Johnny Raygun Quarterly #2

Posted: Tuesday, October 4, 2005
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Johnny Raygun Quarterly #2 Creator(s): Rich Woodall and Matt Talbot
Publishers: Jetpack Press
From: USA
Price: $2.95(US)

Credit where credits due Woodall and Talbot can create a damn good evil villain. In this edition we have the Sinister Salamander and Batanga who are introduced as "The Friends of Evil". Both are indeed wonderfully evil. Batanga is a kind of Hellboy in leather [but not as tough] and the Salamnader is a villain of the mutant kind. It is the strength of these two characters that gives this latest Johnny Raygun comic much of its impetus.

The witty dialogue between our intrepid hero [Johnny Raygun] and the Salamander is a real high point. The dialogue is well paced, genuinely funny and well integrated into the action. Be a nice meglomaniacal maniac in search of world domination and hand it over to Johnny.

Talking of action, well that is the other highpoint of this edition. Fight scenes dominate [the entire first four pages for example] so it is important that the action is presented in a dynamic and convincing manner. It is. Good use of movement lines, appropriate "frame breaking" and well chosen angles all combine to give real energy to the action. I never thought of a salamander as being dynamic but hey what the heck. The nicely drawn origin of the Salamander page is reminiscent of The Goon and effective because of that.

There is a nice visual variety here also. I have already mentioned the origin page with it's pencilled feel, the action pages, well we also have the heavy use of black and contrast in the prison cell scene and the semi Manga style of the dream sequence. All combine to move things along at a fair old pace.

All of the features that I have come to associate with this comic are still present, alliteration, direct address, irony and wit abound but it is the new characters who stand out [and I haven’t even mentioned the horde of perverted zombies].

In a Word: Punchy.



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