One Eyed Jack - Review

[Bad City Blue]

Out next month

http://cool-stuff-you-will-like.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/one-eyed-jack-compete-reprints-comic.html

[Pop Culture Bandit]

Great review, Bad City Blue! I really enjoy the pure seventies action of this collection too - I never experienced the series first time around, but I loved the retro feel throughout - it made me feel like a child of the seventies

I'll piggyback on your thread and throw my own review into the mix:

http://popculturebandit.com/2017/05/22/one-eyed-jack/

[Richard]

The second review contains a spoiler.

[Tiplodocus]

Is the spoiler about the number of functioning eyes that the hero has?

[Richard]

I've just finished reading this collection, and I loved it. It's got every episode of the original series from Valiant, including an episode from an annual in full colour, and a colour covers gallery, all on good quality, glossy paper. All episodes by John Wagner and John Cooper.

Although Jack has been described as a precursor to Dredd, and in many ways they're similar, there is a striking difference between them as well, in that Jack breaks the rules all the time and does things Dredd wouldn't. The stories are pretty good, and there's a few early examples of Wagner's wry dialogue.

I'd love to see Wagner return to this series and write some new episodes for 2000 AD. Since John Cooper is no longer with us, I think John Burns would be a great alternative.

[mattb]

I am enjoying reading this at the moment.  Loving the John Cooper art, he is one I didn't appreciate when a young reader, but love now! 

In the covers section at the back, all are credited to John Cooper, but some do not look like his work.  The cover to the 10th January 1976 issue looks like Ezquerra to me, and the head shot for the cover to the 28th August 1976 cover, in the circle of the question mark could be early Ian Gibson?

I stand to be corrected on all these, but those cited do not look like the excellent Mr. Cooper.

[Colin YNWA]

Knew there was a review thread for this somewhere.

Just worked my way through 'One-eyed Jack' and gotta say its brutal - really brutal. I'm quietly amazed that Valiant got away with this. I mean sure different times and all that but the things Jack gets away with in the name of 'Not playing by the book' are pretty astonishing. Then you get to the last part of the stories, in which Jack McBane in time honoured fashion throws in his badge cos... well just read what he does and then what the criminals he sets up, in a very elaborate scheme, do to him...

The stories are very compacted in their three and sometimes 4 pages and the suffer a little for it at times. And as you might expect it burns through ideas in no time. Its a thrilling read, if read in small doses, I kept stopping though before it all got too jarring.

The real star however is John Cooper, dark, hard bitten art. Its just perfect. I loved his stuff on Johnny Red (such a shame we only got one volume of his work on that strip from Titan - come on Rebellion get his stuff back in print) but his art here is even more perfect. His character work is wonderful. His action hard and violent. Its just superb stuff.

So yeah read in small doses this volume is an absolute treat.

[broodblik]

Speaking of One-eyed, do we know of the material that was published in the Eagle will be reprinted as well?

[Richard]

It's been four years, so I doubt it.

[milstar]

Yes, I am right now somewhere at the half of One-Eyed Jack. I'd have to agree with almost everything that Colin wrote. It's a bit puzzling how Wagner got away with all the gritty stuff, for a boy's (children) comic, but I read in his introductory it was what improved Valiant sales. But tbh, I do not find the material unsuitable for the younger; perhaps if I have a kid one day, I may give him to read it. Darkie's Mob, however...
Anyway, the book is indeed the best when it's read in small doses. It's fun to read for sure, and three-four pages are just enough for the threat, but stories are nothing that I haven't read about before. Only done concisely.
I can see how McBane influenced Dredd. The way McBane acts and talks is like having a deja-vu, that I almost imagine it's Dredd in 1970s NY, and it fits. That is not to say that Dredd plays dirty, which is the staple of McBane, but I do remember when Dredd employed dirty tactics. For instance, Revolution arc (and the infamous line: "I'll do everything to protect his city from dangerous fools like you"). Maybe one day it'll turn out that Dredd is the descendant of McBane...? Even the stories end on a sardonic, wise-cracking note that Dredd's adventures usually do.
I must disagree with Colin on the art. I find the art ruggish and it's just not my cup of tea. Although regarding that every page is stuffed with the above usual number of panels, perhaps John Cooper hasn't got much room to shine.

Next week- Invasion 1984.