Jazz Maynard Vol. 2: The Iceland Trilogy

Jazz Maynard #4-6

by Raule, Roger Ibáñez Ugena (Artist)

The second volume in the internationally-renowned series, this "second season" takes our intrepid titular character from his home in the seedy ghettos of Barcelona to the icy climate of Iceland in pursuit of an artifact worth a fortune to collectors. But he finds much more than treasure―nationalist groups threaten the area with racial cleansing, threatening the lives of his friends, while also drumming up ghosts from his past. This multilayered noir thriller delves into Jazz's mysterious history, and the time spent in New York, where he honed his skills into the razor-sharp tool set they are today.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2020

About the author

Raule a brièvement suivi des cours de bande dessinée à l’École Joso. En 1993, il lance le fanzine «Tribulaciones» avec le dessinateur M. Chaves. Tous deux remportent le «Prix du meilleur scénario dessiné» du concours de BD d’El Prat del Llobregat. En 1994, le duo crée notamment «Lady Down» pour la revue «De Tebeos» publiée à Almería. En 1995 et 1996, pour les éditions Camaleón, ils collaborent au premier et au dernier numéro de «Ryu», revue manga réunissant divers auteurs hispaniques, et ils produisent «Violencia Sonica», mini-série de 4 épisodes compilés en un tome en 1997. C’est alors que Raule entame une collaboration exclusive avec Roger Ibáñez dans «Otaku», la revue manga des éditions Norma. En 1999, toujours avec Roger au dessin, il travaille pour le magazine «Penthouse Comix» des éditions El Jueves. En 2002 et 2003, ils publient ensemble «Hole’n’Virgin», «Amores muertos» et «Cabos sueltos» aux éditions Amaníaco. Présentée au Salon de la BD de Barcelone, cette dernière réalisation séduit le scénariste J.D. Morvan («Al Togo» - «Reality Show») qui la soumet à Dargaud. De là naît au Festival d’Angoulême 2004, le projet du triptyque «Jazz Maynard». Le premier de ces 3 albums sort en juin 2007.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallout from volume 1 causes trouble for Jazz and his best friend Teo. So Jazz takes a job to steal a priceless relic from a racist a-hole in Iceland. Meanwhile, we flash back to Jazz's past in New York for the first time where he learned to become a world class thief. Lots of great action and angular art full of deep shadows. My few complaints would be there's never much of a heist in this one and the thing with the bird was both extremely convenient and stupid. I'm looking forward to hopefully more Jazz Maynard in the future.

Received a review copy from Lion Forge and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5

Alright, I'll admit that I was attracted to this book because of the title: Jazz Maynard. For those of us who are jazz fans, this definitely captures our attention! Fortunately what's inside is a strong story with attractive, stylized art.

Backstory (which is shared in this volume): Jazz Maynard was a kid on the streets when, by a strange twist of fortune, he is looked after by a wealthy family. As he grows older, he recognizes that the family's wealth likely doesn't come from legal means and he convinces his 'father' to take him into the family business. There, Jazz becomes one of the strongest, fastest, smartest, most cunning, and easily the luckiest of criminals.

Jazz has a 'brother' - Max, the natural son of his adopted family - who is just a little bit jealous of the attention Jazz has gotten. And the brother holds a bit of a grudge. At one time the father had planned his 'swan song' heist. A major theft that would be talked about for centuries, but when examining the plans, Jazz found a flaw and tried to convince his 'father' of it, but his pleas fell on deaf ears and of course the heist went sour. Now Max is looking to get back at Jazz.

Meanwhile, Jazz has business in Iceland where, coincidentally, a group of criminals are practicing some ethnic cleansing. The worlds collide in a frantic, whirlwind of action and not a small amount of mythical mystery that will have the reader wanting to read more.

I missed the first volume in this series when it came out, but I'm very glad to have picked up this volume. The story, by Raule, is like a carefully woven tapestry - sometimes in the past, sometimes in the present, sometimes with Jazz, sometimes focused elsewhere - but we're never lost, only curious as to what else is happening, and Raule seems to know just when to change direction, keeping the reader hooked.

The art by 'Roger' a stylized art that has become common in the 2000's with sharp, angular features and deep shadows. It fits the mood of the book very well.

I look forward to reading more in this exciting series.

Looking for a good book? Jazz Maynard, Vol. 2: The Iceland Trilogy is a graphic novel of adventure and suspense with a touch of jazz and mythology to round out a unique story.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superior artwork emphasizes the dark-edged world that jazz-playing Jazz Maynard inhabits. Ranging from Spain to Iceland with a soundtrack of Chet Baker, filled with mobsters, desperate, and darkened rooms. A hunt for ancient talismans leads to Jazz in Iceland with odd drinks and lots of hot tubs. Not always easy to follow the plot, though.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

With excellent artwork and a fast-moving plot, Jazz Maynard Vol 2 continues the Iceland Trilogy.

Judas, Jazz’ former mob boss, is in jail. Caligula of a rival criminal organization is trying to take over his illegal operation by force.

Jazz is approached by Lord Archer to steal back the Golden Eye, an ancient prosthetic eye supposedly having prophetic powers. To locate the eye, Jazz and Teo go to Iceland.

Setting the story mainly in Iceland is a refreshing change from Spain. The action is non-stop. Plus I think having Vikings as the villains is fantastic.

My favorite part of the whole series so far is the use of monochromatic colors for each panel. Some pages are different shades of green, others are purple or red. The most impact is when different character’s actions are shown on the same page using different color palettes. It is a very effective use of color to explain location.

Ultimately, Jazz Maynard Vol 2 is a crime story. The plot and especially the artwork are very effective at telling the story. 4 stars! I can’t wait for the final volume to come out.

Thanks to Lion Forge and Edelweiss+ for an advanced copy.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Jazz Maynard Vol. 2: The Iceland Trilogy' by Raule with art by Roger continues the adventures of trumpeter and adventure improviser Jazz Maynard.

This time around, he is offered a job in Iceland. Circumstances in his town in Spain force him to take the job and drag his friend Teo along. They have to find a golden eye that has mystic powers. The eye isn't the only mystic element. Along the way, they find a racist who is throwing people out of helicopters, and we learn a bit more about the shadowy past of Jazz.

These books have a cool style. I like the art, but the angular nature of the characters left me confused a couple times trying to figure out exactly who someone was. Still it was a fun story with lots of violence. I like the color palette that is used in these books.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge and Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Michael Emond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the first volume of Jazz and loved this one even more. We switch the setting from Spain to Iceland for Jazz (ace trumpeter and thief) and his BFF Teo to steal a religious artifact back for the Iran government.

The art is still a joy to see - fluid and exciting. The story is still fast paced and fun. The reasons why I enjoyed this more is because it was more stream lined and a more linear story without confusing me by having multiple story-lines and villains within villains. It also flash-backed to see who trained Jazz in his thievery skills. So there was a lot more character development when it came to Jazz. There was also a nice mystic angle to this story - not too heavy handed (because this isn't a book of magic) but enough to add an extra bit of atmosphere to the story. The one complaint I could make about the story is the key villain is a white supremacist and the resolution of this story arc was a bit too nice and neat. They made it seem like "well he's taken care of so racism in Iceland is all tidied up".

Overall - this is an exciting series. Not sure if there will be any more but these two volumes are classics.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually better than Vol. 1 - the story is bit over the top, but at least the characters are interesting. Iceland makes for a great backdrop. Now, at least, we begin to see where Jazz gets his talents - from a lot of practice. I like the touch of the Iranian secret service and they are rather human, not demonized.

[Edward Correa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La forma en que este volumen comienza lo enlaza perfectamente con el anterior, creando de alguna forma una sola historia, bien dividida en dos partes gracias a sus paisajes y en general a su contexto, con "villanos" diferentes y demás.