HOPELESS SAVAGES: Greatest Hits, by Jen Van Meter and various artists

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

⊗⊗⊗⊗/5

SCOTT PILGRIM'S PRECIOUS LITTLE LIFE (Vol. 1) by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. But the path to Ms Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends stand in the way between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the girl without turning his precious little life upside-down?

 If that description doesn't sell it to you, I'm not sure what will.  This book (and series) offers a refreshing take on the slacker genre, where instead of spending his spare time playing video games, Scott Pilgrim inhabits a world that is a video game, and his life is filled with all the paradoxes of a real world gamer.  Sure, he can fight Ramona's evil exes, but is he emotionally mature enough to keep the relationship going? And will he ever get up the courage to actually break up with his high school girlfriend?

The supporting characters turn this book into pure gold-- there's Wallace Wells, his suave gay roommate who he shares a bed with (because he can't afford his own!); the female drummer of his band Sex Bob-omb Kim Pine (don't tell her she's not the only one!); his more mature younger sister Stacy Pilgrim; Sex Bob-omb's only fan Young Neil; and Knives Chau, the Chinese Catholic schoolgirl whose relationship with Scott is so ridiculously chaste you worry more about what it says about his emotional maturity than his intentions with her.

This book also surmounts the challenge of writing a (obviously silent) book with a musical backdrop, as the music scenes are drawn with such raw energy that you'll at least feel the urge to bob your head.  And it has something for everyone-- it's a romance for people who hate romance, a video game story for non-gamers, and the art is manga-style for people who hate manga.  It's just funny, funny, funny.  Now that the series is complete and the movie's about to come out, it's the best time to pick up this book (be cool and read it before you see the movie!)  You can read a 34-page preview here.

⊗⊗⊗⊗⊗ (out of five!)