Random Journeys #3

Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2007
By: Steve Saville

Cover of Random Journeys #3 Creator(s): Rob Jackson
Publishers: Self Published
From: 6PS
Price:

And so we come to the third and final instalment of Rob Jackson’s increasingly random comic. This final part finds the professor back in the “modern” world and recounting his tales of archaeological digs, jungle gods, imprisonment, torture and escape to attentive crowds.

Jackson then flits back to the jungle to fill in the narrative gaps between where we left the professor at the end of part two and his return to Britain. . This is a busy little comic, the action gallops along at a frantic pace and a host of bizarre characters enter at an almost alarming rate [including a giant winged serpent].

Just as I was beginning to fear though that the story was moving to a predictable conclusion Jackson introduces a delightful little twist that turns everything on its head and results in spoiling the professor’s triumphant return. In fact it results in him finding himself drunk and semi dressed in bed sitter land. For obvious reasons I can’t reveal too much but the twist ensures that Jackson maintains a frenetic pace through to the very end.

Fear not though there is a happy ending and a hint that maybe we have not heard the last of “Random Journeys.” The last two pages of this comic contain a stand alone spoof story drawn in the comic style of the 30’s and titled “Our Coroner is an Owl.” It is an enjoyable piece of silliness that is reminiscent of the similar spoofs that sometimes feature in Viz.

“Random Journeys” has been an enjoyable jaunt, always jolly, often confusing but never dull. Personally what I enjoyed most about this final instalment was seeing Jackson’s art work develop. It is still naïve but the increasing attention to background and fine detail really adds to the overall effect and atmosphere.

In a Word: Adventurous.



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