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So Visceral, you’d think it’s just an ongoing boxing mag.

Published 2007

As we continue the catchup to where I actually am in the reading order right now, here’s another comic I had skipped initially. And while it didn’t knock my socks off, it ended up twisting the lore in such a way that it serves up a gut punch for the reader. It also gave me my favorite characterization of Battlin’ Jack yet. Although that’s possibly due to just never having spent this much time with the guy.

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First thing you notice about this mag is the art. It has this… sloppy joe quality to it – you know, the sandwich – in that it initially seems awful, but then you let your eyes take a real bite off of it.

It is both impossible to tell what I’m looking at, yet chock-a-block with infinite detail. Like taking a bite of a sloppy joe.

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The next immediate detail you pick up on is the paneling, they really go out of their way to try to keep it fresh from page to page:

This is five panels for the price of 3. It really teeters on the edge of looking like some youtuber’s red circles in “TEN THINGS YOU MISSED“, but I think it carries it off just fine in the end. They also never do it carelessly and is generally used in the name of efficiency.
All 3 of those “panels” would easily be 3 separate panels in any other story. This allows them to highlight some details without wasting space.

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SPOILERS

This comic could just exist between the pages of Man Without Fear with almost no discrepancies, and honestly provides some context that shows Jacky Boy in a much kinder light than he comes off there.

And I mean, he still smacks his kid that time (in fact hits him twice rather than the once usually shown), but it at least attempts to show us all the different mental health disaster zones he’s handling at once. Still don’t hit your kid, but damn, I don’t think a man has ever been hit with that many moral conundrums in one day.

I also JUST LOVE the concept of Jack realizing his son is a capable fighter during his fight, which essentially releases him from the hell he’s been going through. Knowing that he was able to die without worrying about his son’s safety is a wonderful addition to the character.

Sidenote: I just love the shatter-panel realization trope in comics. Very literally impactful and never gets old, at least, to me.