Sometimes there’s nothing better than real-life experience to bring home the feel of something and it does sound as though Pamela Ribon, who’s a co-creator for Slam!, did spend some time with the LA Derby Dolls, a Roller Derby team that inspired her and fellow creator Veronica Fish to come up with this comic. There’s a good chance that a lot of us have seen or at least heard about Roller Derby, but the fact is that while it’s not really that complicated it might appear that way to those that know nothing about it. Reading up on the rules and then remembering them is bound to be difficult since it’s a fairly fast-paced sport that might not make a lot of sense to a lot of people since the manner in which points are scored is kind of odd when compared to other sports. But all the same, it’s a very physical and demanding sport that has been primarily dominated by women for some time and is one of those that could possibly leave a person with their fair share of bumps and bruises if they’re lucky since other injuries are bound to happen if a person isn’t ready for the track. Thinking that it could be an interesting show isn’t beyond the realm of belief at all considering that with enough story laid into it, the action sequences could easily be something that people might enjoy.
It might be wise to brush up on the whole idea of Roller Derby before watching this, however, just in case people want to actually understand what’s going on in the action sequences so that they’re not too confused. The game has been around for decades now but it’s still one of those that hasn’t gained quite as much attention as it might need to be a commonly known pastime. Dismissing the show because of this would be a mistake, but the fact is that while a lot of women have taken to this sport and have absolutely enjoyed it, the attention it’s gained still hasn’t been quite enough that it’s common enough to mention to just anyone and assume that they’ll understand what the person is talking about. Again, it’s not a complex sport since it does have its own rules and methods of scoring, but without knowing anything about it, the average person might think that it’s just roller-skating that allows people to hit and push each other in order to get around the track. In fact, that’s kind of what it looks like to those that don’t know much about the game, which could be why it’s never really taken off in a big way like other sports have over the years.
The fact that the series will be animated makes it sound a little more appealing since as a lot of people already know, animation can bring out a story in a big way through various forms and methods that can be used in various stories, and there are times when animation can also be superior to live-action since it doesn’t involve any real risk on the part of the actors and can tell the story in a way that allows the audience to become invested just as much. How HBO Max will go drumming up interest for this series is hard to say but one can imagine it will be done in the same manner as every other program the streaming service has available and it’s a big hope that it will draw in the numbers of fans that the site is hoping to see. Depending on how the story is told it should be able to do fairly well since transitioning from a comic to the small screen is a decent step upward and it does sound as though the type of work that’s being done on the story should be enough to push it over the edge in terms of getting people to show enough interest to make it worthwhile. With all the content that’s coming out of as of late though the popularity of this show is going to be following a pretty big lineup that will require it to show the people something that will keep them interested and keep them from looking elsewhere. So far, HBO Max has done a great job in pushing its various properties, so there’s more than a little faith that it will continue to do this and that Slam will be another series that people will be talking about.
But seriously, learn a little bit about Roller Derby before trying to get into this series, and it might even be wise to find the comic and take it in before this series comes out, as it will likely all make a lot more sense and be a little more enjoyable.
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