Recommended – ‘Stan & Jack’ issue #3 by Pete Doree.

Stan & Jack issue #3

Created by Pete Doree.

Black & White £3.

Available through Pete Doree’s BigCartel Store here.

The Story – Stan and Jack continue their hysterical cosmic journey through the comics universe. Along the way they meet and discover other luminaries of the ninth art. This issue ramps up the action and the cast and we get a few surprises, least of all is the villain unmasked at the end of issue #2 – and his brilliantly realised accent!!!!

The Recommendation – Pete is a buddy so this is just a quickie recommendation for a series that I always look forward to with each upcoming issue. (And bother Pete when I speak to him for when it will be available). Pete, being a somewhat old bastard like myself, is a lover of all things Silver and Bronze Age and litters jokes, hints, characters, Easter eggs and more through this new issue.

‘Suck it up, Princess.’

This issue is also in my humble opinion the most accomplished artistically so far. Whilst always readable and fun Pete manages to cram more and more characters into each panel and page. You see evidence of both a wonderfully misspent life loving comics and the knowledge/familiarity to back-up the jokes and gently familiar digs. Whilst Stan, Jack, Gil et al get the limelight it’s the lizard kingish appearance of Vaughn Bodē that had me laughing the most. (Especially when asked his advice on which button was ‘the red one’.) Bodē haunts the corners of the page with a smirk and a reefer, he’s that character you are always on the look-out for when reading.

This is also all out COSMIC! You can see the fun that is had from the scripting all the way through the art to the release. We gate ‘Zoom Tubes’ (I have just been on a painful work ‘Zoom Call’ and I wish they were as fun), spaceships piloted by Jim Sterenko, the ultimate weapon in the form of Roy Thomas as the ‘Continuity Buff’ as well as much more. It’s not just limited to Marvel either and we get some great new faces in the form of Carmine Infantino (with his pointy hand) and Julie Schwartz who turn up to lay down some useful/useless science facts. I also love the fact that Gil Kane loves a cocktail and seems to have one to hand at all times!

Jack Kirby – ‘Hey Gil, howcum we’re still breathing?’

Gil Kane – ‘When you have style, my boy. You don’t need oxygen.’

For anyone with an interest in the Bronze Age or just comics before 2005 then I highly recommend this. It’s a love-letter to a bygone age and a brief respite to some of the nonsense in comics these days. This third issue has just been released and I snapped it up. Included in the envelope was a brilliant Atomic Hercules that Pete drew for me (with a slight reference to a cockeyed incident that Pete is font of mentioning – no eyes were actually injured!)

So head over to Pete’s BigCartel store here and grab a copy of this and the preceding two issues.

You can also follow Pete on his Twitter right here and his Instagram here.

‘Tell ‘Em Irving Forbush Sent You!’

Many thanks for reading!