Val is frustrated. She’s spent so much of her life following exactly what her conservative parents and ballet teachers want. When her ballet teacher encourages her to take up smoking to lose ten pounds before casting Swan Lake, Val is furious. While she tries to get a pack of cigarettes, she comes across Kat, a badass feminist who doesn’t care what the world thinks of her. When Val covers for a minor act of vandalism for Kat, the two end up becoming friends. After meeting a new crew, learning she’s pretty good on guitar, and changing her attitude, Val and Kat team up with their friend Rudie to form the band The Proper Ladies. What follows is the heartbreaks, band building, and delightful anxiety of a group of badass feminists learning to share their voice through music.
My Riot is written by Rick Spears and illustrated by Emmett Helen. It has the kind of raw vulnerability of 1990’s zines and celebrates the Riot Grrll movement popularized by groups like Bikini Kill. Readers can feel the angst and frustrations of life as a teenager, especially when faced with people who may or may not have your best interests at heart. The focus on the power of women, especially those who don’t follow traditionally feminine ideals, is everything in this book.
My Riot is available September 8, 2020 from Oni Press.
