Graphic Novel A Day: Jack Staff Vol. 3: Echoes of Tomorrow

Writer/Artist: Paul Grist
Company: Image Comics
Price: $16.99 ($11.55 at Amazon)

This volume, like volume two, jumps around in time quite a bit, and while there's a lot I like, there are a lot of elements I wasn't crazy about either. The sideways arranged story of the Druid got annoying enough that I didn't read it, and Grist again teased more of Jack's past, but stopped short of providing answers. On the other hand, the Becky Burdock/Bramble & Son story featuring vampires, vampire hunters and vampire-worshiping cults was a whole lot of fun, the Claw's short-circuiting of a young thief absolutely hilarious, the Alan Moore-looking mystic Morlan a lot of fun and the unexpected resolution of the German super soldier story quite enjoyable as well. Overall, this is a great read with nice art, although again it's the kind of thing that really reads much better in trade paperback. I miss Kane, and I'd like more answers on the backstory in Jack Staff, but this is still a really great read.

Graphic Novel A Day: Jack Staff Vol. 2 Soldiers

Writer/Artist: Paul Grist
Company: Image Comics
Price: $15.95 ($10.85 at Amazon)

Inspired by reading the last two Kane books, I decided to dive back into Paul Grist's full color superhero offering, Jack Staff. As I remembered, Jack Staff is really good comics, but it pales in comparison to Grist's work on Kane. Jack Staff has a wide cast of interesting characters equally inspired by British and American comic book heroes, and some of the same quirky weirdness that makes Kane work, but it's almost impossible to really follow in single issue form, and leaves unanswered questions even in trades. The jumping back and forth in time and jumping between narrators in this volume gets particularly confusing, and while it's not impossible to follow, it's harder than it should be. I also keep waiting for Grist to provide answers to some of the big questions, like why Jack is as young as he is for someone who fought in World War II, but he doesn't really seem interested in those details. There are answers here to what happened to Jack during World War II, what ties him to Becky Burdock and several other mysteries involving several other characters, but I wish there were more straightforward answers and straightforward storytelling.