Big Trouble in Little China seems to have just finished its first long story arc. And it’s a doozy. The plotting of the series all of a sudden makes sense; one has to wonder if it was Carpenter’s idea for a film sequel, what he came up with for the comic or just Powell’s invention.
Strange thing about the comic is the art. Churilla is really rough. Maybe Gonzalo Duarte is a new colorist or something, but even Churilla’s lines look different. And he’s skipping backgrounds a lot more noticeably. And the visual pacing of the issue’s a little weird. His panel layouts don’t flow.
Is the comic satisfying? Not really. The doozy ending, even though it has some potential going forward, doesn’t do anything for the series up until this point. It’s a refresh; I wish Powell had taken more responsibility for things.
Still, it’s amusing, well-executed stuff.
CREDITS
Writers, John Carpenter and Eric Powell; artist, Brian Churilla; colorist, Gonzalo Duarte; letterer, Ed Dukeshire; editors, Alex Galer and Ian Brill; publisher, Boom! Studios.
This issue of Big Trouble is unrepentant in its awesomeness. It’s Jack Burton versus the probably dimwitted demons of Hell as he tries to plan his escape. Powell goes for humor the entire issue–so much so, when Jack gets into a fight at the end, it’s hard to see there being any danger.
Churilla’s art seems really rushed this issue, but it might not be his fault. The issue winds down and Powell gets to his cliffhanger and all of a sudden it’s clear the big panel composition wasn’t to help Churilla, but Powell. There’s not a lot of story this issue–and when there is story, it’s Powell keeping the movie villain in play (after promising his demise three or four times now).
Well, Big Trouble in Little China is definitely going places. This issue, which is mostly (amusing) exposition and (great) banter–with a lot big action set piece thrown in–moves the series to an unexpected cliffhanger. Powell is getting closer and closer to needing to establish a point for the series past the gimmick of its very existence. He seems to be almost there.
And Big Trouble is back. Powell is setting up a new storyline, but he’s also back with his core cast–or maybe just developing his core cast. It feels less like a direct sequel to the movie and more like a real one.
Big Trouble isn't exactly in big trouble yet, but Carpenter and Powell's plotting is definitely getting long in the tooth. The comic opens with a very funny trip through various hells; this trip seems like it should be setting up the showdown between Lo Pan and Jack Burton. But it doesn't.
Even with some amusing jokes throughout, this issue is easily the weakest so far. It’s still pretty darn good–like I said, the jokes are amusing and Powell consistently rewards the reader with them, either big jokes or small. In some ways, Powell is making observations about Big Trouble to its fans, which is fine when the story’s good too.
It’s a little too fast of a read–Powell tries to slow it down a bit with a flashback to one of Jack Burton’s wives, who all appear to be evil women who can brainwash him into terrible deeds–but it’s another excellent issue.
Powell continues to show he gets it with Big Trouble. He and, presumably, Carpenter, give Churilla a bunch of crazy stuff to draw. Not right away. Right away is more comedy stand-off stuff with Jack Burton being an idiot but a well-intentioned one. The crazy stuff starts when Jack and Egg’s quest starts; they’re driving through a mystical Chinese sort of underworld… it’s phenomenal.
With John Carpenter breaking out the story with Eric Powell (who does the scripting), one has to wonder if Big Trouble the comic sequel is the same as a movie sequel would have been. Because it’s an odd opening, directly continuing the movie and then kind of going in reverse (to get protagonist Jack Burton back to Chinatown).