Grrl Scouts [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Jim Mahfood (Author), Jamie S. Rich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

Fresh from his stint as artist on the Clerks comic books, Jim Mahfood debuts his own creation -- the Grrl Scouts. Cute, independent, and full of attitude, Gwen, Daphne, and Rita are three girls trying to do what they can to survive in Freak City. From expressing themselves through graffiti or cutting lose on the dance floor, the party is raging -- that is, until the Brotherhood of the Cracker catches wind of the good time and decides to crack down. The Brotherhood is an evil alliance that controls the world's power structure from behind the scenes, and they don't like the Grrls' subversive nature. Before they know it, the Grrls are being hunted by assassins and are on the run for their lives. Mahfood's fresh, hiphop style combines the rhythm of today's youth culture with hyper-real satire for a truly unique comics experience. Contains mature subject matter and adult language.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Oni Press; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096671279X
• ISBN-13: 978-0966712797
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,970,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tries Way Too Hard and Yet Not Hard Enough, February 14, 2006

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grrl Scouts Volume 1 (Paperback)

After finishing this, I read Mahfood's bio at the back, and when I saw he went on to work on Clerks series, it all made perfect sense. Perfect sense because this is the ultimate book for indie comic guys -- sweet art, but totally juvenile. Juvenile because the characters are mere fantasy constructs and the story is little more than an anti-corporate screed. The titular heroic trio are a kind of like the Spice Girls of "Freak City": one black, one Asian, one Latina (although they all tend to look pretty Anglo), and all dead sexy. These are hot, tattooed, comic book geek pot/shroom heads, who also happen to be into cool music, cool films, grafitti, and walking around strapped. Friends since childhood, they now live in a group house plastered with posters (Run DMC, Peter Tosh, Tribe Called Quest, The Specials, Fishbone, James Brown, etc.), and littered with bongs, skateboards, zines, and movies (Akira, Hard-Boiled, etc.). They makes their living as drug dealers (apparently strictly of weed and mushrooms), and live a happy go lucky life.

That is, until their success on the street catches the attention of Nykee Corp. CEO Phillip and his secret Brotherhood of the Cracker. This is Mahfood's attempt at...what? Satire? Stickin' it to The Man? Whatever it is, it's heavy handed and lame. Just to spell it out, Nykee = Nike and Phillip = Phil Knight (CEO of Nike). So, yes, Nike, I mean Nykee, is the most evilest company ever in the history of the world and the Grrls' little hand-to-hand dealing is such a threat to their monopoly on Freak City's drug trade that a team of assassins is sent after them. (Plussing as which, their multiracial background is apparently a threat to the Brotherhood.) That's about the gist of it, there is a little more backstory, but it's basically an extended showdown, with lots of action sprinkled in. <Sigh...> I'm probably right on board with Mahfood in terms of supporting indies and the general ill effects of global capitalism -- which is why it's so disappointing to see him write such a simple, boring take on it. It's an approach that panders to a knee-jerk audience and doesn't require any kind of actual engagement or thought. The notion that these three dope dealers become system-smashing anti-corporate revolutionaries is totally pathetic, and the idea that drugs are somehow against the mainstream is so tired and lame.

Fortunately, the art is definitely a lot of fun, with a lot of quasi and overt grafitti influences. One kind of annoying element, however, is the tendancy to cram in tons of music and comics references on various t-shirts. Sometimes, a characters's t-shirt slogan will change multiple times in a single scene. Similarly, the writing tries really hard to be "cool", and only succeds in sounding very forced. The threesome all talk exactly the same, and there's far too much hip-hop lingo tossed around. The effect is rather like standing near a bunch of 15-year-old suburban white boys who are deep in wigger mode. There's just far too much use of pop culture references as substitutes for an engaging story. I mean, I grew up around the same time and I like almost all the same music -- I saw Fishbone in '87 and Akira in '88, and all that good stuff -- but so what? This is a book that's fun to skim through, but lame to actually read. Next time, more substance with all the style.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hip, July 24, 2000

By 

Xeneri - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grrl Scouts (Paperback)

Hip, street smart and potentially dangerous, Grrl Scouts is an energetic read. I was drawn to the edgy illustrations which nicely complements the mean streets attitude of the book. The story itself was interesting but not completely memorable. Still it's a worthwhile look.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good style, Not so good writing, September 5, 2001

By 

Tony (Sonora, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grrl Scouts (Paperback)

I love this book. I bought it after seeing Jim Mahfood's work in the "Clerks" comic, and this did not disappoint. If you like comics, or aspire to write them, this is a good buy. The story lags in some parts, mainly in some of the dialogue (it seems like he's occasionally trying too hard to make drug references or use slang), but that isn't why I bought the book, nor is it the reason why I love the book. The style is awesome! I found myself getting very into the action of the book, just because of how it was all presented. The story is pretty cheesy, but BUY THIS BOOK. I like the pretty pictures.