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GrimJack
GrimJack: Killer Instinct
GrimJack returns to the ever-shifting city of Cynosure, and creators John Ostrander and Timothy Truman reunite to tell the tale! There's a firefight in The Pit and GrimJack is in the middle of the conflagration. His friends at Cadre have hired a beautiful vampire assassin to take him out. How does GrimJack save his neck -- and who winds up in possession of Munden's Bar, the nexus of all realities?
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2005
About the author
John Ostrander
2,080 books173 followersJohn Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 7, 2011
A really excellent Grimjack story that tied up some old loose ends from the original series. Great stuff.
September 17, 2021
By the point this comic was published in 2005, it had been a long time since the creators had worked on Grimjack. The original series ended around 1990 and Truman had left the book years before that. Given the gulf of time, one could expect that the voice of the characters and the feel for the world would’ve been lost.
But that hasn’t happened. Ostrander and Truman return to multidimensional city of Cynosure like they’d never left it, and we get a tour of some familiar faces, like giving old-time readers a refresher course, or introducing new readers to them. This is definitely a piece that long-time fans of Grimjack and total newcomers alike can enjoy.
Killer Instinct is not simply rehashing the greatest hits of the original run, but gives us a surprising quantity of new, creative ideas. Some of the contents in here seem like the types of ideas Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett may have come up with in their zanier moods, such as the Knights Sewar, a religious order of warrior monks who dispose of the city’s waste, and Romeroville, a retirement community for zombies. Hilarious stuff.
Truman’s artwork is detailed and shines in the depiction of these strange things. The “killosaurs” were my favourite, as brief as their appearance was. Further humour comes from the internal monologues of John Gaunt that narrate the story to us, with such lines like “Next thing I know, I’m hip-deep in Ninja Mimes. I hate mimes”. I’ll let that speak for itself.
That’s not to say this is a straight-up comedy. The story takes place before the events of the first issues of the original Grimjack story. John Gaunt is hired to work with a group of covert assassins, which we knew he did, but the book skips most of the time he spent with them and instead focuses on the events that led to a parting of ways. We also learn of how Gaunt gained ownership of Munden’s Bar, his base of operations in the main series, and how he met Gordon, who would work as the bartender there.
These gaps in Gaunt’s history may be small, but it’s nice to see them filled. The actual events during which these developments happen revolve around conspiracies, betrayals, mind-games and vampires. Characters are established and their relationships are explored, great sequences occur between the talky-bits and everything moves along at a brisk pace. There are a larger number of twists squeezed into six issues than I had thought possible, and as is typical for Grimjack stories, I’m left wanting more.
4/5
But that hasn’t happened. Ostrander and Truman return to multidimensional city of Cynosure like they’d never left it, and we get a tour of some familiar faces, like giving old-time readers a refresher course, or introducing new readers to them. This is definitely a piece that long-time fans of Grimjack and total newcomers alike can enjoy.
Killer Instinct is not simply rehashing the greatest hits of the original run, but gives us a surprising quantity of new, creative ideas. Some of the contents in here seem like the types of ideas Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett may have come up with in their zanier moods, such as the Knights Sewar, a religious order of warrior monks who dispose of the city’s waste, and Romeroville, a retirement community for zombies. Hilarious stuff.
Truman’s artwork is detailed and shines in the depiction of these strange things. The “killosaurs” were my favourite, as brief as their appearance was. Further humour comes from the internal monologues of John Gaunt that narrate the story to us, with such lines like “Next thing I know, I’m hip-deep in Ninja Mimes. I hate mimes”. I’ll let that speak for itself.
That’s not to say this is a straight-up comedy. The story takes place before the events of the first issues of the original Grimjack story. John Gaunt is hired to work with a group of covert assassins, which we knew he did, but the book skips most of the time he spent with them and instead focuses on the events that led to a parting of ways. We also learn of how Gaunt gained ownership of Munden’s Bar, his base of operations in the main series, and how he met Gordon, who would work as the bartender there.
These gaps in Gaunt’s history may be small, but it’s nice to see them filled. The actual events during which these developments happen revolve around conspiracies, betrayals, mind-games and vampires. Characters are established and their relationships are explored, great sequences occur between the talky-bits and everything moves along at a brisk pace. There are a larger number of twists squeezed into six issues than I had thought possible, and as is typical for Grimjack stories, I’m left wanting more.
4/5
April 24, 2016
I have read the entire original Grimjack series, and this was the best Grimjack series I've ever read.
This is a prequel to the original series from First comics, and shows what happened to Grimjack between the Demon Wars and the start of his own series.
I won't get too deep into the plot other than to say it's a complex but not too confusing storyline. We see many of the cool dimensions and unusual characters the series was well known for, such as the "Mimes." The Mimes are a group of mystical assassins who have their vocal chords removed and then use them to suture their mouths closed. There's also plenty of vampires, intelligent dinosaurs, and more. There's several twists and turns in the storyline and it never disappoints.
I've always been a big Tim Truman fan, but his art here is above his usual. He really has outdone himself, and IDW does a great job on the colors. The paper used made the colors more vibrant and the lines clearer, so it's just a beautiful book overall.
If you're a Grimjack fan this is a must read. This story even reveals how Grimjack came to own Munden's Bar, which was something readers had speculated about for years. Just a great series in every respect.
This is a prequel to the original series from First comics, and shows what happened to Grimjack between the Demon Wars and the start of his own series.
I won't get too deep into the plot other than to say it's a complex but not too confusing storyline. We see many of the cool dimensions and unusual characters the series was well known for, such as the "Mimes." The Mimes are a group of mystical assassins who have their vocal chords removed and then use them to suture their mouths closed. There's also plenty of vampires, intelligent dinosaurs, and more. There's several twists and turns in the storyline and it never disappoints.
I've always been a big Tim Truman fan, but his art here is above his usual. He really has outdone himself, and IDW does a great job on the colors. The paper used made the colors more vibrant and the lines clearer, so it's just a beautiful book overall.
If you're a Grimjack fan this is a must read. This story even reveals how Grimjack came to own Munden's Bar, which was something readers had speculated about for years. Just a great series in every respect.
February 18, 2013
I was a big fan of the original GrimJack series, created by Ostrander and Truman. Eventually Truman left the series but Ostrander continued with various other artists including Tom Mandrake, Tom Sutton, Steve Pugh and Flint Henry. It lasted through 81 issues and one graphic novel before the publisher went bankrupt.
In many ways the series reminds me of Roger Zelazny's Amber series. The similarities include a pulp style hero who uses a sword because guns don't work in every reality, a city at the center of reality, sorcery, demons, god like creatures and many others. Ostrander and Truman take the basic pieces and crafted a unique story that has withstood the test of time.
The rest of my review is at http://sciencefictiontimes.blogspot.c...
In many ways the series reminds me of Roger Zelazny's Amber series. The similarities include a pulp style hero who uses a sword because guns don't work in every reality, a city at the center of reality, sorcery, demons, god like creatures and many others. Ostrander and Truman take the basic pieces and crafted a unique story that has withstood the test of time.
The rest of my review is at http://sciencefictiontimes.blogspot.c...
September 29, 2021
Fantastic stuff. It has been a long time since the original series but this keeps the imagination and magic going.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews