John "Grimjack" Gaunt
Created by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman

Grimjack was a hard-boiled mid-80s comic book, set in an alternative reality, a weird mixture of Conan the Barbarian and Star Wars. Lots of swords, lots of capes, lots of long hair on men. The series was probably best remembered for upping the ante on comic book violence. Somebody died, often horribly, and, of course, graphically, in every issue. Grimjack was the nickname of PI JOHN GAUNT, he of the murderous disposition and nasty smile. Sword and pistol at his side, clad in a military costume right out of a Gilbert and Sullivan operatta, he wandered through a city called Cynosure that existed in every dimension at once, which allowed the writers to change the laws of physics/nature at will. Fortunately, for fans of blood and guts, a blade works everywhere. There were femme fatales, corrupt politicians, missing persons, robberies gone wrong, illegal blood-sports, a seedy bar and haunted pasts. Great stuff for a maladjusted teen and still loads of fun.

Grimjack originally appeared in the November 1983 issue of Starslayer. He hung around for seven more issues, before moving on to his own book, Grimjack (1984-1991), which lasted over eighty issues. He also spawned a graphic novel, Demon Knight (1990), and a second series, Grimjack Casefiles (1990-1991), which reprinted his Starslayer appearances.

The latest scoop is that, according to Timothy Truman, he and co-creator John Ostrander are currently close to regaining the rights to the character, which have been mired for years of legal and economic entanglements.

COMICS

• STARSLAYER
  (1981-1985, Pacific)
  .

• Grimjack's first appearance (November 1983, #10)
• Grimjack's last appearance in this book (#18)
  .

• GRIMJACK
  (1984-1991, First Comics)
  81 issues
  Created by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman
  Writers: John Ostrander
  Artists: Timothy Truman, Tom Mandrake, Randy Emberlin, Flint Henry, Tom Sutton
  .

• "Shadow Cops" Part One (#5)
• "Shadow Cops" Part Two (#6)
• "Shadow Cops" Part Three (#7)
• "This Wheel's On Fire!" (October 1985, #15)
• "Wolfpac!" Part One (November 1985, #16)
• "Wolfpac!" Part Two (December 1985, #17)
• "Rep" (October 1988, #51)
• "When Titans Bowl" (November 1988, #52)
  .

• GRIMJACK CASEFILES
  (November 1990-1991)
  At least six issues, reprints Grimjack stories from STARSLAYER
  .
• DEMON KNIGHT: A GRIMJACK GRAPHIC NOVEL
  (1990, First Comics)

Thanks to Timothy Truman for the scoop, and the heads up.

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