Jumping-On: "Big Trouble in Little China"

- by Ninja Ross, 30 July 2014

Back in 1986, John Carpenter directed “Big Trouble in Little China,” starring Kurt Russell as the charismatic Jack Burton, a truck driver who finds himself fighting Chinese wizards and saving ladies from slavery. All in a day’s work for Kurt Russell, you understand.

Click to enlarge.

And now, BOOM! Comics have released the first two issues of a comic book sequel to the awesomely awesome movie. Written by Eric Powell and John Carpenter, with art by Brian Churilla, it has a lot of talent to back it up. But can it be anywhere near as good?

When we left Jack at the end of the movie, he was back in his truck on the open road, with one of Lo Pan’s demons as a stowaway. The first issue picks up right where the movie left off; just as the demon makes his presence known. But, rather than attack Jack to avenge his master, he takes a shine to him. It turns out, all you need to do to get a pet demon is kill its original master to earn its loyalty. 

In order to get rid of this demon, which Jack names Pete, after his old dog, he travels back to China Town to see Egg Shen. He arrives just in time for the wedding between his good friend Wang Chi and his fiancée Miao Yin. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’re likely going to be pretty lost at this point. Watch the movie.

The wedding is interrupted by the Wing Kong and their new master, Lo Pan’s disciple, Qiang Wu. After a bit of a tussle, Wu captures the loving couple and tells Jack he needs to retrieve three jars, each containing the spirit of one of the three storms (Watch the movie. Seriously). In order to get those jars, he needs to travel The Black Road in the hell of the Seven Faced Widow.

WANG.

Time for Jack, Egg and Pete to take a road trip! Yay, road trip!

The first issue offers a fun return of a classic movie with no flaws other than the fact, that each issue is far too short. The second issue follows the trio on their journey on the Black Road as they come across men on turtles and monkey midgets with swords and duck eggs. This one’s a little more on the weird side.

It keeps the same pace as the first issue and offers us even more, preventing it from feeling stale. As long as things continue like this, the series should prove to be an excellent sequel.

John Carpenter plays a part in the overall story. As with anything that credits someone as just having contributed to the plot, I have no idea how much input he actually has. Having read a few other things he has been involved in, and having seen a lot of his movies, it definitely feels like he’s put a lot of hard work into this book.

It all has a distinct John Carpenter feel and easily matches up to the source material in terms of tone and humour. It also helps that Eric Powell is a huge fan of the movie.

The CHIN.

You only have to take one look at Powell’s art or read just a bit of his work to know he’s greatly influenced by movies like Big Trouble in Little China. He’s clearly a big fan of old monster movies as well as the classic action flicks.

Powell brings his trademark absurd humour to the book, but keeps everything in line with the original movie, so nothing feels out of place. While a comic book sequel to any movie could easily turn out to be terrible, this is pretty much perfect.Eric Powell also created the excellent 1980s movie poster covers for the book, which do look pretty darn incredible.

The interior art is certainly not too shabby, either. Churilla brings a bright tone to the book that gives the whole story a very 1980’s vibe. He uses a fairly simplistic yet effective style that keeps the story flowing at a nice, even pace. He also gets Kurt Russell’s chin right. That’s very important.

Michael Garland’s colouring should also get a special mention here for putting the finishing touches on that 1980s feel, helping to make everything feel fresh and alive.

This is a book you need, especially if you’re a fan of the movie. It’s fun, it’s gorgeous and it’s a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?!?


You heard the man! You need this book! Go and get it, and once you do - you can thank us in the comments!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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