Grimjack (1984) 14

Grimjack (1984) 14

Sep 1985

Decaying Orbit

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Linda Lessman, Steve Haynie, Mike Gold

John Gaunt arrives on Guignol Furnace Station using an alias and looking for Pauly “Koop” Kooper, a missing journalist for the Cyn Times. He encounters hard resistance from the powers that be aboard Guignol Furnace Station. He crosses paths with Mitch, a familiar face from the Demon Wars. They fought on the same side in that conflict but Mitch only vouches for Gaunt conditionally.

Gaunt finds Koop and gets him off Guignol Furnace Station but not without shedding some blood. He wrecks the salvage operation that the boss aboard the furnace station has going in the process of escaping from Guignol.

Grimjack (1984) 13

Grimjack (1984) 13

Aug 1985

Suspect 

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Lina Lessman, John Workman, Mike Gold

Roscoe narrates a story about he was given an assignment he didn't want, bring John Gaunt in for murdering Scarborough, a local tough guy. Roscoe was sure that John wasn’t responsible and it turned out he was right but he still had to establish that fact. 

Thoughts

Grimjack is in this story, near the center of it, but it feels like Roscoe’s story. It was a little weird having Roscoe narrate this story. 

Grimjack (1984) 12

Grimjack (1984) 12

Jul 1985

Charnel House

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Lina Lessman, Mike Gold

Manwyyes and Elvanna return. They need John Gaunt’s help tracking down a runaway named Huoror. The search for the runaway takes them to some of the darker, seedier neighborhoods in Cynosure. Elvanna and Grimjack almost get killed, first by a mob of aliens and then by some giant slugs known as psyphyaliens. They find Huoror but he is dead by the time they get to him.

Manwyyes saves Elvanna’s life but she is so shocked by the act of violence he commits that it shakes her faith in the man she once thought was a god. 

Grimjack (1984) 11

Grimjack (1984) 11

Jun 1985

Long Gone Dead

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Larry Elmore, John Workman, Cathy Workman, Rick Taylor, Mike Gold, John Snyder III

John and Spook get away from Rio and his men only to find another group of men on their tails, the Law Killers: Lash, Grunt, and Preacher. Spook lays her cards on the table and tells Grimjack a little bit about her past and how she came to be what she is and Grimjack reciprocates.

Spook tricks Rio and his men into attacking the Law Killers. Grimjack blows up the weapons shipment. Gaunt and spook escape back to Cynosure. He collects his reward. She gets arrested but promptly escapes.

Grimjack (1984) 10

Grimjack (1984) 10

May 1985

Hard-Timers

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

John Gaunt travels back in time to Gravesend, TX sometime after the American Civil War. He’s there to prevent the transfer of some modern weapons to a time period in which they did not belong. The person delivering the weapons, Spook, a beautiful, dark-haired woman, is supposedly just what her name implies, a ghost.

Grimjack makes contact with Spook in the hopes that he can dissuade her from delivering more illicit weapons to Rio, the buyer. The local long arm of the law, which has already decided that it doesn’t like Grimjack, steps in and arrests them Gaunt and Spook. They get separated but later reunite on the train carrying the stock of weapons. They are headed out of town but men whom Rio hired are hot on their trail. 

Grimjack (1984) 9

Grimjack (1984) 9

Apr 1985

My Sins Remembered

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Cathy Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Doctor Leslie Geraci, psychotherapist at the University of Cynosure, and Doctor Ullrich Prec hire John Gaunt to enter the Psyche Column and rescue a clone of Macrophysist Althea Muller. Grimjack brings in a security team, BlacJacMac and his men, to guard the perimeter while he is within the Psyche Column. 

Gaunt finds Althea Muller but she is in no shape to be immediately separated from the Psyche Column. He helps her deal with childhood memories of her parents that she had never fully processed. The experience unleashes some things within himself that he must deal with before he can exit the Psyche Column.

The story ends with the reveal that Dancer, Katar, and Mac Cabre are watching what Grimjack has been up to and plotting how they can get him to do their dirty work.

Grimjack (1984) 8

Grimjack (1984) 8

Mar 1985

Exit Poll

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Carpathian, whom Gaunt knows as Crayne, hires Grimjack to be his bodyguard and campaign manager when he runs for office. Crayne joined the race days before Election Day. Horace D. Orkmundt, his only serious competition is a guy whom Crayne hired himself. Things don’t go exactly as Crayne envisioned when first Orkmundt tries to have him killed and then the unexpected happens when Crayne wins the election.

Crayne winds up faking his own death in order avoid having to serve the people of Cynosure as their Chief Associate Clerk, Intergovernmental Files. 

Grimjack (1984) 7

Grimjack (1984) 7

Feb 1985

Shadows of Doubt

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

John knocks out Lillian. He and Noleski fight their way through the cops who have come to arrest them. John takes the unconscious Lillian with him. Noleski heads in a different direction but agrees to meet up at an undisclosed rendezvous point later.

John takes Lillian to a hideout. They talk but are interrupted by a trio of bounty hunters. John dispatches the bounty hunters and then he and Lillian go looking for one of John’s contacts in the underworld. 

Grimjack (1984) 6

Grimjack (1984) 6

Jan 1985

Shadow Cops

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Rick Taylor, Mike Gold

John Gaunt and Jericho Noleski return to Cynosure only to find themselves wanted by the Trans Dimensional Police for the murder of two TDP officers. They decide to run rather than stand and fight, for fear of killing some of the TDP officers who want to arrest them. They turn to Roscoe for help but he doesn’t have access to the sort of information they need.

Gaunt turns next to Mayfair, the founding director of Cadre, a law enforcement organization to which Grimjack used to belong. They get some information they need from Mayfair but that alone is not enough. Finally, Gaunt goes to see Lillian Seffington of the Shadow Police in the hopes that she can corroborate some of the data he and Noleski have dug up.

Grimjack (1984) 5

Grimjack (1984) 5

Dec 1984

Dead End

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Rick Taylor, Mike Gold

John does a favor for an old friend, Roscoe, and looks into the murder of Hubie Burke, Roscoe’s nephew. Hubie was a cop, just like Roscoe, but much greener. One of the clues that Roscoe gives Grimjack leads him to Eternity Road and the Dead End Station.

John runs into Jericho Noleski, a biker cop, while he is in the hinterlands. Noleski and Gaunt exchange blows during their first meeting but by the end of this installment they have put their differences aside and team up to try and figure out who killed Hubie and why.

Grimjack (1984) 4

Grimjack (1984) 4

Oct 1984

Legacy

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

John Gaunt is hired by Paul Caedmon, rockstar Jim Lanyon’s manager, to protect Lanyon from a deranged follower, Lee Travis. Caedmon is convinced that Travis is going to try and murder Landon. Gaunt hunts down Travis but the man proves to be a handful and escapes from Gaunt’s first attempt to deal with him.

Gaunt eventually gets his man but not in time to stop him from killing his intended target, Anna Lanyon, Jim’s wife. 

Grimjack (1984) 3

Grimjack (1984) 3

Oct 1984

Blood Relations!

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Grimjack goes to see BlacJacMac. He tells him about seeing Mac Cabre, BlacJacMac’s father, at the Fallen Angel. Together they pay a visit to Mac Cabre’s former base of operations, Blackfriar’s Hall. They find that BlackJacMac’s old room has been transformed into a laboratory where more specimens like Butcher Boy are being grown in tanks.

Mac Cabre and his henchmen find Grimjack and BlacJacMac nosing around. Father and son get into a fight that involves fists and other weapons. Grimjack deals with Mac Cabre’s henchmen and then lends BlacJacMac a hand by cutting off Mac Cabre’s hand. Grimjack uses grenades to lay waste to the laboratory and Blackfriar’s Hall.

Grimjack and BlacJacMac don’t notice it but someone is watching them as leave, Dancer, Mac Cabre’s boss, and Katar, Dancer’s enforcer. 

Grimjack (1984) 2

Grimjack (1984) 2

Sep 1984

Blood Sport

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

John Gaunt accepts a job from a young boy named Seth who wants the old mercenary to save his father, Doug Bailer. John checks with the boy’s mother and then heads to the Fallen Angel, an illegal fight club. He gets there just in time to prevent Doug from stepping into the ring with an opponent who probably would have killed him.

John Gaunt gets in the ring in Doug Bailer’s place and defeats Butcher Boy, who is much bigger than Gaunt. Mac Cabre, the ringmaster, was supposedly killed years ago but is clearly still around. Gaunt suspects that this means that the Dancer, Mac Cabre’s boss is also still around. Gaunt gives his buddy BlacJacMac a call later to let him know that Mac Cabre, his father, is still alive.

Grimjack (1984) 1

Grimjack (1984) 1

Aug 1984

A Shade of Truth!

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Sondra Grant, whose college aged daughter Marcie recently committed suicide, hires John Gaunt (aka Grimjack) to find her daughter’s missing diary. Sondra insists on accompanying Gaunt while he conducts the investigation. The first person they visit is Marcie’s boyfriend, a jock who doesn’t mourn Marcie’s death or want to make time time to answer any questions.

The next person they visit is William Honesworth, Sondra’s ex and Marcie’s father. William is more than willing to talk to Sondra but Krupp, his right hand man, doesn’t care for Grimjack, whom he finds snooping around the Honesworth estate while Sondra and William are talking.

The investigation eventually leads them to a drug lord named Candyman. The trail circles around after that as they cross paths once again with some of the same characters.

Grimjack in Starslayer 18

Starslayer 18

Jul 1984

Blood and Thunder!

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, Janice Chiang, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

Tamara hires Grimjack to help them rescue Torin Mac Quillon and his men from Ariosto who is holding them hostage and planning to kill them. Grimjack agrees to do the job but demands the Jolly Roger, Tamara’s ship, in exchange for his services.

The difficulty level of the job is elevated thanks to Sphinx, a wizard that Ariosto employs. Complicating things further is a band of Alpha Centaurians who have been sent by a being called Cal to capture Starslayer.

Grimjack completes the job as promised and takes possession of the Jolly Roger only to turn around and sell it to Mac Quillon. 

Grimjack in Starslayer 17

Starslayer 17

Jun 1984

Night of the Killer Bunnies

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

10 pages

Grimjack helps some cute talking animals, mostly dogs, to defend their planet from invasion by a gang of killer bunny rabbits. He was just supposed to train the cute dogs but they prove to be fairly inept. Grimjack gets some help defending the planet from Blackjac, another mercenary. Grimjack, Blackjac, and the cute animals defend the planet from the big, bad, killer rabbits. 

Grimjack in Starslayer 16

Starslayer 16

May 1984

Buried Past - Final Chapter

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

12 pages

Grimjack travels to Pdwyr. He lived there for a time when he was much younger. Every one he knew is gone. They were killed during the Demon Wars or at least that’s what he believed. It turns out that Gdeon, one of his old friends, is still around but is now a vampire. He’s the one who turned Cracker. 

Cracker shows up. Gdeon and Cracker transform into human-sized bats and fight, to the death. Some troops from Cadre show up. They don’t intend to step in until the fight is over. Grimjack has other ideas. He engages the men from Cadre, killing them while the two vampires fight it out.

Grimjack in Starslayer 15

Starslayer 15

Apr 1984

Buried Past - Chapter Four

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

10 pages

Grimjack wakes up. Cracker is standing nearby. They talk and then Gaunt heads to Cadre headquarters. Gaunt used to work for the Cadre organization but now he suspects them of being the ones behind the vampire.

Grimjack’s hunch turns out to be fairly close to the truth. Mayfair, his old boss, tries to kill him after they talk about the vampire. Grimjack escapes by jumping out of a window. He avoids falling to his death thanks to a mini grappling hook. 

Gaunt turns to Roscoe, his old partner on the trans-dimensional police, for some help in finding the answers he needs. Roscoe points him in the direction of Pdwyr, a dimension that is currently in sync with Cynosure. 

Grimjack in Starslayer 14

Starslayer 14

Mar 1984

Buried Past - Chapter Three

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

8 pages

Grimjack exposes Miranda Mastenbrook to her father for what she has become, a vampire. Grimjack kills her after she freaks out and turns into a human-sized bat-like creature. Grimjack, absorbed in his own thoughts as he leaves the Mastenbrook home, is clubbed from behind by another vampire.

Thoughts

Good read. It would probably make more sense to read this story in one bite but I am enjoying the slower approach. 

Grimjack in Starslayer 13

Starslayer 13

Feb 1984

Buried Past - Chapter Two

by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, John Workman, Janice Cohen, Mike Gold

8 pages

Grimjack fights his way out of the ambush in which he found himself. Once his would be killers have been dispatched, Grimjack uses the Miller Medallion to locate Miranda Mastenbrook. He finds her in Suburbia looking considerably more innocent than the medallion indicates.

Thoughts

This is another fight heavy installment. The fight takes up the first six pages of this chapter. I really like the page layouts in this chapter. Every page seems different from the ones before and after it.