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Mar 31, 2010 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

Jack Staff: Rocky Realities may be easier to understand if you’ve read what came before it. I did not.

That caveat out of the way, there’s a lot to enjoy about Paul Grist’s British superhero. It wasn’t too hard to catch up on the story, even though this volume starts out in an alternate reality where the characters are different versions of themselves. By the time the story clears up a little and things coalesce, this much is clear about Jack Staff: it’s quite weird, it’s clever, it’s vampire-centric, and the title character himself never seems to accomplish anything, which is equally funny and frustrating.

The ideas and character P.O.V. changes flow at a high rate, which adds to the urgency and “catch your breath” sort of feel by the time the volume’s over. However, there’s not much in terms of character development nor does this volume stick in the brain much after it’s done. Almost the comic equivalent of Chinese food; I wanted more an hour later-and not more of the same.

Grist’s cartooning and design are engaging, and the story is a pretty close match. At $18 for 224 pages of fun-while-it-lasts, I’d have to give it a thumbs up. (www.imagecomics.com)

Author rating: 6/10