Quicksand Jack (1 of 7)
4 out of 5 stars
Valentine Comics
quicksandjackcomic.com
Writers: Nick & Matt Lang
Pencils & Inks: Jen Lang
Colors: Teia Smith
Letters: Un-credited
Reviewer: David Paul
Summary: When Mud Sunday unknowingly spurs the wrath of the Seven Deadly Syndicate, she'll have to enlist the services of the wandering-gun-for hire, Jack.
Together, they'll unravel the mystery of the Brimstone Mine and discover why the Seven Deadly Syndicate will kill to protect it. Along the way, Mud will try to answer an even more puzzling question... Who, or what is Quicksand Jack.
Review: Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: I am not a fan of the mainstream. Too much about the mainstream that just gets under my skin. Of course there are characters and titles that I still enjoy as a lifetime reader of comics. Naturally I am enjoying what Marvel Entertainment has been doing with their movies and now live-action television. So call me a hypocrite. But let me clarify: I am not a fan of many of the practices of the mainstream publishers of comics.
Some of these practices are aesthetics. One of my biggest geek gripes is that every title you pick up looks as if it has been produced by the same creative team; same artists, same letterers. And they seem to give their biggest titles to only the most well-known writers. Seriously: How much can Bendis keep churning out?
As a result of these very popular looks and styles in the mainstream, this trickles down into your top tier indies and then down into your lesser known companies, all just trying to catch the eyes of potential readers. Because let’s face it – people pick up comics at a glance, drawn in by the art. At that point you better give them a good story to keep coming back. But that’s another story.
I mention all this in recognition of my first review for IndieComiX. Quicksand Jack is a MUST READ.
Jebediah Sunday is a haunted man when we first open the pages of this seven part limited series by writers Nick and Matt Lang. He’s a little out of his mind and in need of blowing the Brimstone Mines to High Heaven when his dead wife convinces him he’s just sick. The doctor said he was “skit-zo-frentic”. This was obviously a trap, as a descriptive caption reads:
“She molds the flesh to fit a form better fitted for her purposes.”
In the next panel we see she has changed shape from a beautiful and loving wife to a monstrous demon. Frightened out of his schizophrenic mind poor Jeb falls to his death.
Such is the opening of this genre-bending series. A supernatural thriller set in the Old West, starring the young, beautiful daughter of Jebediah, Maude and Quicksand Jack, a Western brawler in the tradition of Clint Eastwood in all his spaghetti goodness and Bruce Campbell as Ash from EVIL DEAD. Oddly enough those two hero archetypes work well in this title, which tows the line between horror and comedy.
Maude (the poor girl can’t get no respect – they keep calling her “Mud”) inadvertently makes trouble for the residents of Brimstone. All she really wants is a little respect for her whacked out of his head daddy. There’s trouble in the mines and if they don’t take care of it, it’s only going to get worse. But all her chiding does is leads the local reverend and some of the townsfolk to do away with Mud. Err… Maud. Fortunately Jack happens by and saves her neck before they can finish her off.
The comedy here is first-rate. When Maude compels the reverend (Preacher Graves) that they must do something, he dissuades her with the story of Adam and Eve:
“They was two naked people who lived in a paradise of sorts. Blissful. Content. Ignorant. Until one day, this snake slithered in from outta nowhere and said to Eve… “Hey, good lookin’. How’d you like to know a secret? A terrible secret? A secret that’s true?" Now God didn’t want Eve to know the secret. He busted his ass to try and keep the secret from her… and she was better off for it. But what do you think that broad went off and did? She opened her big mouth… and got everyone else thinkin’ ‘bout what that secret could be. So you see… she had to go. And that’s when God, our hero, expelled her from paradise, where she was never heard from again. And the moral of the story is… Don’t talk to snakes!”
Issue one is setting up for a showdown with “The Seven Deadly Syndicate” and the preview of the next issue promises trouble with the town’s creepy sheriff. But if all of this doesn’t convince you this title is a MUST READ let me go on a little about the art.
Previously I wrote about my gripes with mainstream comics. Too many titles look exactly the same. When I read a comic book I want originality. I want something that differentiates it from everything else. The art of Jen Lang complimented by the colors of Teia Smith is a signature style. Readers accustomed to the style of the mainstream may find this unique work too much to get over and that is a shame. I am reminded of the animation style of INVADER ZIMM when I look at Lang and Smith’s work, and for me that is only a good thing.
Quicksand Jack is Evil Dead meets The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly. This is an independently produced comic that deserves a cult following by an extraordinarily talented creative team. Drop what you’re doing right now and go to http://quicksandjackcomic.com. Tell ‘em David Paul at IndieComiX sent ya.
4 out of 5 stars
Valentine Comics
quicksandjackcomic.com
Writers: Nick & Matt Lang
Pencils & Inks: Jen Lang
Colors: Teia Smith
Letters: Un-credited
Reviewer: David Paul
Summary: When Mud Sunday unknowingly spurs the wrath of the Seven Deadly Syndicate, she'll have to enlist the services of the wandering-gun-for hire, Jack.
Together, they'll unravel the mystery of the Brimstone Mine and discover why the Seven Deadly Syndicate will kill to protect it. Along the way, Mud will try to answer an even more puzzling question... Who, or what is Quicksand Jack.
Review: Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: I am not a fan of the mainstream. Too much about the mainstream that just gets under my skin. Of course there are characters and titles that I still enjoy as a lifetime reader of comics. Naturally I am enjoying what Marvel Entertainment has been doing with their movies and now live-action television. So call me a hypocrite. But let me clarify: I am not a fan of many of the practices of the mainstream publishers of comics.
Some of these practices are aesthetics. One of my biggest geek gripes is that every title you pick up looks as if it has been produced by the same creative team; same artists, same letterers. And they seem to give their biggest titles to only the most well-known writers. Seriously: How much can Bendis keep churning out?
As a result of these very popular looks and styles in the mainstream, this trickles down into your top tier indies and then down into your lesser known companies, all just trying to catch the eyes of potential readers. Because let’s face it – people pick up comics at a glance, drawn in by the art. At that point you better give them a good story to keep coming back. But that’s another story.
I mention all this in recognition of my first review for IndieComiX. Quicksand Jack is a MUST READ.
Jebediah Sunday is a haunted man when we first open the pages of this seven part limited series by writers Nick and Matt Lang. He’s a little out of his mind and in need of blowing the Brimstone Mines to High Heaven when his dead wife convinces him he’s just sick. The doctor said he was “skit-zo-frentic”. This was obviously a trap, as a descriptive caption reads:
“She molds the flesh to fit a form better fitted for her purposes.”
In the next panel we see she has changed shape from a beautiful and loving wife to a monstrous demon. Frightened out of his schizophrenic mind poor Jeb falls to his death.
Such is the opening of this genre-bending series. A supernatural thriller set in the Old West, starring the young, beautiful daughter of Jebediah, Maude and Quicksand Jack, a Western brawler in the tradition of Clint Eastwood in all his spaghetti goodness and Bruce Campbell as Ash from EVIL DEAD. Oddly enough those two hero archetypes work well in this title, which tows the line between horror and comedy.
Maude (the poor girl can’t get no respect – they keep calling her “Mud”) inadvertently makes trouble for the residents of Brimstone. All she really wants is a little respect for her whacked out of his head daddy. There’s trouble in the mines and if they don’t take care of it, it’s only going to get worse. But all her chiding does is leads the local reverend and some of the townsfolk to do away with Mud. Err… Maud. Fortunately Jack happens by and saves her neck before they can finish her off.
The comedy here is first-rate. When Maude compels the reverend (Preacher Graves) that they must do something, he dissuades her with the story of Adam and Eve:
“They was two naked people who lived in a paradise of sorts. Blissful. Content. Ignorant. Until one day, this snake slithered in from outta nowhere and said to Eve… “Hey, good lookin’. How’d you like to know a secret? A terrible secret? A secret that’s true?" Now God didn’t want Eve to know the secret. He busted his ass to try and keep the secret from her… and she was better off for it. But what do you think that broad went off and did? She opened her big mouth… and got everyone else thinkin’ ‘bout what that secret could be. So you see… she had to go. And that’s when God, our hero, expelled her from paradise, where she was never heard from again. And the moral of the story is… Don’t talk to snakes!”
Issue one is setting up for a showdown with “The Seven Deadly Syndicate” and the preview of the next issue promises trouble with the town’s creepy sheriff. But if all of this doesn’t convince you this title is a MUST READ let me go on a little about the art.
Previously I wrote about my gripes with mainstream comics. Too many titles look exactly the same. When I read a comic book I want originality. I want something that differentiates it from everything else. The art of Jen Lang complimented by the colors of Teia Smith is a signature style. Readers accustomed to the style of the mainstream may find this unique work too much to get over and that is a shame. I am reminded of the animation style of INVADER ZIMM when I look at Lang and Smith’s work, and for me that is only a good thing.
Quicksand Jack is Evil Dead meets The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly. This is an independently produced comic that deserves a cult following by an extraordinarily talented creative team. Drop what you’re doing right now and go to http://quicksandjackcomic.com. Tell ‘em David Paul at IndieComiX sent ya.