Dee Snider is the typical 80s hair metal frontman: loud, obnoxious, crude, flashy, and not afraid to give someone the finger and that’s just his positives. He’s also an avid supporter of freedom of speech and is anti-government censorship. Those things were on full display in the 1985 congressional hearing on creating a rating system for music which Snider spoke out against.
The graphic novel, “He’s Not Gonna Take It,” written by Snider with artists Frank Marrafino and Steve Kurth, has Snider tell of his life and all that shaped his views and what led up to this congressional hearing. From a father who viewed him as a loser, teachers who hated him, and various people who tried to kick him when he was down.
It’s an interesting graphic novel told in a way that only Snider can: full of vulgarities and in-your-face everything. That’s perfect since this shows that Snider is being genuine which is one thing Snider supports. He does a great job of making the reader feel as if we’re beside him and at his concerts. You can smell the sweat pouring off the concertgoers it’s that well-written.
With such a larger-than-life figure it’s a daunting task for any comic book artist to even attempt to draw anything that comes to Snider. Marrafino and Kurth tried their damnedest can almost came close. They got the 1980s comic look down perfectly, the characters look like the people they represent, the backgrounds are nice and the scenes where there’s a crowd make it seem like you’re there but it’s not loud and crazy. It’s more function over style. Snider looks amazing which is the main thing here. As long as Snider looks amazing who cares about what the other people look like?
Dee Snider’s “He’s Not Gonna Take It” is an amazingly written graphic novel you can see the passion behind it on every page and it feels genuine. The art may be great but it’s not the high-octane wild and crazy in-your-face that matches Snider’s writing style. It needs more 80s hair metal makeup and “Aqua Net” to get right.
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