REBEL GRRRLS – Alien-She Devils Coming Back This Summer
Image: Keenspot
From Keenspot comics and the mind of Danny Harrell, Rebel Grrrls follows the adventures of the all-girl punk band Alien-She Devils and their attempts to avoid their apocalyptic destiny. With the fourth issue expected in Summer 2024, it looks like a good time for a retrospective.
Evelyn, Serena, and Janie are a local punk band in Alabama trying to make something of their talent without selling their souls. Though they only think of that figuratively. They are approached by Tiberius Ulysses Cotton, a demon in a human guise, posing as a record label agent. His job is to get them to literally sell their souls to fulfill a prophecy. That being, they were born to usher in the ‘End of Days’.
The jaded, headstrong girls persistently rebuff him, but as things get weird and dangers surround them, they are forced to at least accept his guidance as he continues to attempt to gain their trust.
The pacing is good and the story does have a very Evil Dead: Army of Darkness meets Buffy: The Vampire Slayer vibe. Every character with significant dialogue has their own style of sarcastic quips, even the various demonic characters, giving the story a decent variety of voices. The quip-based dialogue tends to do a lot of the heavy lifting for character development, however, it also felt like it was meant to be funny, and none of it really made me laugh.
Image: Keenspot
Tonally, it is hard to tell what Danny was going for. The subject matter can be quite dark at times with ghosts making a person literally explode, and one of the girls being handcuffed to a door overnight by their father. Meanwhile, the feel of the dialogue and narration keeps pushing an air of sardonic humour. This then undermines some of the more urgent or harrowing scenes when the violence or horror is clearly meant to be taken seriously, making it difficult to know what to feel when events are trying to be serious.
The art style also has a very light and humorous look, which makes the violence and gore look like it’s meant to be funny, but the actual narrative seems to take it incredibly seriously.
Narrative-wise, there is an interesting story here, and I’m curious to see where it goes. Though there are a few nitpicks, it is really just indicative of a product that possibly needed a bit more polish before production. I can respect its ambition and intentions look past a lot of minor issues and enjoy a romp of feisty punk girls, demonic deals, and zombie hoards.
Image: Keenspot
Rebel Grrrls can be purchased through dannyharrell.com, keenspot.com, and is available from comic stores via Diamond Comic Distributors.
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