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Jack Staff #1
Jack Staff Volume 1: Everything Used To Be Black And White
Jack Staff is Britain's Greatest Hero, or at least he used to be. Twenty years ago he disappeared, and everyone just forgot about him. Except for Becky Burdock, Girl Reporter for The World's Press. She's investigating a series of murders in Castletown, but finds a lot more than she expected, including a long forgotten super-hero and a secret that's been hidden for over sixty years.
349 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Paul Grist
196 books19 followersPaul Grist is a British comic book creator, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 30, 2022
This collects the original black and white Jack Staff stories, written and drawn by Paul Grist, and it's fantastic. Time to put it all out there - There aren't a lot of super hero comics I enjoy beyond a feeling of nostalgia these days. Jack Staff is one of the exceptions.
Born out of a rejected Union Jack proposal for Marvel, Jack Staff is Britain's greatest super hero. Accompanied, or sometimes in spite of, the agents of Q, Jack battles vampires, super criminals, time leeches, and various other things.
Paul Grist's art isn't typical super hero fair. It's more cartoony, more angular, less muscle bound. It's also much more moody, akin to Hellboy in some ways. The writing is crisp. I know Grist did some crime comics too. He must have honed his chops there.
The stories themselves are told in short installments. A lot is left unanswered. By the end of the volume, we still don't know much about what happened to Jack Staff after World War II. It's pulp fun, featuring guest stars like Betty Burdock, Vampire Reporter, and Charlie Raven, greatest escapologist of the Victorian Age.
Jack Staff himself is sort of an enigma. By day, he's a builder named John Smith. By night, he's a costumed hero with a power staff that ends up getting beat up and/or thrown in jail a lot of the time. All of this stuff is in my wheelhouse, by the way.
I'm probably not selling this adequately but Jack Staff is exactly the kind of super hero book I want to read. It pays tribute to the past without being shackled buy it and pretty much does whatever it wants. Five out of five stars. I'm glad I have the other three volumes en route.
Born out of a rejected Union Jack proposal for Marvel, Jack Staff is Britain's greatest super hero. Accompanied, or sometimes in spite of, the agents of Q, Jack battles vampires, super criminals, time leeches, and various other things.
Paul Grist's art isn't typical super hero fair. It's more cartoony, more angular, less muscle bound. It's also much more moody, akin to Hellboy in some ways. The writing is crisp. I know Grist did some crime comics too. He must have honed his chops there.
The stories themselves are told in short installments. A lot is left unanswered. By the end of the volume, we still don't know much about what happened to Jack Staff after World War II. It's pulp fun, featuring guest stars like Betty Burdock, Vampire Reporter, and Charlie Raven, greatest escapologist of the Victorian Age.
Jack Staff himself is sort of an enigma. By day, he's a builder named John Smith. By night, he's a costumed hero with a power staff that ends up getting beat up and/or thrown in jail a lot of the time. All of this stuff is in my wheelhouse, by the way.
I'm probably not selling this adequately but Jack Staff is exactly the kind of super hero book I want to read. It pays tribute to the past without being shackled buy it and pretty much does whatever it wants. Five out of five stars. I'm glad I have the other three volumes en route.
May 26, 2008
Reading this can be a bit disorientating at first, because of the way each issue is apparently broken up into several strips in the style of a weekly UK comic like 2000AD, but you soon get used to it. It's essentially a jokier take on Alan Moore's 1980s reinventions of superheroes like Captain Britain and Marvelman, and should appeal to anyone who enjoyed those.
January 12, 2023
Grist is an unsung hero of comics. His layouts are always inventive and fun, and his writing is tight and entertaining. Jack Staff isn't as good as Kane, but it's definitely an absolute joy to experience.
October 31, 2014
The big thing against Jack Staff the comic when it first came out was that it wasn't Kane, which was Paul Grist's previous comic, a brilliant hard-boiled, hilarious crime saga that was one of the best comics ever, and then he stopped doing it and started this, of all things, superhero comic. It didn't take long for Jack Staff to become the new best comic ever, but it was, and it is. Everything Used To Be Black And White is a big chunky book collecting all of the black and white issues published before Jack Staff moved to Image and glorious colour.
Twenty years ago, Jack Staff was Britain's greatest hero, but then he vanished and everyone forgot about him until today, Castletown, a north of England town where bodies have been turning up drained of blood. Becky Burdock, intrepid reporter, is one the case, and she's not the only one. Jack Staff is back, turning up whenever builder John Smith happens to be around. Department Q, who investigate question mark crimes are sniffing around, and so is Sergeant States, American hero,, on a goodwill tour of Europe. He and Jack had a weird and awful experience in Castletown Caverns back during the war, and it looks like the evil they encountered all those years ago is back.
The beauty of Jack Staff is that it's not just about Jack Staff: there's a large and engagingly quirky supporting cast, many of whom are recognisable homages to characters from old British ty shows and comics. Not knowing who they are won't spoil it for you, but it will add an extra layer of enjoyment to a comic already bursting at the seams with things to enjoy. Tom-Tom the Robot Man, Helen Morgan of Q, Inspector Maveryk the old fashioned copper, and the great Becky Burdock, one of the best female characters in all of modern comics.
Then again there's Grist himself, is humour, his style, his ability to make a page sit over and play dead. Jack Staff is comics at its cleverest, its funnest and its most creative. Utterly enjoyable.
Twenty years ago, Jack Staff was Britain's greatest hero, but then he vanished and everyone forgot about him until today, Castletown, a north of England town where bodies have been turning up drained of blood. Becky Burdock, intrepid reporter, is one the case, and she's not the only one. Jack Staff is back, turning up whenever builder John Smith happens to be around. Department Q, who investigate question mark crimes are sniffing around, and so is Sergeant States, American hero,, on a goodwill tour of Europe. He and Jack had a weird and awful experience in Castletown Caverns back during the war, and it looks like the evil they encountered all those years ago is back.
The beauty of Jack Staff is that it's not just about Jack Staff: there's a large and engagingly quirky supporting cast, many of whom are recognisable homages to characters from old British ty shows and comics. Not knowing who they are won't spoil it for you, but it will add an extra layer of enjoyment to a comic already bursting at the seams with things to enjoy. Tom-Tom the Robot Man, Helen Morgan of Q, Inspector Maveryk the old fashioned copper, and the great Becky Burdock, one of the best female characters in all of modern comics.
Then again there's Grist himself, is humour, his style, his ability to make a page sit over and play dead. Jack Staff is comics at its cleverest, its funnest and its most creative. Utterly enjoyable.
November 26, 2014
Paul Grist's attempt at doing American style superhero comics in a British setting. It's a really fun story, though the main character of Jack Staff is probably the least interesting part. But there's a pretty big supporting cast as well, and it very quickly becomes an ensemble book. Grist is a great cartoonist and uses negative space really cleverly. I wish I knew how to talk about art in a better way but I don't so I'll just say he draws real good. There's a lot of playing with the narrative that Grist does really well too, things that only really work in comics, like the way he cuts back and forth in time between panels, or even little meta moments like the self aware mystic character who begs the reader to not turn the page (and curses you out when you do because it fucks up his spell) There's a lot of nods towards the history British comics, most of which probably flew over my head, but the story works just fine even if you dont catch them.
September 21, 2014
There's much to like here, a whimsical look at superheroes. However, I found it a little too disjointed for my tastes, moving back and forth too quickly and without warning to really enjoy.
November 7, 2016
Loved the art, but I struggled with the pacing. I couldn't tell when one issue ended and another began for some reason.
March 23, 2022
Excellent art style, the black and white is really striking, great sense of design to every page. Manages to evoke a whole comic book superhero world while telling pretty focused stories. Sometimes hard to follow since it jumps around in time. Still, made me in an instant Paul Grist fan—excited to read his other comics.
February 5, 2023
Dark-tinged speculative fiction rendered in black and white across 350 pages. Visually, Grist is always experimenting. His blocky, agreeably homespun technique is offset by a multi-viewpoint, intricately non-linear storytelling so oblique as to make following the plot a satisfying act of problem-solving.
March 23, 2025
Paul Grist is one of those artists that, unfortunately, seems to go unnoticed by most comic book readers. His stories not only demonstrate a narrative richness in what he tells but how he tells it. When Mister Grist writes, designs and draws there is always a creative handling of the language that the image sequences allow.
Among his many talents he also seems to be a juggler, in this introductory volume to the weird world of Jack Staff he throws into the air a number of characters in different times and contexts, he plays with our attention from one to another, leaving us with questions that he gradually resolves as he begins to connect the different narrative threads he has been weaving. Not only does he presents the titular hero, but in his mastery as a storyteller he introduces us to a epic story background rich in details, there is a great battle hidden behind, there is something green lurking, something of great relevance that leaves us curious for what is to come.
Among his many talents he also seems to be a juggler, in this introductory volume to the weird world of Jack Staff he throws into the air a number of characters in different times and contexts, he plays with our attention from one to another, leaving us with questions that he gradually resolves as he begins to connect the different narrative threads he has been weaving. Not only does he presents the titular hero, but in his mastery as a storyteller he introduces us to a epic story background rich in details, there is a great battle hidden behind, there is something green lurking, something of great relevance that leaves us curious for what is to come.
September 23, 2022
Rereading all my Paul Grist comics.
Starts slow… quality wise. First 4 issues are fine. Great Grist art. Some fun moments. But nothing that makes me not miss Kane.
But after that it starts really steering into the cast of characters and it becomes so fun and beautiful and I love it.
Starts slow… quality wise. First 4 issues are fine. Great Grist art. Some fun moments. But nothing that makes me not miss Kane.
But after that it starts really steering into the cast of characters and it becomes so fun and beautiful and I love it.
November 12, 2017
Brilliant all the way through.
August 29, 2020
British guy does American-style superhero comics better than the majority of Americans. Love this stuff.
September 2, 2024
A light twist on 70s Marvel style continuity, with Grist’s gorgeous black and white art.
February 8, 2013
Apparently, Jack Staff was originally Paul Grist's pitch to Marvel for a new Union Jack series. However, for whatever reason, it didn't happen so Paul Grist adapted it into Jack Staff and wrote, drew and published 12 issues under Dancing Elephant Press. And, certainly, when you look at this collection of the 12 issues of volume 1 of Jack Staff’s adventures, the link between the titular hero and Union Jack is clear.
It tells the tale of "Britain's Greatest Hero" who has been missing for 20 years. Jack Staff, whose alias is John Smith, reappears and saves Becky Burdock, a reporter. The stories go on to tell of Jack Staff’s fight against Sgt. States, his confrontation with the retired Alfred Chinard (aka the Spider) and meetings with various homages to old British comic book characters.
Although in summary the stories seem interesting and involving, the problem with this TPB is that the small chapters within each issue tell a non-linear story. One chapter will end on a cliffhanger only for the next one to go back and show the same events from a different point of view. Or zip back to some earlier point in time to explain what went on before. Or jump ahead only to come back and explain what happened later. This is purely a personal thing but I prefer my stories to follow a linear fashion - A to B to C and then to D. Not A to C then to B then back to C then A again before confusingly arriving at E, leaving D to be explained sometime later. I have a simple mind and this tends to confuse the bejesus out of me. :)
Also, although the art does manage to tell the story aptly, it really is rather minimalist. As the witty title indicates, it's all in black and while. Not only that but Grist's art style is quite simple and thus it reminds me of black and white cartoon strips in newspapers (and only a middling version at that). It's far from impressive. It also doesn't help that his faces, and body shapes, all look quite similar. Oh, and there's often oodles of blank space around the edges of some pages which just makes some parts of this book feel a little empty.
On the positive side, the book is quite thick and well put together. And the cover looks quite nice, which makes me wonder whether a coloured interior would work better - I'm generally not a fan of black and white TPBs. The versions of old British comic characters are also quite welcome. It's great to see characters like Tom Tom the Robot Man, whose look is based on Robot Archie, and Alfred Chinard, who's The Spider.
Although I had hoped this would be a great British superhero yarn, for me it turned out to be more of a yawn (the first time I read this I became disinterested half-way through and gave up). Other people seem to think it's great so maybe it's just me?
It tells the tale of "Britain's Greatest Hero" who has been missing for 20 years. Jack Staff, whose alias is John Smith, reappears and saves Becky Burdock, a reporter. The stories go on to tell of Jack Staff’s fight against Sgt. States, his confrontation with the retired Alfred Chinard (aka the Spider) and meetings with various homages to old British comic book characters.
Although in summary the stories seem interesting and involving, the problem with this TPB is that the small chapters within each issue tell a non-linear story. One chapter will end on a cliffhanger only for the next one to go back and show the same events from a different point of view. Or zip back to some earlier point in time to explain what went on before. Or jump ahead only to come back and explain what happened later. This is purely a personal thing but I prefer my stories to follow a linear fashion - A to B to C and then to D. Not A to C then to B then back to C then A again before confusingly arriving at E, leaving D to be explained sometime later. I have a simple mind and this tends to confuse the bejesus out of me. :)
Also, although the art does manage to tell the story aptly, it really is rather minimalist. As the witty title indicates, it's all in black and while. Not only that but Grist's art style is quite simple and thus it reminds me of black and white cartoon strips in newspapers (and only a middling version at that). It's far from impressive. It also doesn't help that his faces, and body shapes, all look quite similar. Oh, and there's often oodles of blank space around the edges of some pages which just makes some parts of this book feel a little empty.
On the positive side, the book is quite thick and well put together. And the cover looks quite nice, which makes me wonder whether a coloured interior would work better - I'm generally not a fan of black and white TPBs. The versions of old British comic characters are also quite welcome. It's great to see characters like Tom Tom the Robot Man, whose look is based on Robot Archie, and Alfred Chinard, who's The Spider.
Although I had hoped this would be a great British superhero yarn, for me it turned out to be more of a yawn (the first time I read this I became disinterested half-way through and gave up). Other people seem to think it's great so maybe it's just me?
February 26, 2017
Grist uses unique panel work & jump cuts in his writing to create an engrossing story about Jack Staff & the world of characters around him. Pay close attention because things from page 2 pop up again around page 320. The art is perfect for this format.
November 24, 2020
Permitidme que reseñe ahora un cómic que ya tiene unos años, fue editado en España por Recerca ya en 2005 pero que no paro de encontrar en ofertas y saldos (al menos este primer tomo). Este volumen incluye los 12 primeros números de la colección, en blanco y negro, y ofrece una cantidad, y calidad, notable.
Aunque el género de superhéroes es una construcción netamente norteamericana, y podríamos analizar como diversos elementos proceden directamente de este origen, me resulta fascinante como los autores británicos deforman el género a través de sus propias lentes y producen casi siempre una visión particular del mismo. Los grandes guionistas norteamericanos modernos parecen asumir a los héroes enmascarados como parte de una tradición a la que desean pertenecer. Los británicos, desde el clásico Alan Davis a los más experimentales como Grant Morrison (que sin embargo ha conseguido convertirse en un estándar), parecen más abiertos a jugar con significados y significantes, a romper las normas, por ello quizás algunas de las más fundamentales revisiones del género proceden de autores nacidos en las islas.
Al mismo tiempo puede observarse en ellos ciertos rasgos comunes, especialmente la influencia de la tradición literaria, tebeística y televisiva británica, especialmente ese icono british que es Doctor Who pero también las series y personajes de 2000 AD o Hotspur. En este sentido este Todo solía ser en blanco y negro puede relacionarse, más o menos directamente, con el Albion de Moore o el Zenith de Grant Morrison: como estos un producto nacido de una combinación de estas dos tradiciones.
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
Aunque el género de superhéroes es una construcción netamente norteamericana, y podríamos analizar como diversos elementos proceden directamente de este origen, me resulta fascinante como los autores británicos deforman el género a través de sus propias lentes y producen casi siempre una visión particular del mismo. Los grandes guionistas norteamericanos modernos parecen asumir a los héroes enmascarados como parte de una tradición a la que desean pertenecer. Los británicos, desde el clásico Alan Davis a los más experimentales como Grant Morrison (que sin embargo ha conseguido convertirse en un estándar), parecen más abiertos a jugar con significados y significantes, a romper las normas, por ello quizás algunas de las más fundamentales revisiones del género proceden de autores nacidos en las islas.
Al mismo tiempo puede observarse en ellos ciertos rasgos comunes, especialmente la influencia de la tradición literaria, tebeística y televisiva británica, especialmente ese icono british que es Doctor Who pero también las series y personajes de 2000 AD o Hotspur. En este sentido este Todo solía ser en blanco y negro puede relacionarse, más o menos directamente, con el Albion de Moore o el Zenith de Grant Morrison: como estos un producto nacido de una combinación de estas dos tradiciones.
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
February 17, 2015
This was rather bizarre. Was it a parody of Captain America and superhero comics in general or was it an actual attempt at a British superhero? If so, how 'bout that Captain Britain? There was plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and an enjoyable drawing style that reminded me of the Marvel Now's Hawkeye. The chapters seemed to skip around too much for my taste, alternating POVs from Jack Staff to Betsy and also going back and forth in time. I wish there was more detail involved, as this first volume did seem to mock superheros, vampires, paranormal, spies, secret organizations, supervillains, etc, but only at a brief glimpse. Don't think I'll read more but it was a rather quick and different read from the norm.
March 1, 2012
-"Serial Killer travels the country killing at random and removing a piece of his victims body as a bloody memento of his crime." Who writes this Tosh?
-Iain M. Angel. He used to write comics. Then he stopped to concentrate on writing a SERIOUS novel. He'll be back. They always are.
-Comics? Do people still buy those?
This comic takes a while to build up-over 100 pages for me to get used to the style. It is kind of everywhere, with a lot of different characters appearing and disappearing throughout. Still, once I understood the style there were a lot of good stories in here.
-Iain M. Angel. He used to write comics. Then he stopped to concentrate on writing a SERIOUS novel. He'll be back. They always are.
-Comics? Do people still buy those?
This comic takes a while to build up-over 100 pages for me to get used to the style. It is kind of everywhere, with a lot of different characters appearing and disappearing throughout. Still, once I understood the style there were a lot of good stories in here.
April 11, 2010
Great stuff. Takes a little while to get into it - the kind of strange pacing of the storytelling and the way chunks of the story are sometimes seeming randomly shuffled out of linear order an be a bit offputting at first, but once you get into the swing of the story it's not an issue. Nice clean art, looked great in these black and white stories. It's also nice to read a "superhero" book that doesn't take itself too seriously without being a goofy spoof or something.
January 7, 2012
I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Thoroughly enjoyable. Robot men, mysterious detectives, a vampire reporter and more. Superhero and related genres filtered through a very British sensibility. And the way Grist plays with comics conventions, his masterful storytelling and use of black, it's really tight. Yeah, I'm not sure if everyone would feel this way but it just hit a sweet spot for me, and I wasn't properly prepared for that.
June 17, 2011
The origin of Jack Staff is it's apparently a rewrite of a Union Jack story the author wrote for and was rejected by Marvel. Their loss is our gain. As such, there are plenty of references to both American and British superheroes. Spotting the original source is fun. The art is charming and the stories are interesting. Recommended.
March 10, 2022
The style of storytelling can be a bit off-putting at times. Start in the middle, flashback to the beginning, then move to the end (or flashback to the distant past). The whole book is like this and it can be a bit confusing at times.
Otherwise it is a fun, enjoyable, and not overly complicated story.
Otherwise it is a fun, enjoyable, and not overly complicated story.
October 1, 2013
It took me a while to get used to the pace of the stories - especially in the first ones, there are tons of really short segments. But it was still fun, and Paul Grist is a fantastic cartoonist, so that made it an enjoyable adjustment.
January 12, 2015
Not the best art nor the best story in comics, but certainly some of my personal favorite art and storytelling. Easy-to-appreciate indie comic superhero fun. A BBC production of Hellboy by way of Marvel Comics.
August 24, 2015
Wonderful miss-mash of comic book tropes and british pop culture.
More an ensemble series than a solo book.
Jack's working class British city is a magnet for the weird and supernatural and so he has no chance of enjoying a quiet afternoon as builder and handyman John Smith.
Fun stuff.
More an ensemble series than a solo book.
Jack's working class British city is a magnet for the weird and supernatural and so he has no chance of enjoying a quiet afternoon as builder and handyman John Smith.
Fun stuff.
Read
August 21, 2010I think Jack Staff is the only comic book worth picking up these days. This is a wonderful start to the series.
March 3, 2016
Contains some existential wankery.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews