Hopeless Savages Volume 2: Ground Zero

Following up on the success of their first volume, the creators of Hopeless Savage are back with another look into the lives of aged punk rockers who have given up their crazy lives for a slice of suburbia. In this volume the young punk rocker Skank H-S is living a life of teenage monotony that's only relieved by practicing with her band. She'd like to find herself a nice boyfriend, but unfortunately most of the boys in her school either think she's easy or find her intimidating. It's at this point we're introduced to the character of Ginger, a straight-laced straight-A student who has had a crush on Skank for years. The chemistry is there, but there's no easy lane to love for this Hopeless Savage. Meanwhile, the tensions between Skank & her mother slowly rise through the ceiling as Skank's been grounded for disobeying the rules. To make matters worse, throughout it all the family is being videotaped by a sleazy camerman who wants to make a tell-all video for television! I really love this series & the storyline only got better with this volume. Most of the same artists returned for this volume, so the art quality is largely unchanged. The storyline is great & is a good alternative to the action packed super-genre that seems to dominate the comics field.

For some reason all the previous reviews are for Hopless Savages volume 1. So here's a review that's actually about volume 2. But first, need-to-know backstory: Punk rock singers Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage got married and had kids (so the kids actually are the Hopeless-Savages). Their kids are now in their late teens/early twenties. The boys are Rat Bastard and Twitch Strummer, and the girls are Arsenal Fierce and Skank Zero. This story is mainly about Zero, the youngest, who is now seventeen. Boys are starting to discover her and she's starting to discover that teenage boys tend to have only one thing on their mind. The punk rock attitude she inherited from her parents seems to make the boys think that she's easy which really pisses her off. But then she meets a boy who actually likes her for her, and she finds that she likes him back. So, of course, it seems that the world is conspiring against her. Meanwhile Zero and the rest of the Hopeless-Savage family are being filmed for a documentary and find their lives disrupted accordingly. Also Zero and her band the Dusted Bunnies need to practice for their gig at Homecoming. And Nikki Savage, rebellious teenager though she was, now finds herself acting like a fascist Mom whether she wants to or not whenever Zero misbehaves. The story, written by Jen Van Meter is pretty solid, although it bounces through time a bit much (the bulk of the story is being narrated by Zero to a panel of teachers who are ready to expel her from school, then there are flashbacks which take off from the sequences Zero is narrating). The chemistry between Zero and the boy is a lot more real than in a lot of movies I've seen lately. The often quirky family dynamic is well played. The majority of the artwork is by Bryan Lee O'Malley. He has sort of rough and cartoony style which I'm not normally drawn to (no pun intended), but it works with these characters. The flashback sequences are by a number of different artists. Andi Watson's piece is sort of a rough and simplified version of his work on things like Geisha. Christine Norrie's artwork is pretty solid. Chynna Clugston-Major (Blue Monday) is okay, but I had some trouble telling the characters apart. Overall I enjoyed this volume. The story is much more accessible than the previous volume, and it really captures the awkwardness and frustrations of being a teenage outcast in love.

Ground Zero is a change of pace for the Hopeless Savages, the first collection was more of a light adventure, as well as a way to introduce the characters. Ground Zero focuses more on the youngest Hopeless Savage, Zero. In a nutshell it describes Zero's troubles in her senior year of high school and the ways that growing up is affecting her relationship with her family. This is complicated by the fact that there is a pop documentary maker filming them for a TV show, or mostly looking for dirt. However, although the series is mostly about Zero one of my favorite sections was the subplot devoted to her older brother Twitch and his account of his ill luck with love. There's quite a bit of character development in Ground Zero for all of the family members. Ground Zero manages to be sweet without being cloying and the characters are both likeable and believable. There are several different artists who do drawings for this collection but for the most part their styles are consistent enough that it's pretty easy to figure out who is who from section to section.

Written by: Jen Van Meter with Art by: Bryan O' Malley and featuring art by: Andi Watson, Christine & Catherine Norrie, Chynna Clugston-Major with cover art by Terry Dodson.In this chapter of Hopeless Savages we find Skank Zero faced with the daunting task of balancing fame, love, music, school and family, while being hounded by a film crew bent on ruining her life. I thought that the series took a serious step forward in ground zero, the drastic art change by Bryan o' Malley was a pleasant surprise and the flashbacks by Chynna Clugston-Major are some of her best works yet. There's enough punk flavor in here to satisfy Sid Vicious himself, Ground zero is a must have for any hopeless savage fan.-Lucas Eves

Jen Van Meter's first creator-owned book tells a story of an in-your-face, punk rock family living in today's society, illustrated by Christine Norrie (CHEAT) with flashback sequences by Chynna Clugston-Major (BLUE MONDAY) and additional artwork by Andi Watson (DUMPED, BREAKFAST AFTER NOON).The book introduces the reader to Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, two legendary punk rockers from the 1970's, now living in the present day with their youngest daughter Zero. When Zero wakes up one morning to find their house ransacked and her parents allegedly kidnapped, she calls up her older brother and sister Twitch and Arsenal for help. They soon realize they won't be able to find their parents without the help of their older brother Rat, who has given up the punk lifestyle and now lives a life of normalcy working for a premier coffee corporation. Rat, however, wants nothing to do with his estranged family and is convinced he has left the punk rock lifestyle behind, forever. Now its up to Zero, Arsenal and Twitch to revert Rat to his old ways and rescue their parents from their captors.Jen Van Meter's writing is excellent and by the end of the book you really know these characters. You'll immediately want to pick up the second book, GROUND ZERO which focuses more on Zero.The book uses flashbacks incorporated into the main story illustrated by Chynna Clugston-Major to give you even more insight into this unique family. The book also includes a bonus 16 page full-color section featuring stories of the Hopeless-Savages kids visiting the Principal's office and how their punk rock father reacts to it (illustrated by Chynna Clugston-Major), the family going to the kid's school's parent/teacher night (illustrated by Christine Norrie), Arsenal's karate match (illustrated by Norrie with Andi Watson), and a look into the Hopeless-Savages family over a span of 20 years through the eyes of their neighbors (illustrated by Norrie).Before The Osbournes were popular, there was HOPELESS SAVAGES - a hilarious adventure story by four of comics' most promising new writers and artists. The most critically acclaimed book of 2002, it was even nominated for an Eisner Award.