Hi-Fi Fight Club #1

Written by: Carly Usdin
Pencils by: Nina Vakueva
Colours by: Rebecca Nalty
 

With a title like Hi-Fi Fight Club, two things come to mind right away: music and the late 90s film based on Chuck Palahniuk’s book. And what do we get? Some from column A and hints from column B.

Seventeen year-old Chris is the newest employee of Vinyl Mayhem, the coolest record store in town. She, alongside her fellow employees Dolores (D), Maggie, and Kennedy are typical teenagers working for their boss Irene and seem to be living the normal teenager life. But being the new girl, Chris still feels left out, especially when it comes to closing time where she is more than willing to help out, only to be told by Irene that she is not needed, for now.

All this changes the next day when the band Stegosour are set to play at Vinyl Mayhem, only to be super late, but also missing their lead singer. After some expert level excuse making by Irene to the fans waiting in the store, we get to learn the secret of Vinyl Mayhem!

Even before reading  the end of the issue interview with Usdin and Vakueva, you could tell that they took inspiration from the 90’s cult hit Empire Records for the setting as well as relationships in this issue and Babysitter’s Club for the mystery portion. Usdin does a marvellous job of introducing us to her characters, giving them distinct personalities and just enough of their back story, as seen through Chris’s eyes, to make me want to know more.

To add to that, Vakueva has also done a great job on art. All the girls in the issue look their age (big plus!), have their own distinct styles which you can tell Vakueva spent some time on. Also, since the comic is set in the 90s, it’s nice to see that everyone is given 90s-style clothes.

Hi-Fi Fight Club #1 was a fun debut issue in the Boom Box line-up of comics. With fun characters and a mini-cliffhanger on the final page, Usdin and Vakueva do a great job of creating interest and intrigue. Oh, and who didn’t want to work at a record store in the 90s?