Nothing Nice to Say: Complete Discography

Nothing Nice To Say

by Mitch Clem

Nothing Nice To Say made its debut online in early 2002, satirizing al aspects of punk music and culture, and quickly grew to a level of popularity that would make creator Mitch Clem cash in and sell out overnight if only he’d had any idea how to.

Now, years after unceremoniously disappearing from the internet entirely, Nothing Nice To Say is still revered as a cult classic among fans of punk rock and comics alike.

Finally, here it is: A complete, definitive collection of Nothing Nice to Say in its entirety. Containing the entire archive of comics (give or a take a strip or three), hard-to-find rarities that never appeared on the site, crossover events, and the full run of The Coffee Achievers, the spinoff miniseries that makes Nothing Nice’s cult popularity seem positively mainstream by comparison.

For Tru Punx only!

Genres: Comics, Music, Graphic Novels, Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2019

About the author

Mitch Clem first gained recognition for his comic series Nothing Nice to Say, a satire of punk music and culture, before moving on to the autobiographical comics San Antonio Rock City and My Stupid Life. He also created and curated the punk rock comic zine As You Were, and has drawn album art, merch, and flyers for hundreds of bands. He lives in San Antonio, TX with his wife (fellow cartoonist Amanda Kirk) and their daughter.

Reviews

[Abigael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to revisit this series in print form. My only quibble is that I wish the formatting was slightly larger as some of the wordier comics were hard to read, but over all a wonderful collection with great introspection about who the author was while he was making this work. It takes a lot to own up to our twenty-something selves and how brash we are in some of our decision making at that time. Mitch Clem really honors his overall collection by doing that hard work.

Plus I can't believe that I forgot about one of my favorite formative jokes of that era of my life:
"Ring Ring Ring... BANANARCHY!!!" XD

Thanks for this remastering of your work, Mitch Clem.

[Joey From the Block · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for any punk worth their patches.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

will always be a favorite.

[Hella Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic, so fantastic that I took the time to send several emails to goodreads to make sure it was listed correctly! Seriously, this book is that good.

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this comic when I lived in Minneapolis and made a minor effort to pretend to be interested in punk.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love punk music. I have ever since I was a (TRIGGER WARNING, CONSERVATIVES) sullen privileged white suburban teenager, which really is the best time to fall in love with punk and hardcore (H2O was my gateway band). Today I’ve got arms full of tattoos and I still love listening to gang vocals and power chords. But as much as I love punk music, I’m not blind to its negative aspects: the sexism, homophobia, and push towards conformity (under the guise of nonconformity) that can sometimes crop up, not to mention its sometimes overwhelming sense of self-righteousness. At the same time I was jumping into my first mosh pit, I was also discovering another adolescent outlet that I still love today: comics. “Nothing Nice To Say,” the on-again/off-again webcomic by Mitch Clem, perfectly marries these two passions. This definitive volume, dubbed “The Complete Discography,” collects every strip from the series’ storied run as the first online webcomic to poke fun at a scene that always took itself way too seriously.

In the beginning, “Nothing Nice To Say” was - and I say this with love - a mess. Chronicling the adventures and musical musings of a pair of odd couple roommates, the straight-laced Blake and the anarchistic Fletcher, “NN2S” (as it’s known to the cool kids) featured some truly amateurish art and groan-worthy jokes. But even from the first strip there was an unmistakably scrappy DIY energy to the strip. What’s so cool about “Nothing Nice To Say: The Complete Discography” is how it allows the reader to watch Clem’s writing and art evolve (really quickly, too) from sloppy and insular to much more polished and downright hilarious (1000 Scene Points alone are awarded for the punchline where the Swedish punks start a revolution because lutefisk is so unappetizing). As his confidence grew, “NN2S” dipped into longer story arcs (including a surreal side project, “The Coffee Achievers,” that’s included in the book), political commentary, and some thinly-veiled autobio work (SIDE BAR: it’s a travesty that Clem hasn’t collected “My Stupid Life” and “San Antonio Rock City” into a book... yet?). Contrary to his statement in the preface, I think Mitch Clem’s work has held up pretty well over the years. He may wring his hands over some of the less “woke” content from the early days of the comic but I think it’s pretty clear that he never had anything but good intentions. Besides, it’s punk! It’s supposed to be a little offensive! Which “NN2S” was at times, but it was never ignorant. It really was about more than just punk music, though. Years after the comic closed up shop, I still find myself thinking about certain gags or drawings on a weekly basis. It’s awesome to finally have the whole thing in one package.

I follow Mitch Clem on Twitter and Instagram and stuff now and he seems to be living a much more private life (I can’t blame him with all the abuse he suffered from “fans” of the comic). He rarely draws full comics anymore but he’s still hilarious and a die-hard punk fan (tru punx!). He seems content, which is awesome, but I am disappointed that he’s not making comics anymore. His style really developed to the point where he’s still one of my favorite artists and his writing was consistently funny and unexpected. I hope he finds his way back to comics someday. So I guess there’s really nothing else to say about “Nothing Nice To Say” except: it rocks!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mitch Clem's greatest hits! The man that turned a generation of internet weirdos onto punk music finally released the full run of the legendary, and first ever punk online comic, Nothing Nice to Say (minus his least favorite strips)! This is not only nostalgia for the kids who grew up reading on crappy desktop monitors... it's a refreshing (and sometimes bitter) take on the state of DIY culture and a critique of the layers of irony that are unfortunately unavoidable at times. Whether you're a fan of punk music or not ("you're not a punk and I'm telling everyone"...), this is a great and heartwarming collection detailing the lives of two everyday friends who have a strong love-hate relationship.

[Jacob Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't buy comics as often as I should, but I am very happy that Mitch Clem finally released a NN2S collection. I remember reading them back in my formative years in high school and checking out all the referenced bands. It has been some years since I read them, but I kept up with Mitch's writing and art( and his lovely wife Amanda's awesome coloring) through his frequent pages in Razorcake. Once I got the book it was like a time machine, Jawbreaker and smelly punk references abound.
It is really cool to see how far he has progressed and learned from NN2S, and I highly reccommend this to anyone who ups the punx or rides tall bikes unironicaly.

[Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crucial to my development and I'm glad all of it is available in print now!!!!

[Ian Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these all as they were originally being released online and I’m very excited to reread these all now that I bought the book. Many of the comics are timeless and some are a perfect time capsule of what was going on in punk rock during the mid-2000s. Punk as depicted in art has a tendency to come off as a goofy outsiders perspective but it’s clear Mitch Clem has a passionate love for punk rock and that gives him the perfect insight to lampoon it.

[Ash Ponders · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history more than a comic.
Desperately important at the time.
A queasy afternoon of nostalgia now.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah some of the old jokes rank high on the "yikes" meter but so many still hold true to today and had me fondly remembering the good ol' days of shit talking all the bands I loved

[Cody Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of nostalgia for the early internet, and web comics were a bit part of that. Being a “punk”, Nothing Nice to Say was a staple. I hadn’t thought about the comic for many years so when I remembered it, I found out this book existed and ordered it.

I really enjoyed re-reading some of the comics and reading many that I never saw before. There is definitely some commentary regarding punk ethos that is still relevant today. There is some subject matter that wouldn’t fly today but it’s not difficult to look at the time frame the comic was written and understand the context.

Overall, I enjoy the works Mitch Clem has created and rare this books 4/5.

[Joe Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honesty just glad to have this on my shelf. I was reading this comic online for so long. Some of the content has its problems but so did I back then. I’m glad I could grow and still get a lot from this comic.

[Joe Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

NN2S was one of my favorite webcomics back in the day. Glad to have a book of the whole run

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice bit of nostalgia from my late teens/early 20's.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mitch is right, this didn't age well AT ALL. =D