If you’re anything like me, you know Rick Remender more for books about bowling-themed superheroes, intergalactic pest control, and badass school kids. But in Grommets, Remender — alongside co-writer/comedian Brian Posehn, artist Brett Parson, and colorist Moreno Dinisio — focuses instead on “skateboard culture and punk rock” in the mid-’80s.
And while I certainly miss his take on, say, cyborg terrorists, Grommets is a maddeningly endearing and totally hilarious take on nostalgia, growing pains, and finding your voice. In short, radical!
This book doesn’t happen, however, with the art from Parson and Dinisio. The pair unite (like the glory of listening to Dio while skating in an alleyway) to create this vivid, exaggerated take on Sacramento circa 1984. The ’80s aesthetic is nailed to a tee, and we get the copious denim outfits and the weird latent ’70s hair and just the neon joy of it all across every single page. It’s that grimy but still slightly sepia-toned take on the ’80s that perfectly captures the particularities of that era. There’s also a similar blend of the vaguely cartoonish and the decidedly gritty, and that mix works wonders to play with the ideas of nostalgia and memory in a way that feels noteworthy.
The narrative itself does a lot to really tackle nostalgia in a similar manner/with specific emphasis. We follow Rick (coincidence?!) as the new kid in school. His status as complete and total loser is averted when he meets another outcast in Brian (another coincidence?!?!) and they bond over skating and music. But it’s not just about the joy of the good old days — people are mean and shitty and being young and in a new place is hard AF.
The team readily captures that with an unwavering, deeply honest take on our shared obsession with viewing the past with rose-colored glasses. It’s not that everything was perfect — because as you’ll see by the ending with Brian, adolescence is an actual nightmare. Rather, it’s that coming out of that nightmare with things you love and that give your life value and purpose often make said nightmare worth it — and not white-washing your awful, awful experiences on the road to the equally meh-inducing adulthood. (The pair of Remender and Posehn have an interesting history with tackling nostalgia, having smashed apart the holidays with The Last Christmas.)
Courtesy of Image Comics.
But back to the art briefly because I think that’s where the cartoonish bent becomes especially significant. On the one hand, all that over-the-top energy and intensity does make this feel like someone dreaming up their heydays. Which, connected to the fact that our leads are named Rick and Brian, adds a whole new, decidedly meta layer to the whole story.
However, there’s also what is now one of my favorite visual gags/collection of pages ever (ever). While I dare not spoil it at all, it’s an absolutely hilarious decision that’s so far out of left field it came from the nearby hockey stadium. But it also works so damn well because it lends the story that silliness and vaguely comic-like quality (if only briefly), and that’s what you’d expect from a couple dudes reminiscing about their childhoods. It’s all about playing with time and memory in some realy novel ways, and the art doesn’t just feel fun and playful, but it extends the book’s big themes while revealing even bigger threads. Seriously, though, this gag at the skate park is the greatest.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
Even if you’re not a fan of skating, punk, or thoughtful takes on cultural retro-mania, I think you’ll fully love how deeply funny this book is across its entire debut. I’ve had issues as of late with some humor in Remender’s other books (see The Holy Roller), mainly because I think the tastelessness seemed out of place there and the jokes just felt overbearing. But in Grommets, every joke lands pretty dang well. Part of that is A) Posehn’s involved, so you know things are well-constructed; B) the ’80s were a laughable time in and of themselves; and C) the visuals and dialogue work together and still separately to explore similar gags (including just how odd the ’80s looked and the tediousness of junior high school).
It’s also a case of the subject matter (including cracks about pedophiles) feel decidedly era-appropriate (obviously for the worst), and that carries with it some language/terms that may be outdated for today. But it’s done with an eye for consistency and to place users of this “wrong” language in a harsher light, which is how you create tension and explore the true depths of some bygone era. It’s humor and hijinks with a greater purpose, and that’s how you make comedy that punches down as it always ought to. (That, and puke jokes are always just solid gold.)
Courtesy of Image Comics.
My only real issue is that while the book promised punk rock, Grommets‘ first issue spends more time talking about Rush (Canada’s greatest export that is poutine and Alanis Morissette) than, say, The Cramps or Bad Brains. And if that’s the absolute worst that this book can do so early on, then it’s clear that Grommets is already landing the sickest kickflips ever.
That success, though, has nothing to do with music, skate culture, solid sex jokes, or even a little blood and guts and slight cosmic weirdness. Rather, Grommets is clearly a labor of true love, and wherever that love comes from or it eventually settles around (music, skating, girls, etc.), you can’t deny the magnetism of something so deeply, deeply human.
Oh, and Remender and Posehn: Grace Under Pressure forever!
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