JD Glass and Kris Dresen explore the overlap of punk rock and queer identity in Punk Like Me, their graphic novel adaptation of Glass’s 2006 debut novel, out now from Street Noise Books. Set in 1980s New York City, the story follows sixteen-year-old Nina Boyd — Staten Island punk, straight-A student, champion swimmer, and girl hopelessly in love with her best friend — as she navigates family expectations, Catholic school, and the chaos and catharsis of the CBGB scene. Glass, a Lambda Literary Award recipient and Stonewall Honor awardee, brings the autobiographical emotional weight; Dresen, an Eisner- and Ignatz-nominated artist, brings it to life in a signature blue-toned palette that’s already drawing comparisons to Love and Rockets, a touchstone Glass cites as foundational.

Prism Comics talked with Glass and Dresen about translating prose into panels, the shared DNA of punk and comics, and why this story is finally, as Glass puts it, “home.”

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OLLIE KAPLAN: Punk Like Me (2006) was your first novel. Why did you decide to return to the story now, and to do so in the graphic novel format?

JD GLASS: Punk Like Me was always meant to be a graphic novel, at least in my head! So to me it’s finally “home” so to speak.

KRIS DRESEN: it wasn’t long after we met that JD asked me if I would be interested in drawing her book, turning it into a graphic novel. I read Punk Like Me and “saw” the pages in my head so it was a quick “Yes!” from me.

KAPLAN: JDG, punk rock is woven throughout the story. So, is Punk Like Me inspired by your own musical background?

JDG: To a degree, yes! My first band that actually played at CBGB’s–Adam’s Rib–was a punk band! But the ethos of punk, about being authentic no matter what that sounds or looks like, that was truly the driving engine.

KAPLAN: What was the most challenging page or sequence to get right, and what was the most rewarding to finally see finished?

KD: The scene where Nina’s mother beats her. That was troublesome in that I’m not one to draw violence. It was difficult to imagine what that violence looked like even though JD’s book is quite descriptive. It was a gut punch to begin with and then our publisher thought the scene needed something to up the intensity. I suggested making the blood red in a book that was all purpley-blue. It would pop and be the only “real” color.

The most rewarding was finally completing the scene early in the book of Nina and Sam on the beach. I first drew those pages almost 13 years ago when we started working on doing a graphic novel of JD’s book. I drew that scene first and we both went, “OK, this is SOMETHNG.” 

KAPLAN: Broadly, how do you capture sound with static, two-dimensional sequential art? Specifically, which types of techniques did you use to help the reader feel the bass vibrating or the crowd pushing against Nina?

KD: Visual clues. Vibration lines. Showing the crowds dancing and moving. What does it look like when you’re feeling a sound?  What shapes help define a sound? The bubbles around a burp, the sheerness of a screeching subway train. The drunk bubbles around an inebriated character’s head to show his words sound mushy.  The “Ert!” of Sam’s car breaking I borrowed from Matt Feazell’s Cynical Man comics. It’s accurate!

KAPLAN: KD, how’d you land on a blue-toned color palette — and what does it convey that a black-and-white color palette couldn’t?

KD: I was originally going to use a grey wash to beef up the art and add some richness -something I had been experimenting with. But our publisher wanted a color book because well, color sells. A full color book was out of the question, so I quickly put together a few sample pages using a single color and they approved that. I was going to use the color to accent or as a wash in the art. But me being me, I chose a base color and created a palate of 30 tints and shades of the that color to be used throughout the book. The color printed a bit bluer than the purple the color I used – but I’m happy with it. I chose it because a brighter blue is perceived as a male color, but if I went red/pink, that’s seen as a female. The purple blue was a neutral to me. And also, Prince.

KAPLAN: What was the most rewarding part about seeing your prose come to life through Kris’s visuals — and did any scene change in meaning for you once it was drawn?

JDG: Honestly–all of it. Kris literally draws it the way I see it in my head! And I loved how she was able to visually captive how massive it feels to be on stage with your band and the audience loving it–as well as the pressure of being in a competitive situation! But…the way she really captured the emotional extremes–it really made it all hit home for me in ways that I can only say are truly visceral.

KAPLAN: Punk rock and comics share a joint history. For those unfamiliar with this history, can you either briefly explain the connection or describe what the punk comic aesthetic is, and how it’s evolved?

JDG: Starting with artists like R. Crumb and Robert Williams really pushing back against mainstream, plus underground zines and self-publishing using photocopy machines, and a true “do it yourself” ethos, punk rock and indie comics share a heart beatand are fraternal twins. Fantagraphics really married the two arts when it picked up Love and Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez–and that was absolutely a huge influence on me personally, philosophically, aesthetically.

KD: Punk rock brought the “anybody can be in a band” mindset to the masses. Learn three chords and you’re good! Comics went through that period where anybody could be a cartoonist. You don’t need to be a trained artist, just draw! Punk rock and comics share the DIY attitude with the overlying “F-off! I an do anything I want!” gutsiness.

KAPLAN: What’s your collaborative process like?

KD: We took JD’s book and stripped it down to what we thought would work for the graphic novel. We agreed on the characters looks and then I broke down the text into layouts. JD trusts I know what I’m doing and if I had a concern we’d discuss. It was a very smooth process. We both have the same storytelling sensibility.

KAPLAN: Punk Like Me examines queer joy as an act of resistance. How did you balance these joyful elements with the painful parts of Nina’s story?

KD: Life is about balance.

JDG: They say the best revenge is to live well. I say the best way to live is to get to the point where you’re having so much joy that you never even think about the revenge–haters gonna hate, so let them be hating while you just live your life.

KAPLAN: Nina and Kerri are shown reading Love and Rockets, which undeniably also influenced Punk Like Me. So, I’m curious: how would you characterize Punk Like Me’s relationship to Love and Rockets?

KD: I never really read Love and Rockets, but I always loved Jaime Hernandez’s art. When I started approaching how the book would look, I paid homage by having the character clothing be hunky black silhouettes. And I made sure Sam’s car looked real and accurate, the guitars, too. I mean, I play guitar and nothing makes me cringe more than when someone draws a guitar wrong.

JDG: Love and Rockets kinda saved my life in many ways. I mean, here’s a story with queer Latina girls, one who’s Scottish and Colombian, and her last name is Glass! Dude, I’m English and Peruvian, my last name is Glass and…my confirmation name is Hope for Esperanza, my grandmother. It was like, dudes, I don’t know you, but somehow, it seems like you know ME. REPRESENTATION MATTERS and Love and Rockets helped me get through some of the worst parts of my high school years. So the relationship is a direct one, because there’s no me without them.

KAPLAN: Is there anything else you want to add?

JDG: Punk Like Me is for everyone who’s been there, is going through it, wants to hold someone’s hand through the process, or just wants to become this person for a while and know what it’s like.

Punk Like Me by JD Glass and Kris Dresen is available now. Learn more on the offical Street Noise Books website.