1 out of 5

Yeah.  You ever have a friend produce something – music, art, whatever – that you don’t really think is good… that you don’t think anyone will think is very good.. but friend is so earnest that you can’t help but be supportive?  And then, against all odds, that not good whatever ends up getting out there via some avenue and you really just sorta still feel like there’s not really anyone who’s truly digging on this..?  Right.  Rockola is sorta like that.  I’m sorry.

This one issue collection of what I believe was a newspaper strip about four (five?  three?) dudes whose names we either never are directly told OR that strip wasn’t included in the bundle OR the characters are so undefined that names just don’t stick follows their bumbling through pretty unfunny jokes (?  comments?) about “heavy metal” and “rock” like AC/DC and Judas Priest.  I put that stuff in quotes ’cause, yeah, Black Sabbath totally offended people at some point and was a rebellious t-shirt to wear, and absolutely influenced about a bamillion groups I love, but here the concept of rock n’ roll feels so diluted to like adult contemporary elevator muzak.  It’s weird.  Ryan Brown talks about AC/DC like that cool Uncle who mentions smoking up at a concert.  Cool, Uncle Dave.  Cool earring.

The art has no personality, and giving a character a t-shirt that says “Steve Gerber Lives” is probably the most unsubtle way to sell a brief Howard the Duck tribute.  As a writer on some Tales of the Turtles issues, Ryan Brown delivered competent, straight-forward stories that carried the poppy sensibilities of TMNT for 20-ish pages.  But as a gag writer… big meh.

Rockola feels penciled in five minutes and doesn’t do much for making me chuckle, although there was a rape joke in there that was surprisingly off-color.  So for those of you rating this on quantity of off-color rape jokes, extra star.