Though I had read all of the issues contained in Jack Staff Volume 1, it really is a very different experience reading them all at once. The flaws, such as an immense number of characters and constantly shifting story, become spotlighted, but so too do the strengths, specifically a dense and complex plot and some of the most fun characters to be found outside the Silver Age of comics. Contained in this tale are essentially two story arcs, but within those two arcs there are probably a good couple dozen stories, each one weaving in and out of the others. Jack Staff is a strange amalgamation of anthology, super-hero, British adventure and EC horror comics, and though I usually can't stand books where the featured character changes every few pages, the weaving narrative and gripping artwork generally makes it work for this book.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that Grist's characters, a mixture of familiar archetypes and very unusual twists, are always entertaining. It's hard not to read the first arc and realize that it was originally a Union Jack pitch for Marvel, especially when "Captain America" and "Baron Blood" analogues show up pretty prominently in the story. However, at the same time, that same familiarity makes it hard to see the twist involving one of the lead characters coming, and Grist does a nice job keeping his cards close to the vest, hinting that maybe Sgt. States or Jack Staff might have some abilities we don't know about, but playing the hints out in such a way that you only see them clearly when you've seen the revelation at the final part of the story.
There's a lovely mix of over-the-top super-hero sensibility and restrained, normal storytelling at work here. When the characters appear, so do their names and descriptions, in big logos on the side. Tom-Tom the Robot Man, Jack Staff, Becky Burdock Girl Reporter, Sgt. States, Helen Morgan and the rest of the Q, The Spider, Inspector Maveryk... they're all quickly described and nifty archetypes, and as we slowly develop them (especially Becky, who seems to be the narrator for the most part) I like them even more. There could be an argument made that Grist overpopulates the story, and that a narrowing of focus to a few less characters would make for a stronger overall narrative, but each of his characters is so much fun, I don't think there are any that I'd want to see left out.
The switching in narrators, and short stories that weave together into a single story, are a big part of what makes this book unique. Each character gets their moment to shine, whether it's the old buddy style characterization of Sgt. States and Jack early on that pays off in unexpected ways, the unusual relationship between Becky and the vampire hunters, the give-and-take between Jack and his nemesis The Spider or any of a number of impressive character moments. Grist's story shifts constantly between these characters, telling mini-stories of each of them and then tying it together into the larger narrative. This works better on the first arc than the second, which has quite a few loose ends left hanging by the end, but in general the unusual story within a story structure works pretty well.
Grist's experimental storytelling style extends beyond the multiple narrators in the second arc. He plays around with breaking the fourth wall in a delightfully funny and clever little story with The Druid, and presents an Alan Moore/Grant Morrison style meta-villain with the unusual murderer behind the "Jigsaw Man" case. In fact, the second arc includes all sorts of weirdness in the background, including problems of sleep, dreams, time travel and mystical predestination. Grist leaves a few of these plot elements dangling, unfortunately, including a maddening decision not to reveal the secret of Jack Staff's longevity, making the second story arc less satisfying than the first, but still a pretty good read. And given that the series continues in color with Image today, the possibility remains that he'll pick up some of these threads in the future.
Grist's imagination and style goes a long way with me, but I'm also impressed by his distinctive art style. His sense of innovation doesn't stop with the writing; I love that he'll do something like split panels across what is one scene, using one image to give a sense of motion, thanks to the reader's conditioning to read two panels as a change in time and space. He can handle the mundane, such as apartments or Jack's work as a builder, as well as he can the more fantastic, such as the traps set up by Unit D to catch The Spider or a terrific action sequence between Jack and his vampiric foe at the close of the first arc. He is at his best when using darkness and silhouettes, and his ability to draw body language works wonders with characters like Jack Staff and Tom Tom, who don't really have facial expressions. Grist is one of those artists with a look you can recognize immediately, and that distinctive look is a big part of what makes Jack Staff such a great comic.
