Hopeless Savages

At the center of this story is a proudly anachronistic family of punks in modern-day England. They are generally-happy people with common problems who find themselves mixed up in an implausible madcap adventure. It's a soap-opera, comedy, and children's cartoon in one, and it is written with a level of wit and compassion uncommon in graphic novels.

Note: The sequel to this book (Ground Zero) proves that the written word carries the story even in a graphic novel, because the artwork was awful and I still got misty-eyed towards the end.

My sister lent me this book ages ago and I adored it, so as I mentioned in a previous post, when feeling guilted into spending money at the local comic book store, I knew it was a safe bet. Unfortunately the printing I purchased was a little low-quality. On several pages, part of word balloons were cut off the top of the page. Lame. So maybe not the best material for recruiting new readers, no matter how cute Skank Zero is.

But the story itself is great fun. The basic idea: what happens when two punk rock legends get married, move to the suburbs, and have four kids?

Van Meter, Jen. Hopeless Savages. 2002. Oni Press, Inc.: Portland, OR.
Genre: Graphic Novel
Themes: Family relationships, adventure, punk rock, comic
Age / Grade Appropriateness: 14 and up.
Awards: Nominated for an Eisner Award, ALA popular paperback for young adults 2004, Friends of Lulu Award 2003
Censorship Issues: There is some violence, inappropriate language, and a homosexual character.
Art style: The main story, drawn by Christine Norrie, is done in black and white and set in typical comic book style. The flashbacks are manga style and drawn by Chynna Clugston. This works well to separate the flashbacks from the main storyline.
Plot Summary: Skank Zero Hopeless-Savage wakes up and finds that her parents, Dirk and Nikki have been show more kidnapped. She calls her sister Arsenal Fierce and brother, Twitch Strummer for help. They think the kidnapping has something to do with their parent’s past and know that they will need to call on their brother Rat for more help. After being humiliated by a girl he liked, Rat renounced his punk rock roots and went corporate. They finally find him working at a coffee company and going by Dirk’s old name. After reprogramming him, they go to their parent’s old manager, Weej, for help. Weej is in on the kidnapping, but breaks down and tells them everything is because of a song that Rat now owns the rights too, since he has been going by the name David Sterling. The siblings save their mother and father and Skank Zero even manages to make it to her concert on time.
Critique: This is my first experience reading a graphic novel and I really enjoyed it. The artwork is great and the two forms blend together well, while still distinguishing between the past and present. Skank’s made up language can be hard to understand and a little irritating. The Hopeless Savages are basically super heroes because they manage to beat up all the bad guys with out any trouble, but it’s a fun read.
Curriculum Uses: This book and the others that follow would be a nice addition to any public library’s graphic novel collection. If used in the classroom, it would have to be with older students because of violence and some inappropriate language. The way this family sticks together and backs each other up is great. You could have students profile each character and write about what motivates the decisions they make through out the story (like Rat’s decision to leave behind his punk rock lifestyle). show less

This was cute but awfully silly, a short, fluffy read that didn't really leave me wanting more. It would be great for the right reader, though.

Simple story, punk rock characters, fun read.

skank zero's famous punk rock parents are kidnapped, she must reunite all of her older siblings in order to save her parents.