Retro Reading; Grim Jack



John Gaunt aka Grim Jack by Tim Truman



Grim Jack was a Science Fiction and Fantasy comic that ran from the mid 80's to the early 90's. It followed the exploits of gun for hire John Gaunt also known on the streets as Grim Jack. The stories took place in the pan-dimensional city of Cynosure where all dimensions and realities merge. I was originally attracted to the book by the art of Timothy Truman, and once I picked it up and started reading I was hooked. The stories would vary from month to month from detective noir to vampire hunting story lines to wild west time travel. Anything was possible in Grim Jack. Later in the series John Gaunt dies and is resurrected in a clone body of himself. The story moves forward from there with John Gaunt being reincarnated as James Twilley.  Each version of Grim Jack had a different artist at the helm and each brought a unique look to the character.







Jim Twilley



John Gaunts Clone



Here are a few sample covers depicting the various versions of Grim Jack during the series. Artist Flint Henry pays homage to earlier renditions of Grim Jack during his run as artist during the Grim Jim era. Here we see Jim Twilley in a similar pose and setting as the Clone version of John Gaunt as depicted by Tom Mandrake.







Jim Twilley



John Gaunt



Here again we have Tim Truman's John Gaunt with gun and sword in hand followed by a very similarly geared up Jim Twilley by Flint Henry. Grim Jack is a great read with a wide variety of stories ranging from Science Fiction to Supernatural Ghost and Vampire tales. All along the way the reader is treated to a vast array of characters both human and alien that make the Mos Eisley Cantina look tame.         



A dynamic example of Tim Truman's Grim Jack