Ok folks, this week we’ll be looking at Jack, a long running and at this point rather infamous and divisive horror/drama strip by David Hopkins. This was one of the tougher reviews I’ve had to put together, mostly for trying to find strip examples that were safe for work (WARNING: of which most of this comic is NOT, by any stretch of the imagination). That, and reading through much of this was really really nauseating. The news about Jaime Garcia’s shoulder was more than enough today, this didn’t help.
Chin up, buddy. The Cards are still favored in the NL Central.
We follow the various duties and misadventures of our title character, an aged green rabbit serving as the representative of Wrath as well as grim reaper to a world of talking animals, due to committing unspeakable deeds during his time on Earth. Thanks to the visions of the occasional angel, said moments are gradually revealed to the reader in various flashbacks during certain story arcs, in which his younger self looks uncannily similar to obscure game character Jazz Jackrabbit (I’ll give the creator the benefit of the doubt that was coincidental).
Outside of that, the vast majority of the comic is devoted to assorted people meeting their fates in frequently morbid and gruesome fashion, which has a strong sense of what Happy Tree Friends would look like if it tried to take itself seriously. His main rival is Drip, a sexually twisted monster thing that symbolizes Lust, though as compensation for his actions on Earth he gains no pleasure from his torturing. There’s also “Fnar”, a noseless whatchamacalit who was born inside Hell and is the viewpoint character for its politics and goingons, walking around with a blissful attitude due to being totally desensitized to its horror. Yes, that’s the exact same main plotline of Jimmy Two-Shoes, but Jack came first. Oh, and I should mention Lita, who I think is supposed to be a raccoon and has the same look and attitude of the former WWE Diva.
Jack has earned both nominations and award wins (it took Best Dramatic Comic at the Web Cartoonist Choice Awards a decade ago) as well as a number of detractors. Many find the musings on morality and dilemmas the characters are given to be insightful and thought provoking, others are put off by the intense gore, language, strong sexual content and general bleakness. I think I can see both sides of the debate, as some of the plots are kind of clever, but the latter for me eventually drowns out whatever point is trying to be made. There’ll be moments of clarity (one arc is just about a helpful person, and is downright pleasant compared to everything else here) which are then followed by something that wants to be scary and badass, but usually comes off stupid and desperate. A touching story about a couple hoping to meet in the afterlife is our oh-so-fitting lead-in to a starfish joke and a rape monster sequence, and I’m just like:
There’s something rather pretentious and very “angry high school student” about how hard Jack tries to be shocking and edgy, and the fact it tries to use that same shocking imagery for the purpose of black comedy in a number of single strip stories doesn’t help matters. That’s a pity, because what little has been hinted at regarding Jack’s backstory is fairly intriguing and Hopkins does have some interesting tales to tell. But hey, gotta focus on all that weird gross stuff I drew in my notebook when I was angry after mom grounded me for letting the dog tear up the garbage outside and ruin the garden because I was blasting Linkin Park too loud to hear it, right?
And I’m not against going outlandishly over the top and trying to surprise your audience- I wouldn’t be a Lady Gaga fanboy were that the case. It’s all about proper execution, and Jack prefers to use a clumsy scythe on the audience when, in lieu of this subject matter, he should be using a surgical knife.
Speaking of scrawling in notebooks, what the hell (no pun intended) am I looking at here? Hopkins has a very basic but somehow still inconsistent look for most of his characters (especially the mortal ones), and while I think it’s partially derived from Tiny Toons except where all of the fur clumps look like razors, most of the time I can’t tell what species anyone is supposed to be. Anatomy is eh, shading’s sloppy (in fact, sometimes he’s outdone by the guest artists). In some of the earlier stories, the proportions of the models don’t have much structure and a good chunk of the time someone’s muzzle or nose or hair height will maddeningly transform from panel to panel. It’s like they’re made of mercury . However, the facial expressions do get their pain and anguish across properly. About 1/3rd of the strips are in color, and it’s usually flats.
Also, everyone in this comic cries unusually frequently, like buckets. Not really a complaint, it’s understandable given the circumstances, but just something I noticed.
I don’t know how to quite sum up Jack, other than that it’s like sitting next to that friend of yours that does and says face palmingly stupid stuff 90% of the time in the hopes that they’ll have that one rare moment they say something truly intelligent. I guess I can see why people like it, but overall this was not my thing. Click here if you wanna check it out, but I should reiterate that this thing is 100% Adults Only. No, actually, know what? Kick the main strip to the curb, just read the Vinci And Arty side arc. It’s better written and drawn with more likable heroes.