Writer/Artist: Paul Grist
Collecting JACK STAFF #1-4
Price: $15.95
Publisher: Dancing Elephant Press
ISBN: 0-9542264-0-2

I suspect that Paul Grist's JACK STAFF might have a bit of a credibility problem in certain circles. For starters, it's a superhero comic - and a self-published black and white one at that. Furthermore, at first glance it looks like it's rather transparently based on Roy Thomas's INVADERS - Marvel's eminently forgettable World War 2 superhero title that ran from the mid to late '70s.

Grist's other major work in comics is the hardboiled cop thriller KANE - a sharp, clever and often innovative book that's enjoyed a great deal of effusive critical praise (although, unfortunately, not commercial success) since it debuted in 1993. (Read the Ninth Art review here.) KANE, however, is on hiatus at present - chiefly because Grist has chosen to concentrate on JACK STAFF instead. Yet another black mark against the title.

Whatever your problem might be, however, please allow me to put you straight right now: JACK STAFF is an excellent comic book, and as fine a piece of sequential art as you're likely to see coming out of the UK today, or any other time. Considerably more light hearted and whimsical than KANE it may be, but believe me when I say that JACK STAFF is every bit as striking and accomplished as its acclaimed sister title.

At the start of YESTERDAY'S HEROES, Jack Staff is little more than a legend - the World War 2 costumed adventurer who became Britain's greatest superhero and then disappeared during the '70s. Largely forgotten about by the inhabitants of Castletown (his old stomping ground), no one has heard from or seen Jack Staff in over twenty years.

Enter Becky Burdock, an intrepid girl reporter for the Worlds Press - Castletown's home-grown tabloid newspaper. Becky's researching a story about Jack Staff as a side project while working on her main piece about the Castletown Slasher - a serial killer with two dead women to his name. As is the way with these things, her two stories are about to interconnect in a surprising fashion.

An ancient evil, last seen lurking beneath Castletown during the Blitz, has risen once again, and Jack Staff is forced out of retirement because he's the only one who knows how to stop it. By turns helped or hindered by his supporting cast - Becky Burdock, old school copper DI Maveryk, the enigmatic paranormal investigators of Q, and new hero on the block Tom Tom the Robot Man - Britain's greatest hero must face up to his fears and conquer his oldest, deadliest enemy.

As you can see, plot-wise, YESTERDAY'S HEROES isn't overly complicated. It's a fast-paced yarn in the tradition of the old British action/adventure weeklies (by which I mean the pre-2000AD titles such as VALIANT, THE LION, TV CENTURY 21, ACTION and, of course, THE EAGLE).

As alluded to above, Jack Staff himself and the WW2 'Freedom Fighters' (Sgt States, Tommy Twister and Blazing Glory) are obvious analogues for Marvel's INVADERS superhero team. That's where the similarities end, however, as most of the other characters are from old British TV series. The cast of DAD'S ARMY makes a cameo during the WW2 flashback sequence, while Bramble and Son: Vampire Hunters closely resemble a certain pair of well-known rag and bone men. Others appear to be based on old IPC comics characters. (And while we're on the subject - Tom Tom the Robot Man: Iron Man, or Robot Archie?)

It's all good, uncomplicated fun that makes no great intellectual demands of the reader, but at the same time isn't so shallow that it insults his intelligence. There's warmth, wit, drama and humour here as well as action and superheroics. I'm tempted to suggest that JACK STAFF is the perfect example of an 'all ages' book; the kind that certain sections in fandom and the industry are convinced the market is in desperate need of.

What I find particularly interesting about JACK STAFF though, is the way in which Grist has chosen to present the story. An artist whose strengths lie as much in design as illustration, Grist has chosen to break the narrative into three to five page 'chapters' - with each entailing an abrupt change of character or setting - in order to emulate the weekly anthology titles that the book pays homage to.

Each new chapter typically involves a change in layout and page design (an area in which Grist is particularly inventive), and is usually accompanied by a new title splash, re-enforcing the feel of having moved onto a new 'strip'. The upshot of this is that the story is told in short, staccato bursts of ideas and imagery, giving it a tremendous sense of life and energy.

Grist's art itself, meanwhile, is as powerful and distinctive as ever. There's still the bold, heavy line and masterful use of blacks and shadows that worked so well in the noir-ish KANE, except that here Grist noticeably makes a lot more use of white space and open panels - presumably to reflect the lighter, less gritty tone of the book. Despite his minimalist, almost caricaturish approach to figures, Grist nevertheless manages to convey a surprising amount of realistic detail in the body language and expressions of his characters. Combined with his innovative page design, which despite his frequent experiments always reads smoothly and intuitively, the result is surprisingly cinematic.

If you haven't been picking up JACK STAFF, then put aside any reservations you might have and seek out YESTERDAY'S HEROES right now. Far from simply wallowing in nostalgia, it's a stylish and highly accomplished piece of sequential storytelling that makes great use of the trappings of superhero comics without falling prey to either the constraints or the pitfalls of the genre. In the New Year, Grist takes his creation to Image, which should hopefully see him receiving the exposure and audience he so richly deserves. Still, that's in the New Year. Why wait until then?

Nick Brownlow is an IT professional and writer.

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