“What’s needed here this night is a pointless act of mischief! Something that will accomplish absolutely nothing of substance… but will fill our hearts with gladness!” - Otto Pizcok a.k.a. The Baron
Punk Rock And Trailer Parks was published in 2010, and is written and illustrated by Derf Backderf, or as he is credited for this book, Derf. The book is set in the eighties, and follows Otto Pizcok, a 19-year-old high school senior unlike any other. He has endless charisma, imagination, and courage, and prefers to be called by his self proclaimed nickname: The Baron. When The Baron is introduced to punk rock by his two underclassman friends Pete and Wes, the trio makes it their weekly tradition to go to a punk and new wave music club called The Bank, to see bands like the Ramones, the Clash, and the Plasmatics. As they spend more time at The Bank, Otto finds himself hanging out with famous people that come through the venue, and ultimately becoming a part of punk rock history.
I have always been a massive fan of Derf’s work ever since reading his masterpiece My Friend Dahmer. His ability to tell a story in an extremely relatable and funny manner is something that I have always admired. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Derf’s graphic novels, he always relates them to personal experience. For example, My Friend Dahmer is about how Derf went to high school with notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and Trashed is about Derf’s experiences working as a garbage man. Punk Rock And Trailer Parks is about the punk music scene in Ohio when Derf was growing up, and although Derf isn’t a character in the story like he is in his other books, it is still based on actual bands, and locations that played a large part in his early life.
Punk Rock And Trailer Parks is essentially the antithesis to My Friend Dahmer. If My Friend Dahmer covered the strangeness of high school in a mostly serious manner with a few funny moments thrown in, Punk Rock And Trailer Parks covers the weirdness of high school in a light-hearted and humorous way with a couple of serious and sad moments peppered throughout. The two books both deal with themes of isolation and being an outsider, but the way in which the books decide to cover those themes are vastly different from one another.
The character work and world building in Punk Rock And Trailer Parks is incredible. Otto Pizcok is one of the most larger-than-life characters I’ve ever seen depicted in a comic, and the supporting characters are also incredibly surreal and hilarious. The small Ohio communities in which the comic takes place feel very real and lived in, and all of the weird things that happen there don’t seem very far off from the truth. This aspect of the comic reminded me of one of my favorite slice-of-life comics ever written, Ghost World.
The art in this book is bizarre and wonderful, just like the art in Derf’s other books. The way he draws characters is oddly funny, but it also works wonders in serious moments too. The characters all have heads that resemble squares or rectangles, and their bodies are all long and bony. Their physical proportions are slightly off, and this technique makes the characters look more cartoonish, which is something that really worked well for me.
One thing that is very different and unique about Punk Rock And Trailer Parks is that the book has a soundtrack. Yes, you read that right, a soundtrack. There is a list at the beginning of the book which contains various classic punk and new wave songs to have playing during certain scenes. So whenever Otto is at a concert at The Bank, you will be able to hear the music that the bands are playing, should you choose to read the book while listening to the soundtrack. By the way, the songs that are chosen are wonderful, and include “Welcome to the Working Week” by Elvis Costello, “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones, “I Fought The Law” by the Clash, “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, “Nomi Song” by Klaus Nomi, and many, many more.
As for flaws I have with the book, there are very few. My only main issue is that the story tends to jump around a bit, and the pacing is a little too quick at times. Other than that, Punk Rock And Trailer Parks is a total blast from start to finish. It is one of my favorite books about music, and it is yet another example of why Derf Backderf is one of the best creative minds working today in the comic book industry.
Grade: A
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