It’s a blast from the past as Jack is met with his time-displaced younger self, Crossjack! How did Crossjack end up in the present along with some of his teammates? How does Jack feel about his time-displaced counterpart? Who is the key to returning Crossjack back to the past? And why is The Flame at the center of it all?
Seeley and Fleecs return with a new Local Man story centered after the events of the first arc of the series and it is a well-executed character study on Jack and his past. The themes explored in this issue about how much the past can inform the future while also not being defined by the past is nicely written as Jack reflects on who he was as he deals with his time-displaced younger self and other image characters. Much of this book is focused on the idea of change. Can one be capable of change if they knew their future? Or would they stay in their cycle of habits based on what they know? This is such a brilliantly written issue with a ton of fun nods to various image characters and golden age comic characters from different eras of the medium along with Amalgam and Crisis references being purposefully used for this story. There’s bits of humorously clever commentary on comics of old, as they all correlate and reflect on the present state of herodom. This issue is a love letter to Image and all of comics but is still an important little part of this series as it takes Jack into the next story arc that is one worth checking out.
The art team consisting of Seeley, and Fleecs illustrating past and present versions of Jack/Crossjack is well executed in their display of different art styles meshing together seamlessly. From the construction of page and panel layouts to the mesh of different art styles that honor the characters used in this book, everything is artistically executed on the pages. Felipe Sobreiro does an excellent job coloring Seeley and Fleecs’ art, giving it textured depth and contrast between the various characters and styles presented in this issue. This is a solid in-between issue that sets up readers for what is to come in the returning series and is worth adding to your pull list for New Comic Book Day.
Newsdesk