Hopeless Savages Volume 3: Too Much Hopeless

The formula for the previous volumes sways a teeny tiny bit in this volume. While there's been action in the series before (the parent-napping) it's never really been that overly unbelievable for a comic. This volume sort of pushes the envelope for this series. This volume mostly surrounds the exploits of Arsenal H-S as she & her brother Twitch travel to China with their boyfriends to see their grandmother. However once there Arsenal not only runs into an old childhood bully who severely hurt her as a kid (physically), but she also discovers that she's being chased by the local bad guys who want something that was accidentally slipped to her at the airport. Oh, and did I mention that she may be pregnant during all of this? Meanwhile her family is hot on her trails (and in trouble) in an attempt to warn Arsenal of all the danger she's in. This volume was still great, but there were just a few too many coincidences in here. Arsenal just happens to run into her childhood bully in China. She finds out she's possibly pregnant, yet that same childhood bully hurt her so badly as a kid that she may not have kids (which ups the angst quota when she discovers he's there). The H-S grandmother (who joins the gang in this volume) knows the grandmother of Arsenal & Twitch's boyfriends. The H-S gang just so happen to consistently hit all of the same areas that Arsenal did. One or two of these coincidences would be ok, but all of them? It's a little hard to swallow. Even so, the volume is still consistently good & fun to read.

Too Much Hopeless Savages is the third book about the punk rock family the Hopeless-Savages. This one is focused primarily on Arsenal, the oldest daughter of the family. While visiting Hong Kong for a martial arts competition and also to meet her boyfriend Claude's great-grandmother, Arsenal and her entire family become embroiled in international crime and intrigue, when a mysterious man plants some box in Arsenal's suitcase Misunderstandings, British spies, and kidnappings ensue and it's up to Arsenal to unravel the mystery and save the day. Jen Van Meter also develops Arsenal's character with numerous flashbacks into the past which shed light on her reactions to the current situation. Like Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero, the flashbacks are drawn by a different artist than Christine Norrie who draws the scenes in the present, which can be a little jarring because their styles are so different, making it difficult to recognize the characters. I also appreciate the writer and artists' ability to steer clear of the Oriental mysticism and exoticism that many other artists and writers have fallen into when setting their stories in Asia. The Asian and Asian-American characters are as realistic and well-rounded as the white characters. If you're new to the Hopeless Savages this is probably not the place to start since there are a lot of complicated relationships that are fully explained in the other collections that are not spelled out here. But for fans of the Hopeless-Savages this is another excellent installment.