Image Central likes nothing more than to sign up indie books, and Jack Staff is the latest to join the fold.  Creator Paul Grist is probably better known for Kane, but depending on your point of view, his superhero book Jack Staff - loosely inspired by a Union Jack pitch that never went anywhere - may be more commercial.

The high concept, as Grist helpfully outlines in his editorial, is that Jack Staff is a British superhero who lived alongside all the other standard types of characters who turned up in British weekly adventure anthologies.  The story is structured so that every scene is as a two or three page strip featuring a different character.  So while Jack existed in a shared universe with his supporting cast, they were all the stars of their own UK adventure strips.  Of course, there weren't many UK superheroes, but the idea is to homage those stories and use them as a distinctively British background for the character.

I've always been baffled by how well the book seems to go down with American reviewers, considering that it's centred around references to British comics and TV shows that they can't possibly have read.  It's somewhat equivalent to showing Astro City to somebody who's never read a superhero comic before, only with a more obvious and blatant emphasis on the references.  I can only assume that the Americans must be taking the concepts more at face value, which means that they're seeing something rather different from British readers.

Taken purely at face value, I must admit, I'm not sure it brings that much to the table beyond its affectionate revival of stock characters.  It's a fun, light read, with plenty of nostalgia potential for those of us who remember the days when British weekly adventure comics still existed.  But for me, most of the enjoyment is in seeing Grist playing with the archetypes - it's not a desperately original comic, when you get past that.  Of course, if you aren't already familiar with the source material, perhaps that helps it work at face value, leaving you to appreciate the strength of the ideas rather than just Grist's take on them.

I really enjoy the book, simply because it's a well-told story playing in the sandbox in an entertaining way.  What the Americans see in it, I'm really not so sure - but you might want to decide for yourself.

Rating: B+

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