WICKER PARK — Bianca Xunise grew up obsessing over John Hughes movies — coming-of-age stories about misfit Chicagoland teens. But the mostly white characters didn’t reflect Xunise or their friends, who grew up together south of the city.
In high school, Xunise began imagining their own cast of weird, queer, Black and people of color punks and goths who existed adjacent to the Hughes universe. While Molly Ringwald got into and out of trouble, Xunise imagined their characters just outside of the shot, doing their own thing.
Now, those characters come to life in Xunise’s debut graphic novel, “Punk Rock Karaoke,” which came out Tuesday.
“‘Punk Rock Karaoke’ is my John Hughes movie,” Xunise said. “I want readers to feel like they just got grabbed off the street by a group of punk kids who say, ‘Hey, you’re hanging out with us today.’”
The 254-page young adult graphic novel follows Ariel, a 19-year-old nonbinary punk who plays in the garage band Baby Hares with their two best friends. Caught in the year between high school and whatever comes next, Ariel navigates evolving friendships, potential romance, college applications and the enduring hope their band will finally make it big.
The book’s setting is directly inspired by Xunise’s own years in Chicago’s underground scene, the artist said. Ariel hops the fence for a date at Resurrection Cemetery. They meet friends outside of Punks ‘n’ Donuts (an homage to Chicago’s legendary Punkin’ Donuts at the corner of Belmont Avenue and Clark Street, which was demolished in 2015). And in the book’s guitar-smashing finale, the characters converge at Uptown’s legendary Aragon Ballroom.
On Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, Quimby’s Bookstore, 1854 W. North Ave., will host a “Punk Rock Karaoke” book release party with Xunise in conversation with writer Jessica Hopper. To mark the occasion, Xunise created a series of banners to hang in Quimby’s front windows, depicting Chicago punk kids as anthropomorphic rats.
Decorating the store’s window felt like a full-circle moment for Xunise, who’s been buying and selling zines at the bookstore for more than a decade.
“Doing something for my local community, that’s where my heart is,” Xunise said. “And that’s what this book is about.”
As soon as the “Punk Rock Karaoke” proposal hit editor Aneeka Kalia’s desk, she knew she wanted to work on the book. After five publishing houses bid on the project at auction, Viking Books for Young Readers won the contract.
“It was clear from the beginning that ‘Punk Rock Karaoke’ was a love letter to Chicago and had all the authenticity of an artist who had a deep and long-standing relationship with the city,” Kalia said. “My colleagues and I knew that we wanted to be the ones to publish this book.”
Though this is their first graphic novel, Xunise has been building a comics career for over a decade. They got their start publishing slice-of-life comics on Tumblr.
“I wanted people to connect with me and be like, ‘I’m not this scary Black girl,’” they said. “But after the murder of Trayvon Martin, I was like, ‘I need to make deeper work than this.’”
In 2018, Xunise won an Ignatz Award — one of the comics world’s highest honors — for “Say Her Name,” a self-published minicomic about being Black in America. In 2020, they became the first Black nonbinary cartoonist to be nationally syndicated for their contributions to the comic strip “Six Chix.”
In “Punk Rock Karaoke,” Xunise wanted to tell a story about Black, queer, punk victory.
“During the uprisings of 2020, I wanted to see some joy,” they said. “I was like, this is a [young adult] book. Let’s see Black people win.”
With their panels of messy teen bedrooms and crowded mosh pits, Xunise’s colorful cartoon style echoes handmade zines and punk show posters. From an early age, they were drawn to the venn diagram of zines and punk music — and the do-it-yourself ethos that sits in the middle.
“The punk chords — anyone can pick up a guitar and play some music,” Xunise said. “That’s something I love about the Chicago scene. Some of the best stuff is the stuff that never blows up. It challenges more. Those are some of my favorite comics and music.”
In addition to the Quimby’s Bookstore event Saturday, Xunise has more Chicago celebrations planned. On Thursday, they will be in conversation with comics artist Sage Coffey at Women and Children First bookstore at 5233 N. Clark St. in Andersonville. And in May, they’re planning a party at the Empty Bottle including a panel discussion, live music and — of course — some karaoke.
“Punk Rock Karaoke” is now available to buy online and at area bookstores.
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