Joe Jefferson, a former pro boxer turned night guard for an aerospace manufacturer, was secretly chosen by his employer to be the test subject for a new super weapon being developed for the United States government. Kidnapped and experimented on, Joe eventually escapes to discover that he emits a pheromone that causes anyone around him to go mad with murderous rage. Finding it impossible to stay in one place for longer than five minutes, Joe hits the road in search for answers, only to meet a woman unaffected by his newfound abilities. Jody Curtis was born with anosmia, the inability to smell, and with her help, Joe Jefferson hopes to cure himself and find those responsible...
Armando M. Zanker, the artist on Gypsy Joe has a nice command of the "animated/adventures" style of drawing made popular by cats like Ty Templeton, Bruce Timm, and Michael Avon Oeming (Powers). the writer Jason M. Burns (The Expendable One, A Dummy's Guide to Danger), leans very heavily on the main character's first-person narration, and often comes off a little overbearing. considering that Burns also developes properties for film and teevee, i wouldn't be surprised to see a live action version on screen, probably starring that football player from Dancing With The Stars, Vin Deisel, The Rock, or some other racially ambiguous meat head... 
all that being said, i thought the book was pretty good. the high concept, great pacing and the relatable characters in the book were better than the execution. Burns could benefit from trusting the artist to show details that unfold the story mechanics rather than trying to explain with the star's internal monologue. for example, the star, a former boxer sizes up every situation strategicly based on his boxing experience... there are a hundred ways the artist could illustrate this so that the exposition did not have to work so hard... hopefully if the OGN series continues , artist and writer will develope their rapport... anyways, Gypsy Joe Jefferson, a 96 page Original Graphic Novel published by Viper Comics is in stores now. if you check it out, let me know what you thought!
uno.
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I like the concept of the story, never came across that one before.
ReplyDeleteyeah, it's a weird idea too, but it works though. the book's ending leaves room for it to become a series of books (or a teevee series), so we'll see what the response is. who knows...
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