- Jane Jet: Book 1- Nuclear Shadows
- Markosia
- Co-created, Written, & Lettered by Amal Desai
- Co-created & Illustrated by Paul Essenson
- Colors by Giuliana La Malfa
- Inks by
- Kashaun Hayden (pages 2-7)
- Jimmy Stewart (pages 8-23, 32-37)
- Yko (pages 29-31)
- Available now
- DriveThru Comics (digital)
- Amazon (print & digital)
In a dieselpunk 1955, JANE JET hits the skies after killing her abusive husband, ROCKET MAN, and becoming public enemy number one. If she’s to survive, she’ll need to outfly the looming shadows of WWII and onslaughts from the nearly unstoppable armored heroes of this age. JANE JET serves two fistfuls of truth and fury in BOOK ONE: NUCLEAR SHADOWS.
If there’s one thing that will grab my attention, it’s a cover that brings immediate flashes of pulp action stories like The Rocketeer, and Doc Savage. If that retro feeling stops with the cover art, I can move on knowing it brought a smile to my face. But, when I find a story that wraps itself in those nostalgic feels & builds on them to create a solid story, with no sense of jaded irony, it’s a good day. When I find a story that starts with nostalgia and then rope-a-dopes into a sharp turn in a direction I didn’t see coming, my interest turns to respect.
Co-creators Amal Desai & Paul Essenson came out swinging for the fences with Jane Jet. Instead of settling for an upbeat story of thrilling heroics, which I would have been fine with, they left the Golden Age behind by diving into the tale of an abused woman backed into a corner (just a heads up, some readers might have trouble with the opening scene). There’s adventure aplenty here, but the underlying narrative puts a very different spin on all of it.
Writer Amal Desai puts together a new motive behind Jane Jet’s fight, pitting her against something more than the standard mustachio-twirling villains. Forced to fight back against her abusive drunk of a husband- beloved World War II hero Rocket Man- Jane has to go on the run. Hard on her heels are her husband’s former teammates, the Heroes For Peace, determined to bring her in for what she’s done. Throughout the book, questions of friendship and loyalty play on repeat from multiple angles.
Picking up the other half of the comic book equation, Jane Jet has a solid art team with co-creator Paul Essenson on illustration, Giuliana La Malfa handling colors, and a plethora of inkers spread out over the issue (see above for the full list). While I can’t say the artistic style brought the Golden Age of comics to mind, it called up some fringe indie comics published in the 80s & early 90s. I still have some old Aircel floppies tucked away, so my nostalgia button was definitely pushed. The character designs were suitably, bombastically over the top and the action was Michael Bay-worthy.
Personally, I love comics like Jane Jet & hope to see more of these from Desai, Essenson, La Malfa, & crew. There are some turns that more jaded readers will roll their eyes at, but I had a great time from cover to cover. When we’re talking about comic books… which we are… that’s just about all anyone can ask for.
Final Score: 10/13
