Boom Studios 2015
Created & Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Jorge Coelho
Coloured by Tamra Bonvillain
Lettered by Ed Dukeshire
This book is just so freakin fun! We’ve seen oddball characters in the past but none have come close to being nearly as entertaining as John Flood. With each issue we’ve seen him dig deeper into those who created him. That’s his quest to learn why he’s been made into the man he is and along the way he’ll build around a support group of people who whether they realize it or not care about him.
Justin has proven he’s an amazing writer time and again but here he’s got these pure comedic chops that blend with more serious notes to really engage the reader. John’s so odd and funny and you wanna laugh at his antics because he’s just that much a character. That we open with John being interrogated by Sandy’s husband, who happens to be a cop and then we have to go back to see what exactly happened after we left last issue.
John and the cold blooded killer face to face in that burning building was one hell of a conversation to witness. Jorge and Tamra really nailed the difference between them all the while they are basically born from the same place. Not to mention the fact that they are having this chat in the midst of the fire and the colours and the shadows all of if playing against the looks of each of them was mesmerizing.
The whole fight did a number of things some expected some not. That Berry really does need to be with John to work out his own issues about where he’s found himself in life is both familiar and surprising. Sure we saw some of what he’s been through at the beginning but here I saw a man with violent tendencies and good heart at work. It’s like he balances out the all too easy going way of John with his brawn and thinking.
The other thing is that John has always assumed he’s a government creation and learning that he isn’t well that’s great. Even greater still is the fact that our brute with a penchant for killing knows who they are, he’s working for them after all as we’ve seen. His personality though is one of those things that we kind of expect but still get excited over. This fight and the fire and John ruining his fun well that’s made him a target now and this guy yeah he doesn’t care about collateral damage he’s going to go full tilt to pay him back for the courtesy he suffered here.
I also like that these characters seem to be smarter than we expect not to mention full of great surprises. Aside from the what we see on the surface, which alone is incredible, there’s something underneath the surface that is slightly darker that really gets you into this in a new way.
We say things are fresh, new and innovative often in this industry because nowadays people like Justin find collaborators like Jorge and Tamra and they put out something we haven’t seen before. This is one of the reasons I read so many books by publishers that aren’t considered mainstream.