Ezra's Bookshelf

The Holy Roller

by Andy Samberg, Joe Trohman and Rick Remender

Fiction

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Andy Samberg, Joe Trohman, and Rick Remender create an unlikely superhero origin story: a professional bowler returns to his small hometown to find it overrun by Neo-Nazis and discovers he can use his trick bowling skills as weapons against fascism. The graphic novel blends the creators' comedy and punk rock sensibilities with Remender's experience writing action comics. Marty Brewster's transformation from burnt-out athlete to vigilante plays as both parody and genuine adventure. The book takes seriously its anti-fascist premise while never losing its sense of absurdity—bowling balls as weapons against white supremacists is inherently ridiculous, and the creators embrace that fully. The art captures both the brutality of the violence and the dark humor of the concept. References to 'Kingpin,' 'Inglourious Basterds,' and Batman signal the tonal range: exploitation cinema's cathartic violence meets superhero origin story meets political satire. For readers who appreciate genre-bending comics that smuggle serious themes into disreputable packaging, this delivers satisfaction.

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