MattBrady
11-22-2002, 05:12 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1.jpg" width="150" height="230" align="right" border="0">Next up in our continuing run of previews of upcoming Image books: Paul Grist’s Jack Staff. Originally conceptualized as a Union Jack reveival for Marvel, Grist went his own way when Marvel passed, tweaked the concept and self-published the title for eleven issues under his own, Dancing Elephant Press. For a bit more…here’s Paul:
“Jack Staff. You want to know what it's all about? I'll tell you what it's about; it's about things that aren’t what they seem to be.
“It's about Becky Burdock. She's a Vampire Reporter, but if she really is one of the undead then how come she's able to walk round during the day?
“It's about Q. A group of people who investigate Question Mark Crimes. You know, those things which defy normal explanation. Helen Morgan, a woman who died and was brought back to life by Q. Harry Crane, a policeman who sees echoes of things that have already happened. Ben Kulmer, a petty thief with a metal claw for a hand and the power to turn himself invisible. But who or what is Q anyway?
“It's about Tom Tom the Robot Man. The eight foot metal crime-fighter who isn't really a robot. Or a man, come to that.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p1.jpg"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p1_t.jpg" width="165" height="248" align="left" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 1"></a> “It's about Jack Staff - Britain's Greatest Superhero, who just disappeared twenty years ago and everybody just forgot about him. Now he's back, only things have changed in the time that he has been gone. The world has moved on. When he does pick up his staff again he has to confront one of his old team members from the time when they fought together during World War 2. He finds himself teaming up with the Spider - his arch-foe from the 1960's. In fact the only thing that hasn't changed in all that time is Jack Staff himself, who looks as young as he always did.
“My name is Paul Grist and for the past three years I've been writing and drawing a black and white self-published comic called Jack Staff.
“If you haven't seen Jack Staff before - and to be honest, there's a lot more of you that haven't than have - it might be worthwhile explaining the format of the comic, which is probably unlike any other comic you're going to have read. Now you're probably used to single character comics which come out every month. Here in Britain, traditionally comics have been published every week, and have taken an anthology format, with several different stories such as a war story, a crime story, a sports story etc . These stories would be continued from week to week.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p2.jpg"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p2_t.jpg" width="165" height="248" align="right" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 2"></a> “In fact, quite a few of the characters in Jack Staff have their roots in old British Comic characters from the comics I used to read as I was growing up. Those comics have now long since stopped being published, but their hold on the imagination is very strong. What I've tried to do with Jack Staff is recreate this kind of British Comic format, by which I mean an anthology title - not one that comes out every week! But instead of separate stories the idea is that it's an anthology of characters who all live in the same place and their stories cross over and have effect on what happens in another story.
“That place is Castletown, a small city in the north of England which seems to have more than it's fair share of weird stuff going off. In the 12 issues of the self-published series alone there has been various vampires, weather wizards, arch villains, mystics and old Victorian Adventurers popping up.
“But don't worry if you haven't read Jack Staff before, starting in February 2003 a series of all new, all colour adventures begins courtesy of those kind folks at Image Comics, so now's your chance to get on board. I'll fill in the gaps as we go along!
“This first Image issue looks at what happened twenty years ago as Jack Staff tries to stop Hurricane - an ultimate weapon created by the British military - from destroying Castletown. Meanwhile, in present day Castletown, random violence seems to be growing as more and more of its residents are suffering from rage attacks and lashing out at each other for no reason. Q is investigating, but what they don't realise is that the Hurricane is building and the town of Castletown is the eye of the storm.”
Click on the thumbnails for larger versions…
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p3_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 3" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p4_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" hspace="2" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 4" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p5_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" hspace="2" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 5" border="0"></a></center>
Grist's now fellow Image creators sang his praises...
Brian Michael Bendis said, "I think and have thought that Grist's work both in Kane and Jack Staff is some of the most interesting and just plain fun comic book making of the last ten years. I have constantly recommended his work to my readers, and I hope that this new move will make his work easier for people to find."
Phil Hester said, "Comic books haven't seen a creator as dedicated to both fearless experimentation and crystal clear storytelling since Frank Miller. From Burglar Bill to Kane to Jack Staff, I'll follow Paul Grist wherever he chooses to blaze the trail next."
Michael Avon Oeming said, ""I love Paul Grist's work! I wonder at his simplicity with awe and a bit of jealousy. Few artists can manage that level of design and pull it off."
Andy Kuhn said, "Paul Grist is a comics genius of the highest order. His work is a master class in storytelling, page layout and how the two relate. He has influenced me and many other artists I know tremendously.
"The simplicity of his work is so deceptive. Grist's ability to get to the guts of a story as effortlessly as possible makes it seem as if anyone could do what he does. Hah, not bloody likely! The trick is in the mind not in the line, and Paul Grist's mind is razor sharp. He is an even better writer than he is an artist. His books are always my first read on comic day. I cannot recommend Jack Staff highly enough."
Jim Krueger said, "I love Jack Staff, and I can't wait to see it in color. Paul Grist deserves all the attention he gets (and should get a lot more now that he's with Image)!"
“Jack Staff. You want to know what it's all about? I'll tell you what it's about; it's about things that aren’t what they seem to be.
“It's about Becky Burdock. She's a Vampire Reporter, but if she really is one of the undead then how come she's able to walk round during the day?
“It's about Q. A group of people who investigate Question Mark Crimes. You know, those things which defy normal explanation. Helen Morgan, a woman who died and was brought back to life by Q. Harry Crane, a policeman who sees echoes of things that have already happened. Ben Kulmer, a petty thief with a metal claw for a hand and the power to turn himself invisible. But who or what is Q anyway?
“It's about Tom Tom the Robot Man. The eight foot metal crime-fighter who isn't really a robot. Or a man, come to that.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p1.jpg"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p1_t.jpg" width="165" height="248" align="left" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 1"></a> “It's about Jack Staff - Britain's Greatest Superhero, who just disappeared twenty years ago and everybody just forgot about him. Now he's back, only things have changed in the time that he has been gone. The world has moved on. When he does pick up his staff again he has to confront one of his old team members from the time when they fought together during World War 2. He finds himself teaming up with the Spider - his arch-foe from the 1960's. In fact the only thing that hasn't changed in all that time is Jack Staff himself, who looks as young as he always did.
“My name is Paul Grist and for the past three years I've been writing and drawing a black and white self-published comic called Jack Staff.
“If you haven't seen Jack Staff before - and to be honest, there's a lot more of you that haven't than have - it might be worthwhile explaining the format of the comic, which is probably unlike any other comic you're going to have read. Now you're probably used to single character comics which come out every month. Here in Britain, traditionally comics have been published every week, and have taken an anthology format, with several different stories such as a war story, a crime story, a sports story etc . These stories would be continued from week to week.
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p2.jpg"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p2_t.jpg" width="165" height="248" align="right" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 2"></a> “In fact, quite a few of the characters in Jack Staff have their roots in old British Comic characters from the comics I used to read as I was growing up. Those comics have now long since stopped being published, but their hold on the imagination is very strong. What I've tried to do with Jack Staff is recreate this kind of British Comic format, by which I mean an anthology title - not one that comes out every week! But instead of separate stories the idea is that it's an anthology of characters who all live in the same place and their stories cross over and have effect on what happens in another story.
“That place is Castletown, a small city in the north of England which seems to have more than it's fair share of weird stuff going off. In the 12 issues of the self-published series alone there has been various vampires, weather wizards, arch villains, mystics and old Victorian Adventurers popping up.
“But don't worry if you haven't read Jack Staff before, starting in February 2003 a series of all new, all colour adventures begins courtesy of those kind folks at Image Comics, so now's your chance to get on board. I'll fill in the gaps as we go along!
“This first Image issue looks at what happened twenty years ago as Jack Staff tries to stop Hurricane - an ultimate weapon created by the British military - from destroying Castletown. Meanwhile, in present day Castletown, random violence seems to be growing as more and more of its residents are suffering from rage attacks and lashing out at each other for no reason. Q is investigating, but what they don't realise is that the Hurricane is building and the town of Castletown is the eye of the storm.”
Click on the thumbnails for larger versions…
<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p3_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" border="0" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 3" hspace="2"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p4_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" hspace="2" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 4" border="0"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/jackstaff1_p5_t.jpg" width="140" height="210" hspace="2" alt="Jack Staff #1, page 5" border="0"></a></center>
Grist's now fellow Image creators sang his praises...
Brian Michael Bendis said, "I think and have thought that Grist's work both in Kane and Jack Staff is some of the most interesting and just plain fun comic book making of the last ten years. I have constantly recommended his work to my readers, and I hope that this new move will make his work easier for people to find."
Phil Hester said, "Comic books haven't seen a creator as dedicated to both fearless experimentation and crystal clear storytelling since Frank Miller. From Burglar Bill to Kane to Jack Staff, I'll follow Paul Grist wherever he chooses to blaze the trail next."
Michael Avon Oeming said, ""I love Paul Grist's work! I wonder at his simplicity with awe and a bit of jealousy. Few artists can manage that level of design and pull it off."
Andy Kuhn said, "Paul Grist is a comics genius of the highest order. His work is a master class in storytelling, page layout and how the two relate. He has influenced me and many other artists I know tremendously.
"The simplicity of his work is so deceptive. Grist's ability to get to the guts of a story as effortlessly as possible makes it seem as if anyone could do what he does. Hah, not bloody likely! The trick is in the mind not in the line, and Paul Grist's mind is razor sharp. He is an even better writer than he is an artist. His books are always my first read on comic day. I cannot recommend Jack Staff highly enough."
Jim Krueger said, "I love Jack Staff, and I can't wait to see it in color. Paul Grist deserves all the attention he gets (and should get a lot more now that he's with Image)!"