Jack Staff (2003) 3

Jack Staff (2003) 3

Jun 2003

Soldiers (Part 3)

by Paul Grist, Phil Elliott 

Pp. 59-88

Detective Inspector Maveryk says he killed Helen Morgan, of Q. He sits in his office drinking while he waits for someone to arrest him. 

Helen Morgan explains Project H. She compares what happened 20 years before to dropping a rock in a pond. Hurricane was the rock and the pond was Castletown. What’s happening now is that ripples from 20 years ago are washing over Castletown.

Twenty years ago Project H developed another weapon, in addition to Hurricane, General Tubbs. The general was a young boy who was tasked with taking down Hurricane with small tanks and planes. Jack Staff and Becky got caught in the middle of it all. 

Harry Crane comes looking for Helen Morgan. Crane and Maveryk used to work together but then Crane requested a transfer and wound up in Q. Maveryk relives what he did to Helen Morgan when Crane looks at him but he claims not to know where she is. 

John Smith, Beck Burdock, and Patricia Carthy’s conversation in a restaurant is interrupted by an angry mob. They flee the premises. 

Twenty years ago. Jack Staff and young Becky Burdock flee General Tubbs tanks and wind up in the sewers. There they encounter Hurricane. 

Helen Morgan and DI Maveryk try to interrogate the vicar from the previous issue but Maveryk experiences a moment of rage. He beats Helen Morgan to death. He returns to his office but then she walks in.

Thoughts

Maveryk insists that Morgan is dead but then she isn’t. She also narrates part of the chapter. There are events taking place in two different time periods but there’s also something else at work here. 

None of this makes sense. My description of this chapter can’t come close to the experience of actually reading this chapter. I love the way Grist weaves it all together. This chapter feels as though it has two competing narrators: Maveryk and Morgan. They each seem to tell part of the story. It isn’t entirely clear what is going on but I like how it is put together. I enjoy trying to figure it out. 

I can see how some people might get frustrated with this story. I feel fairly confident saying that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.