if I hadn't adored the rest of the book, the "bonus track" detailing Nikki and Dirk's misadventures at the kids' school conferences alone would've made it worth the read.)
(PPS "No time to swoo!" is possibly the most perfect sentence ever written in the English language, and everyone who knows me should probably prepare to hear it in conversation with me from now on. I apologize for nothing.)
(PS Even if I hadn't adored the rest of the book, the "bonus track" detailing Nikki and Dirk's misadventures at the kids' school conferences alone would've made it worth the read.)
(PPS "No time to swoo!" is possibly the most perfect sentence ever written in the English language, and everyone who knows me should probably prepare to hear it in conversation with me from now on. I apologize for nothing.)
February 18, 2015
Picked this up on a recommendation from a patron. She described previously hating graphic novels and manga until she met the Hopeless-Savage family, so I decided to take a look.
It takes a little bit to get used to the pace and all the characters (the family is comprised of 6 members with a couple school and music industry friends on the side), but I ended up liking the family and how much they stick together. I love Zero's style and innocence, Arsenal's fire and strength, and Rat's accent (that may or may not have been read out loud for funsies).
This is a compendium of 3 smaller books, with frequently-rotating artists, about a family created from the union of two punk legends. It focuses on the unity of the family and acceptance of one another's unique natures (each family member has at least quirk).
It takes a little bit to get used to the pace and all the characters (the family is comprised of 6 members with a couple school and music industry friends on the side), but I ended up liking the family and how much they stick together. I love Zero's style and innocence, Arsenal's fire and strength, and Rat's accent (that may or may not have been read out loud for funsies).
This is a compendium of 3 smaller books, with frequently-rotating artists, about a family created from the union of two punk legends. It focuses on the unity of the family and acceptance of one another's unique natures (each family member has at least quirk).
September 15, 2011
Now there is competition for my heart. Before, Ramona Flowers was the queen of all graphic novel heroines as far as my heart was concerned. Nobody came close to Ramona. Not the ass-kicking used-to-be fairy tale princesses in “Fables.” Not the real-life women who pepper so many of the graphic memoirs I love (think Alison Bechdel, Marjane Satrapi, Ariel Schrag). Nope, my heart belonged firmly to Ramona.
But then Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage kicked down the door to my heart and I fell madly in love with the made-up word using, punk band fronting, youngest member of the Hopeless-Savage family. I’m pretty enamored with the whole damn family, but that Zero is a charmer.
Read more.
But then Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage kicked down the door to my heart and I fell madly in love with the made-up word using, punk band fronting, youngest member of the Hopeless-Savage family. I’m pretty enamored with the whole damn family, but that Zero is a charmer.
Read more.
November 3, 2011
What an amazing book I am so glad that I finally managed to read it. The Hopeless Savages are four siblings, Arsenal, Rat, Zero and Twitch who are the children of Nikki Savage and Dirk Hopeless, two punk rockers who sort of settled down to raise a family. The characters are all loveable and fun and this is the exactly the kind of upbringing that anyone into the punk music scene wishes they had growing up. There are three longer story arcs, two of which are mysteries and a couple of shorts ranging from how the Dusted Bunnies came to be to Henry and Twitch moving in together. Most of the stories are told by Zero, the youngest member of the family. She is fun, impatient and clearly brilliant, but it's when the whole family is together that the stories most shine.
September 7, 2012
So much fun! Some of the stories were a little out there (especially the first with the parental kidnapping), but all completely absorbing. There's something to love about every one of the punk rock Hopeless-Savage family, though I am particularly enamored with Zero and her many made-up words. The bonus glossary in the back was a fantastic add - I'm tempted to add a couple of these to my own vocabulary. :)
The only real problem I had was the revolving slate of artists - each really did portray the characters in a unique way, and it sometimes made it hard for me to figure out who was who as the story progressed and the artists changed.
The only real problem I had was the revolving slate of artists - each really did portray the characters in a unique way, and it sometimes made it hard for me to figure out who was who as the story progressed and the artists changed.
October 22, 2015
FUN!!
I'm late to the party, as this has been around for awhile. Every time I tap into the indie comic world, the potential of what graphic novels can be seems to open wider and wider. I imagine Hopeless Savages was ahead of its time and, remarkably, Van Meter's voice and style of storytelling feels fresh 15 years later.
My jaded-ass was half-expecting this "punk rock family" story to come off as trite, or done-before. But no, these characters felt authentic, and their stories felt fresh. And fun! A truly great collection.
I liked THIS REVIEW by Colin Moon.
I'm late to the party, as this has been around for awhile. Every time I tap into the indie comic world, the potential of what graphic novels can be seems to open wider and wider. I imagine Hopeless Savages was ahead of its time and, remarkably, Van Meter's voice and style of storytelling feels fresh 15 years later.
My jaded-ass was half-expecting this "punk rock family" story to come off as trite, or done-before. But no, these characters felt authentic, and their stories felt fresh. And fun! A truly great collection.
I liked THIS REVIEW by Colin Moon.
September 15, 2015
Collecting all the Hopeless Savages series from Oni Press as well as some specials, this book is a great read on the whole. All stories were written by Jen Van Meter and many talented artists worked on the series, though some were more fitting then others. Hopeless Savages is a great mix of genres as well: there's some coming-of-age drama, some rock'n'roll soap opera, spy thriller elements and kung fu action, all blended with a fine dose of humor. Hint: can't understand a word of Zero's neologisms? Make sure to check out the glossary at the end of the book first.
October 1, 2011
The one love story in the middle went on a little long. Picked this one from the library up on a whim, mostly based off the cover. I had been expecting something a little more tank girl-ish, but found myself getting sucked into the stories. The bonus material at the end is surprisingly good as well and the family stories are sweet.[return][return]And I love the made up words. It's almost worth reading just for that.
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