Jack Staff collected

[johnmiic]

Jack Staff - Britain's Greatest Hero has been released in 3 different collections. I think this book is a good read. I have been picking up issues and collections now for over a year. I found it very enjoyable.

The character was originally in a story proposal Paul Grist wrote for Marvel Comics Captain Britain. Marvel rejected the story. Rather than throw it away Grist has made up his own character and created his own universe of super-heroes. Too bad for Marvel-their loss!

He does draw upon many character templates Marvel & DC use. You can point to many supporting characters and say, oh thats Captain America, the HULK, the Spectre, Conan, etc. However he takes it all much further. There are also influences from Kolchak, X-Files, Astro City, Legue of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hellboy and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The book is very complex and as a writer Paul Grist knows how to weave intricate sub-plots, ( and time travel stories). Perhaps a bit more than what you would expect for a book of this type.

The art style is not as serious as regular superhero comics. I would say Paul Grist is sometihng like a British Steve Ditko or a lighter, more accessible, Mike Mignola. The art lends itself well to parody and Grists particular sense of humor.

The first run of B&W are collected here:

Jack Staff Volume 1: Everything Used To Be Black And White

These were the Color issues which started coming out while the B&W series was wrapping up:

Jack Staff Volume 2: Soldiers

Jack Staff Volume 3: Echoes Of Tomorrow

This collection seems to be out of print now:

Jack Staff Yesterdays Heroes Volume 1

However I think it's only the first 5 B&W issues and they are available in Vol. 1now anyway.

[samurainoir]

I really enjoy Jack Staff a great deal, and I understand that it's a much more commercial property for him to be devoting his time on, but I like Grist's Kane even better.

http://www.dynamicforces.com/images/kanevol2.jpg

I am hoping they someday come out with a line of Jack Staff action figures.

I would also kill for a Mister Flopsy Wopsy Action Figure. Perhaps a Mister FW Versus Kelvin Flats two-pack!
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I see quite a bit of Alex Toth influence in his work.

He also does a brilliant Frank Miller send-up in the pages of Kane, as embodied by the character of Fwankie (seen chasing Mister Flopsie Wopsie above).

[thunderbolt]

I've been meaning to pick those up. BTW, it was a Union Jack proposal, not Captain Britain. I'm surprised Marvel hasn't tried to shut it down, the cosutume is very close in design.

[johnmiic]

Union Jack? OK. I must'a slipped up.

Maybe they feel it's accross the Atlantic and they're not afraid it will catch on here. Tho it seems to be now.

Also he could claim Right to Parody as a defense against Marvel and DC. It doesn't always seem the stories are straightforward.

[thunderbolt]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/Invaders_20_union_jack_II.jpg

There's Union Jack. So are all the stories reprinted from Jack Staff in color, now?

[samurainoir]

Union Jack? OK. I must'a slipped up.

Maybe they feel it's accross the Atlantic and they're not afraid it will catch on here. Tho it seems to be now.

Also he could claim Right to Parody as a defense against Marvel and DC. It doesn't always seem the stories are straightforward.

I'd imagine the "cartoony" vibe of Grists's artwork is what allows him to get away with it. Although it's become pretty common in recent years for "analogue" characters to be created that are shifted just enough to avoid a lawsuit. It seems to be a tradition going back to the unofficial JLA/Avengers crossover that brought the Squadron Supreme/Sinister into being. Some of the Avengers analogues created for that crossover even gained membership into Giffen's Justice League many years later.

Warren Ellis, Mark Millar and Alan Moore both have enjoyed playing around with analogues and archetypes in recent years, in the pages of Planetary, ABC Comics, Supreme, The Authority. Jeph Loeb, Grant Morrison and Joe Kelly have gotten into the act as well in Batman/Superman, Zenith, and The Elite that showed up in Superman as Authority-like Post Modern Superheroes.
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/Invaders_20_union_jack_II.jpg

There's Union Jack. So are all the stories reprinted from Jack Staff in color, now?

Although Union Jack was the jumping off point and analogues of Baron Blood and The Invaders appear in the series (as well as Iron Man, The Hulk and many others), Grist takes off in his own direction pretty early given the fate of Sgt States (the Captain America analogue).

It just occured to me that The Invaders and the JSA had an unofficial crossover with analogue characters as well in the seventies didn't they? Both teams were called the Crusaders.
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I'd also really recommend St Swithins Day, Grist's collaboration with Grant Morrison. Given the cartoony art style, it's effectively disarming given the weight and controversial subject matter.
http://www.comicus.it/images/rubriche/peanuts/St_Swithins_Day.jpg

Grist also had a fun series called Burgler Bill (featuring one of my favourite characters, Kelvin Flats) and did the art for a Grendel arc that is worth checking out.

http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/burglarbill1.jpg

[brineb]

I love Jack Staff!!! I have to look carefully to see what collections I already have ... I have this problem of going to the comic book store after hanging in the bar with my buddy and buying collections I already have!!!

I think Paul's style is amazing, cartoony, but very realistic. I have yet to see a book of his I didn't enjoy!!!