Grommets

What is a grommet?  In the parlance of the place and time – California in the 1980s – it refers to a young, enthusiastic skateboarder which describes new kid in town Rick and his first friend Brian to a T.  Rick’s parents are lame, Brian’s dad is slowly losing his mind, and school is no fun at all, which is why they spend every chance they can skating, smoking weed, playing arcade games, or trying to get girls.  That last thing looks like it might actually happen when Brian gets the house to himself and throws a little party… that gets way out of control once the whole football team shows up.  They’re here to party and these jocks don’t care who gets hurt in the process so long as they have fun.

“Grommets” is another series where Rick Remender is working with a co-writer.  This time he’s joined by comedian and former “Deadpool” co-writer Brian Posehn as the two plumb their individual histories for this tale.  Not only is it better than Remender’s last joint as a co-writer, but it leads to some totally rad vibes in the first half of the book as we follow the shenanigans Rick and Brian get up to as they try to have fun and deal with their own individual dramas.  Stuff like smoking up behind the mall, then binging on nachos, and watching Rick make a fool of himself in the arcade in front of the girl he likes.  Had the focus been on these kinds of things, the volume could’ve wound up being an entirely low-key good time.

The problem is that around halfway through the jocks show up and, just like real life, spoil everything.  The story takes a darker turn as the football team captain winds up being a giant rage-a-holic who winds up having our two protagonists fearing for their lives.  It’s such and abrupt twist that, even if something like this did happen to Remender and Posehn, it feels at odds with the rest of the story.  The good vibes go away and are replaced with something much more serious that doesn’t come back, despite the creators’ best efforts at the end.

Part of the problem is that the first half of the volume is a great showcase for artist Brett Parsons.  He’s got a very expressive style that feels animated without being cartoonish that, along with Moreno Dinisio’s bright colors, go a long way towards delivering on those good vibes early on.  Unfortunately, this means that as the story takes its dark turn he winds up being really good at selling the terror felt by the main characters and their friends as well as dramatizing what’s happening to them.  Parson’s clearly got talent and I can only hope that his next project doesn’t have him illustrating a story at odds with itself.

I’d classify “Grommets” as a not bad comic that’s mainly for established fans of the creators involved.  It promised good times with skating and friends, but then took a full-on turn into action/suspense territory halfway through.  My guess is that Remender and Posehn didn’t want to shy away from the ugly parts of their teenage years and felt including stuff like that would make the story feel more honest in the end.  Unfortunately that honesty just made a story that promised to be about fun feel considerably less so in the end.