GrimJack's John Ostrander: Q&A

Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Posted By: Tim O'Shea

John Ostrander (along with artist Tim Truman) makes several longtime fans of their work happy today, with the return of GrimJack. Ostrander has a busy Wednesday, considering it also marks the release of the latest issue of Dark Horse’s Star Wars Republic. Fortunately, earlier this week, Ostrander answered some questions regarding his much-awaited latest work. On a related note, Ostrander and company have launched a GrimJack website.

Tim O’Shea: For the uninformed, what do you want to tell folks about GrimJack: Killer Instinct?

John Ostrander: Depends on how uninformed they are. GrimJack is usually about John Gaunt (although later issues were about his re-incarnation in a kid named James Edgar Twilley) who works out of the pan-dimensional city of Cynosure. This is where the multiverse meets -- you cross the street and the physical laws can change. Our tag line has always been "Guns work here, magic works there, and swords and a bad attitude works everywhere." John Gaunt is the equivalent of a private eye, working out of a place called Munden's Bar, located near the edge of the Pit -- the worst slum in Cynosure. Gaunt himself turns 50 in the course of the stories and has a long backstory, some of which has never been depicted.

In a way, it's PREQUEL to all the GrimJack stories we've seen to date. It covers how John Gaunt left the TDP, Cynosure's cops, and went to work for CADRE, Cynosure's version of the CIA. But that's just the prolog -- the real bulk of the story is how Gaunt left CADRE, how he came to own Munden's Bar, and how he came to be in the line of work we later see him in. This is Gaunt BEFORE his street rep. And, while a lot of our old friends are back, don't assume their relationship with Gaunt is the same here as it will be later.

O’Shea: Did you feel old when IDW announced GrimJack and had the following Ted Adams quote: “When I first started reading comics, IDW's Publisher Ted Adams said, "GrimJack (and the entire First Comics line) was always one of my favorites."

Ostrander: I get that all the time. I felt old when I encountered the first assistant editor somewhere who said, “John Ostrander?! I GREW UP reading your comics!" The reality is that I've been writing comics for 22 years. Some of my fans are having kids and are trying to get their kids to be my fans. That's cool. Thing is -- I don't think GrimJack: Killer Instinct is going to READ "old".

O’Shea: How instrumental was Mike Gold in making the return of GrimJack possible?

Ostrander: GrimJack wouldn't have returned without Mike. I'd been trying, without success, to get GGJ and company legally untangled for years. My brother, Joel, pointed out "You suck at negotiations." He was right -- I don't have the told to negotiate a deal I could trust. So Tim and I (Tim's co-creator and co-owner) brought Mike in to unravel it. It took a while but he did it and he negotiated the comic book deal and he keeps being in the middle of everything which is a very, very good thing.

O’Shea: Now that you've returned to the GrimJack universe after a long hiatus, what aspect of the character and its surroundings did you realize that you missed the most?

Ostrander: His voice. That first person narration. And it all came back, almost immediately. Like he was waiting for me to show up.

O’Shea: Do you think the potential audience for GrimJack's return has been boosted by your more recent Western work for DC (The Kents) and Marvel (Blaze of Glory)?

Ostrander: Hard to say. The numbers on those were never as high as I would've liked. I think our potential audience actually is boosted most by a lot of the shop owners who were GJ fans when it was first out and are talking it up. I love our fans.

O’Shea: I was struck a few years back, when discussing Apache Skies with you, that you said: "Back as far as GrimJack, I felt it was important to show the BRUTALITY of violence and the effects, ultimately, on everyone, including the person committing the violence." Does it frustrate you that many of your contemporary writers don't understand the distinction between glorifying and documenting the effect of violence?

Ostrander: I don't think they see the ramifications because they aren't shown any. The badass shows up, pulls the trigger, sprays bullets, leaps and goes on. He suffers no consequences, we get no glimpse of the other lives -- for all the gore, it's still sanitized. It's a video game. You have no emotional connection to the killer or the ones killed aside from an adrenaline rush. Don't get me wrong -- we'll supply that rush as well. But, before the end of the series, you're going to have an emotional kick with it all as well.

O’Shea: Compare the storyteller that Tim Truman was when you two last collaborated on GrimJack to the storyteller he is today, if you would?

Ostrander: Everything you always like about Tim is there but he's a better artist. His inking is incredible! The characterization, the intensity, the imagination -- it's all there. He just has more experience, knows more tricks, and turns up the volume better.

O’Shea: It's a busy week in terms of releases, given that this week also marks the release of the latest Star Wars Republic. How fun has the Star Wars work been, particularly given that the story will soon start addressing plot that ties directly into the next film?

Ostrander: Actually, we've been doing stuff that will resonate with the film for some time now. The reader just hasn't been aware of it. Jan Duursema, the artist, and I know roughly where it's all headed and we've been able to slant things in that direction. Actually, the work has gotten a little more difficult because, at this point, there's a very tight timeline and so fitting things in correctly becomes more work. However, I think the payoff will be well worth it and I think Jan and I are doing some of our best and most exciting Star Wars work ever at this point. Sere, I know what WE have planned as well and I've seen issues the readers, as of yet, haven't.

I'd also recommend what we're doing to GrimJack fans. We've had our own central character, Quinlan Vos, in the books and I think anyone who likes GrimJack would like Vos. Someone recently described Quin as the "rock god of the Jedi". He's more conflicted and tends to dress in leathers rather than robes and is, well, something of a "bad boy" among the Jedi.

O’Shea: Is there anything else you'd like to discuss about any of your upcoming work?

Ostrander: I have projects I'm working on that I can't yet really talk about. We'll see how they develop.

Got some comments on this item?
Have your say at the Silver Bulletins forum.