Let me preface this by saying that I have no experience whatsoever with Jack Staff or, as far as I can remember, with Paul Grist. But, the cover of this comic ascribes to a certain set of aesthetics which indicate that it’s kind of “indie”. It’s something to do with the really non-realistic looking heroes on the cover, and the fact that they’re all skinny with chunky feet. I don’t know how we got to the point that those features are the banners of indie status, but here we are.
Well, isn’t this nice? On the fourth page, Mr. Grist provides a welcome for people like me – “any new readers who might have picked up this issue and are wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into.”
Pg. 13 Okay, 3 stories started, all to be continued. Is that what this special is all about? I’m a little annoyed.
Pg. 19 This is funny. “Many men have tried to deal with me over the years. They used many weapons … You’re the first person who thought they could stop me with a stick.”
Pg. 24 He keeps writing “continued!” at the bottom of the pages, and I don’t know why.
Anyway, this is really funny, too, “I’m immortal Becky Burdock … I have do to something to pass the time.”
Pg. 26 This bit is really funny too. The aliens have moved on to other things, because it’s been 1000 years since Molachi started working on his evil plan. Nice.
So, it’s not really separate stories, they’re really all connected, but you have to read the whole thing to get it. Smart.
This was fun. I think I’d buy this again. I wonder if there’s a collected edition of the first 13?
Mr. Grist talks about this issue in this article over at Comic Book Resources.
UPDATE
In fact, there are 3 volumes collecting previous Jack Staff stories.