Friday, July 12, 2024

Book Review: Junkyard Joe volume 1


Throughout history, unlikely and strange heroes have risen and fallen, their identities and lives a secret. But for a Great Evil to be stopped, their stories must be told. They are The Unnamed fighting The Unknown War.

From the explosive pages of Geiger comes Junkyard Joe! The world knows him from the comic strip by recently retired cartoonist Muddy Davis, but the truth stretches back to the Vietnam War. It was there that the tragedies of combat and visions of a strange robot solider that saved his life still haunt him. However, dreams become reality when Joe mysteriously shows up on Muddy’s doorstep, warning us of a new and impending war.

Junkyard Joe volume 1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank was published June 27, 2023, by Image Comics. It collects issues 1 to 6 of the ongoing Junkyard Joe comic.

I recently heard about this title from a video on the Casually Comics on YouTube. This comic was by creators who I have enjoyed in the past (from their work at DC Comics and other places) and sounded like something I might want to check out.

The story starts out in Vietnam in 1972 with an issue that would be right at home in any of the war comics that came out in the 1960's and 1970's. It very much has the mix of grime, violent reality with the fantastical. I can see the inspiration from old series like G.I. Robot here.

Then things jump to present day, and we're introduced to the residents of a small Indiana town. We feel the drama of the lives of Muddy Davis and his new neighbors, the Munn family. Johns and Frank really infuse that realism in their words and art. It is a solid experience.

Of course, being the first arc, we do not get all of the answers. We get a full story that could stand on its own as-is, but it definitely part of something bigger. These creators and others are setting up their own interconnected comic book universe after all.

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