He’s Not Gonna Take It

This no-holds-barred graphic memoir by Twisted Sister front man Snider (Frats) follows how “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” the breakout MTV anthem of teen rebellion that put Snider on the map in Reagan’s America, also put him squarely in the crosshairs of Congress. In 1985, the newly formed Parents Music Resource Center, a watchdog group formed by Tipper Gore (wife of Senator Al Gore) along with three other “Washington Wives,” sought to codify parental control over their children’s listening habits. Snider, whose public persona was an aggressive, obscenity-spouting, makeup-wearing headbanger, was among the musicians invited to testify in D.C. His opponents expected an “easy mark,” but instead Snider “rode in like the bastard child of Paul Revere and Genghis Khan” and defied expectations with an articulate, thoughtful performance that was perhaps more shocking than any of his onstage antics. In the dynamic, first-person account, Snider—with the help of cowriter Marraffino and artist Kurth, whose high-octane comics storytelling perfectly complements Snider’s colorful turns of phrase—chronicles his life and career leading up to that pivotal moment. It’s a frenzied and fun look at American free speech debates, 1980s excess, and the age-old battle between the establishment and the upstarts. (Nov.)