GrimJack: "Blood and Thunder"

Hey folks. Sorry GrimJack Monday is falling on a Tuesday this week, but as you may have noticed, this blog has entered (once again) a bit of a low-content mode over the past couple weeks. I'm trying to rectify that, but darn it if life doesn't keep happening. I tell you what, anyone wants to put me on salary, I can promise you I'll be more than happy to devote my full time to blogging. Until that happens, well, we'll all have to make do.

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As we learned last issue, the back-up feature GrimJack was primed to make a crossover with the lead story, Starslayer. Here, presented in fairly to-the-point fashion, because I don't think it's very good, is that "BOOKLENGTH THRILLER" of a crossover. From Starslayer #18, featuring the final appearance of John Gaunt within its pages, written by John Ostrander and drawn by Timothy Truman, this is "Blood and Thunder."


This, as the caption above notes, is indeed one Torin MacQuillon, the Starslayer himself. He is an ancient Celtic warrior, plucked from his own time by Tamara, captain of the good spaceship Jolly Roger, and descendant of MacQuillon's wife (who I guess remarried after his disappearance). I don't want to get too much into the backstory of Starslayer, so that's going to have to be enough to get you up to speed. Oh, but you should also know, his headband acts as both an attractive cover for his missing eye, and as a psionic link between himself and Sam, the monkey-like droid who helps him to function in the unfamiliar future. Plus, he's been captured by Count Ariosto, an aristocrat and hunter whom MacQuillon recently bested, and was imprisoned in Ariosto's dungeons, from which he has now escaped, leading a ragtag crew of assorted other prisoners in an attempt to gain their freedom.

Oy! You can see why I didn't want to get into too much backstory!


Here we see that John Gaunt is narrating the tale, which is part of the main reason I have a problem with this comic. Gaunt completely dominates the proceedings, thoroughly overshadowing the regular characters, right down to being the one who tells the story. In all fairness, John Gaunt is far cooler and more interesting than Torin MacQuillon, and I prefer him leading the way. But, from the POV of a comics fan in general, it pains me to read this issue. A comic book guest star should be just that: a guest, serving to accentuate the action and add some flavor here and there, not illustrate how weak the actual stars of the book are. I mean, come on: if the Thing fights the Hulk, you know the Thing's going to triumph if it's in Fantastic Four, and the Hulk will win if it's in The Incredible Hulk. You don't have the Hulk visit FF, and then pants the Thing, shove him in a locker and make him cry. Which is essentially what Gaunt does to MacQuillon here. Ostrander is undermining the comic's main characters at the expense of a crossover guest, and I don't think that's good storytelling.

That's how I see it, anyway.


As we saw last time, John Gaunt has run across the Starslayer gang because he's been hunting down Crayne, a scoundrel, coward, and con artist, and a tenuous member of MacQuillon's alliance. Crayne owes Gaunt a substantial amount of money. Problem is, he doesn't have it, nor do the rest of the group (which consists of Tamara, Sam, and Chris Heyman, the Free Marine whose name has previously appeared in a GrimJack backup story).


That's Chris. And the statuette Gaunt mentions is of course the Manx Cat, the grand MacGuffin of Cynosure, which Gaunt was chasing down in his very first appearance. Again, that's one of the things I love so much about GrimJack: the rich and consistent continuity.

Ostrander has Chris drop a little bit of an in-joke here. She calls Count Ariosto "the Rude Baron," which is a shout-out to Mike Baron and Steve Rude, co-creators of another one of the greatest comic books ever, Nexus.

Heyman and Tamara attempt to enlist Gaunt's aid in helping them spring MacQuillon from Ariosto's clutches. But Gaunt drives a hard bargain.


Tamara is crushed, but she agrees to give up her ship in return for Gaunt's help. As Gaunt and the rest storm Ariosto's fortress, we get an idea of how Sam works, and why he's been unable to contact MacQuillon: MacQuillon's high emotions tamper with their mental link.


Tamara and Heyman create a diversion with explosions and gunfire, allowing Gaunt to slip in the back and make contact with MacQuillon, who is battle-enraged and unreasonable, lashing out at Gaunt. Isn't that always the way with crossovers?


While it amuses me how Ostrander acknowledges the comic book tradition of heroes fighting each other before realizing they're actually on the same side, then subverts it by having the battle between Gaunt and MacQuillon last exactly one panel, again it pains me to see the star of his own comic so easily dominated by Gaunt. MacQuillon has proven himself again and again to be a mighty warrior, and Gaunt deflects a vicious punch from him by catching it in his open palm. Makes MacQuillon look like a total puss, frankly.

"By the way, nice scar." Ha!

Sam receives an S.O.S. from Tamara -- she and Heyman have been captured. Gaunt is ready to bail on them, arguing that he only made a deal to rescue MacQuillon. MacQuillon of course refuses to leave without rescuing them, and his fellow escapees refuse to leave MacQuillon's side. This combination of nobility and stubborness strikes a chord in Gaunt.


He agrees to stay and fight as well. But see, there it is again: the way Gaunt patronizingly regards MacQuillon as a less evolved version of himself is another slight from Ostrander to the comic's actual main character. Constant undermining. Maybe it doesn't bug you the way it bugs me, but you can at least see why it bugs me, I hope.

And now, the final battle is joined. I really dig this image, with Ariosto top left and his wizard ally Sphinx bottom left:


MacQuillon goes sword-to-sword with Ariosto, the escapees rescue Tamara and Heyman, a bunch of people fight a bunch of other people, and GrimJack faces the wizard Sphinx.


Sphinx works in silence, casting a monster of a whammy at Gaunt. Gaunt deflects it with the help of a little trinket called the St. Elvis vial (ha!), and sends the energy back at Sphinx, destroying him. Or almost:


There's that continuity again: Sphinx would indeed become a recurring member of GrimJack's Rogues Gallery.

Gaunt's final line to Sphinx -- "Count on it!" -- was the slogan of First Comics at the time this was written. I wonder if that was intentional.

Meanwhile, all the other good guys win. Hooray!

Now, as to the matter of Gaunt's payment. Tamara doesn't want to give up her ship, and demands to know what MacQuillon is going to do about it. His answer:


And Gaunt's final salute to Torin MacQuillon (after making him look like a bit of a chump for the preceding 24 pages):


Gaunt's noble nature shines through here; it's not always discernible, but it's most often brought to the fore by recognzing the quality in others. So that's two cases in a row now on which Gaunt has gotten stiffed! Nobility doesn't pay the rent, John.

MacQuillon (since he is noble) offers to share the Jolly Roger's captain's chair with Tamara (though, if he were really noble, he'd probably just give it back to her with no strings attached). His fellow escapees become the Jolly Roger's crew. And as for the last member of the group, Crayne, he skipped out on the battle and on his debt to Gaunt.


He's gone from the pages of Starslayer, but he's not gone from John Gaunt's life. Elections, you say? Hmmm....

Next time: the debut issue of John Gaunt's own title, GrimJack!

GrimJack: "Night of the Killer Bunnies"

Welcome again to my weekly recaps of GrimJack, the best comic book ever. Sorry for missing last week's update. I was too busy throwing up everything I ever ate in my life. Stomach flu is unpleasant.

This week sees a bit of a right angle in the progression of the character of John Gaunt. Thus far we've seen writer John Ostrander and artist Timothy Truman go dark, then darker, then a little bit darker after that. Grime, graphic violence, and emotional and psychological devastation: this is what we've already come to expect from GrimJack. GrimJack invented "grim and gritty."

So where do we go from there? Why, talking animals, of course! From Starslayer #17, I give you the one-part, ten page back-up story: "Night of the Killer Bunnies."


And so begins the silliest, most hilarious GrimJack adventure this side of bowling with Judah the Hammer. (Who's Judah the Hammer? If you don't already know: never mind. That's getting way, way ahead of ourselves.)

John Gaunt has been hired by Gen'l Arn R. Khee, an adorable talking dog from the planet Ch'ukee, to help his people defend themselves from the lupoos -- or, as Gaunt translates for Gordon, "killer rabbits."

Gaunt's having second thoughts, perhaps prompted by the cutesy, Pogoesque malapropisms to which Arn R. Khee is prone ("GrimGaunt," "abominaboble," "excellentpertise"). The animals beg him to reconsider in the most pathetically obnoxious way possible:


That panel cracks me up every time, especially the line, "An' two hard-boiled eggs!" -- a sly if random tribute to the Marx Brothers and the famous stateroom scene from A Night at the Opera.


(Fast-forward to 4:21 for the hard-boiled eggs line.)

Gaunt takes the case, and rockets off to Ch'ukee, where he discovers, much to his chagrin, that everything there talks -- the trees, the flowers, even the sun, which is named Poot.


Gaunt disarms the Ch'ukee troops of their squirt guns, snowballs, and pillows, and begins training them in the use of real weapons. There are mishaps, naturally.


Gaunt has only a few days for training before the lupoos arrive. He leads his troops on an ambush, with one last piece of advice:


Unfortunately, the lupoos are nothing like the cute Ch'ukants. They are a bunch of savage thugs and killers. With pointy ears.


They kind of remind me of Jaxxon, from Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin's classic Star Wars comics:


When Gaunt sees what he and his gang of incompetents are up against, he signals the retreat. But of course it's not that easy.


The lupoos attack, and Gaunt and his team barely escape. Gaunt decides he needs reinforcements, and sends Bob back to Munden's via temporary dimensional portal (don't leave home without it!) to fetch help.

Remember what I said in my first GrimJack recap, about John Ostrander having a penchant for putting the word "Black" in the names of new black characters?

Meet Blacjacmac.


Blacjac is one of Gaunt's oldest and closest friends, and will come to be the most important member of GrimJack's supporting cast. He's a bit of a caricature here in his introduction, and never really sheds that jive accent, but trust me, he's a total badass, and a great character.

Gaunt briefs Blacjac on the situation:


Gaunt threatens to tell Goddess, Blacjac's girl, that he's been stepping out on her, so Blacjac reluctantly stays. Though he just can't get over the whole "bunnies" thing. Not without reason:


When the lupoos return, Gaunt, Blacjac, and the rest of the crew are prepared to meet them, and the fight begins with one last battle cry:


Of course, it wouldn't be GrimJack without some ultra-violence, so here is a picture of talking animals killing each other.


In the middle of all the carnage, Blacjac still can't get over the whole "bunnies" thing.


At last, the shooting is over, and the bunnies are all dead. Gaunt and his crew are victorious. It's time for Gen'l Arn R. Khee to settle up. Perhaps you can tell where this is going:


Yes, even the money talks on Ch'ukee. And it's very clingy. And completely worthless. All Gaunt can do is hitch a ride back to Cynosure with Blacjac, having learned a very important, very expensive lesson: never work with talking animals.

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Two interesting announcements about GrimJack's near future are found in this issue. First, on the back cover:


GrimJack gets his own comic! Huzzah!

And announcement #2 comes at the close of the "Killer Bunnies" story:


Yes, GrimJack is about to crossover with Starslayer. What are the odds that a back-up feature written by John Ostrander and drawn by Timothy Truman would cross over with a main feature written by John Ostrander and drawn by Timothy Truman? Uh... pretty good, actually.

There are a couple of tidbits throughout the Starslayer story in this issue laying the groundwork for Gaunt's impending appearance. First we have Crayne, who is basically a con artist and a weasel, getting a warning from Tamara, captain of the Jolly Roger spaceship.


His name was... what? Oh, I wonder. If only she had completed that sentence.

Next, Crayne tells about how he accidentally on purpose led Torin MacQuillon (hero of the series) into a trap in the Pit.


Which one guy? Oh, if only they would complete their thoughts!

All this culminates with that one guy finally locating Crayne, in a big last page reveal.


Next week: we'll see how that turns out.

Awesome Comics A to Z: The Answers

I'm posting this answer key a little earlier than I thought I would, since you smart readers of this blog have already nailed all 26 letters in my Awesome Comics A to Z quiz. Well played!

Nobody took the email challenge and tried to name 20 or more comics, but I appreciate that you limited your individual responses in the comments in order to let as many people as possible play along before the quiz was entirely solved. Maybe I'll do this again and only take email answers, to make a real contest out of it! Then again, maybe not. I'm fickle.

EDIT: Two people emailed me after I set this entry up to auto-post. So kudos to Jeff Kulisek, who got 17 correct, and Satyajit C, who got a very impressive 20 correct! Both of those scores are probably better than I would've done if I hadn't designed the quiz myself!

Oh, and looking backward for a moment, when I gave you the answers to the Awesome Movies A to Z quiz, you were clear on the fact that you could click on the letters to see the original movie posters, right? I didn't give you the answers to L and S, since nobody had guessed them, but if you clicked on the L and S in the answer key, you'd have seen the posters for Lawrence of Arabia and Sunset Boulevard. Just wanted to make sure that loose end was tied up for everybody.

Same thing here: if you want to see the original comic covers from which I took the letters, click on A through Z below. And thanks for playing!

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Animal Man


Badger


Cerebus


Doom Patrol


Elektra: Assassin


Fish Police


GrimJack


Hitman


The Invisibles


Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such


Kid Eternity


The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen


Megaton Man


Nexus


Omaha the Cat Dancer


Preacher


The Question


Reid Fleming: World's Toughest Milkman


Sandman


The Tick


Usagi Yojimbo


Void Indigo


We3


X-Factor


Y: The Last Man


Zot!