Jack Staff - References in Jack Staff

References in Jack Staff

Throughout the series, many characters appear that are based on other comic book characters, especially those from Britain. This may be confusing to those not familiar with them.

• Freedom Fighters, Sgt. States, etc. are loosely based on Marvel Comics World War II team, the Invaders. Sgt. States (America's Fighting Foot Soldier), is based on Captain America (with bits of Baron Blood added later), and his sidekick(es) Steve, the Star Spangled Kid is based on Bucky. Blazing Glory is either based on the Human Torch or Spitfire or a combination of both.

• "Alfred Chinard", also known as The Spider, is Grist's elderly version of the classic 1960s British comic book villain, The Spider, who starred in IPC Fleetway's weekly comics anthology Lion. "A. Chinard" is an anagram of "Arachnid." Once IPC Media became aware of Grist's unauthorized use of The Spider, they allowed him to continue but requested that Grist's version only be referred to as Alfred Chinard in future appearances. IPC Media publishing director Andrew Sumner stated (in an interview with comics news website Down The Tubes) that he is such a fan of Jack Staff and Grist's treatment of The Spider that he has incorporated Grist's portrayal of the ageing Spider into the official Spider canon (see The Spider checklist in Titan Books' archive collection, The King of Crooks).

• Captain Gust, also known as the Hurricane, is based on the classic British comic book hero, Captain Hurricane. The character also has much in common with Marvel's Hulk, and the military programme that created him, Project H, is reminiscent of the similar organisation associated with Marvel's Wolverine.

• General Tubbs is based on the classic British comic book hero, General Jumbo.

• The Claw, Ben Kulmer, is loosely based on the Steel Claw, another classic British hero. As the Steel Claw was a thief before becoming a secret agent, a major subplot for Kulmer deals with his criminal past from before he joined Q and the danger of him reverting. The Steel Claw was partly created by Ken Bulmer.

• Tom Tom the Robot Man is loosely based on Robot Archie, as well as Marvel's Iron Man.

• An unnamed Adam Eterno made a cameo appearance in one issue, as the "Eternal Warrior" (later renamed "Cosmic Warrior"), lost in the timestream. He reappeared at the end of #11 (vol.2) and played a role in the next storyline through #12. He later reappears a number of times, including in January 2008's Jack Staff Special and his own The Eternal Conflicts of the Cosmic Warrior special in October, 2009.

• Charles Raven, Britain's Greatest Escapologist of the Victorian Age, is based on Janus Stark.

• Helen Morgan, a member of Q, mentions that she has a shard of something called the "Valiant Stone". This stone is based on the Eye of Zoltec, used by Tim Kelly in the Kelly's Eye comic strip, which appeared in Valiant between 1963 and 1971.

• Morlan the Mystic is loosely based on Alan Moore ("Moorealan").

• The mystery/thriller writer Iain M Angel is based upon (and an anagram of) Neil Gaiman, and his name is reminiscent of Iain M Banks.

• Maveryk's partner Detective Sgt. "Zipper" Nolan is a reference to Zip Nolan — Highway Patrol from Lion. The nickname Zipper was recently revealed to be from his childhood, where he was recruited by the Druid (an analogue of Marvel's Doctor Strange) to "zip in" and free the captured Lord Nod, ruler of dreams (who is a reference to Sandman's Dream).

• Maveryk himself is very much in the style of old Seventies television cops such as the characters from The Sweeney — he even refers to John Thaw, an actor from the show, as being ideal to play him in a hypothetical show of his life. His relationship with Zipper tends to play into a common dynamic in those shows with him as Thaw's character Jack Regan and Nolan as George Carter.

• The vampire hunters Bramble and Son are based on characters from the sitcom Steptoe and Son, one of whom was played by actor Wilfrid Brambell.

• Similarly, some of the soldiers shown in the World War II era episodes are based on characters from the sitcom Dad's Army.

• Becky Burdock's employer and publisher, Gerald Skinner, may be based, in part, on British comics personality and publisher Dez Skinn.

• The cover to #3 (Vol.1) was designed as a tabloid front cover, in homage to the covers of TV Century 21, while Paul Grist has noted #4's cover is advertently similar to Invaders #9 ("though obviously Captain America isn't a vampire").

• Characters who are important to the plot, but in a minor way and who are unlikely to appear again (such as a murder victim who kicks off an investigation), tend to be given the surname Noone ("no one").

• Becky Burdock, Vampire Reporter has a highly similar name to Marvel character Betsy Braddock.

• John Smith (the lead character) is also a well advertised brand of beer in the UK 'John Smith's Yorkshire Bitter'.

• Jack Staff is a nautical term for a flag pole at the front of a ship used for displaying the 'Union Jack'.