Green Day is set to publish their first book, and it's a doozy! Our pop-punk kings Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool have co-authored a graphic novel called Last of the American Girls, illustrated by cartoonist Frank Caruso.
Here's the description:
"A rallying cry for all rebel girls: from Green Day and co-authored and illustrated by artist Frank Caruso comes a timely, inspiring illustrated rendition of the Grammy winning band's classic hit 'Last of the American Girls' — the song Rolling Stone called 'a fabulous left-wing love song to a rebel girl... when Armstrong sings, 'she won't cooperate,' he's giving her the highest compliment he can imagine.
One of the most important and influential artists of their generation, the high-energy rock band Green Day has continued to inspire millions of fans worldwide with their music, political views, and iconoclastic conviction. In this powerful full-color book, they now transform their Billboard hit 'Last of the American Girls' into an inspiring homage and handbook for the rebellious — every woman who refuses to capitulate."
Personally, it sounds like I could've really used this book in high school, when I was extremely concerned with being a hot punk dude's fantasy, and receiving "the highest compliment" Billie Joe Armstrong has to offer.
Just a supernatural punk babe on a mission to save the world! She's not like other girls (she's "the last" after all). Nope, she listens to vinyl and wears combat boots.
I mean, alright — to be clear, I'm all for a fresh flavor of girl power that encourages women to question the status quo and participate in direct action, rather than pushes them to become girlboss entrepreneurs — and Green Day surely has plenty of female fans who'll be ecstatic. But it's something of a mystery what three aging eyelinered rockers have to say in a "handbook" for independent women, aside from projecting their own aestheticized idea of what women rebelling means.
Maybe Green Day's time would have been better spent writing a handbook for rebel boys. For girls interested in rebellion, might I suggest I Love Dick by Chris Kraus, Feminism Is For Everybody by bell hooks' or Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist, instead?
Hey, maybe we'll all be proved wrong. It's out on October 29th.
Photo via Getty