You didn't think Grim Spring was over, did you? Oh no, like the character himself, it won't stay dead. In the mid-to-late 2000s, Ostrander and Truman reunited for a pair of mini-series, Killer Instinct being the first. During the Flint Henry run, Steve Pugh had drawn a couple of different stories that covered most of John Gaunt's life from childhood up through the Demon Wars, but there was still a gap from there to the first story published as a back-up in Starslayer. It's in that gap this mini-series is set.
In some ways, it feels like a story designed to answer questions we don't really need to know. Was anyone demanding to know how Gaunt came to own a bar called Munden's, where the bartender is Gordon Munden? Or how Gaunt's cop buddy Roscoe lost his eye? Or why Gaunt favors "Chaney" as an alias?
I tend to doubt it, but maybe it's wrong to look at those as anything other window dressing. Easter eggs for the fans. In the larger sense, the story is about how Gaunt became his own man. His history is of other people using him. Fighting for the amusement of aristos in the Arena. Being led around by Major Lash. Working for sniveling bureaucrats in the Transdimensional Police, and, when this series starts, for Mayfair as part of Cadre. It's Gaunt as a gun, someone who simply allows himself to be pointed at a target, and then he kills them, no questions asked. How did he become the guy we see in the ongoing series? The one always determined to do things his way, to seek out answers no matter who gets hurt or pissed off?
So it's GrimJack's journey to reassert control over his life. Who he aids, what he seeks, who he kills, those are going to be his choices going forward. But Ostrander and Truman make sure to keep it interesting, with lots of interesting bits and pieces. Telekinetic ninja mimes as assassins. Stones that can contain a person's soul, and are admissible as testimony because a soul can't lie, apparently. The Knights Sewar. One of the very earliest GrimJack stories was about people who played at being vampires or creatures of the night. In this story, we get a glimpse of what it's like for the actual vampires and their somewhat tenuous place in a city leery of another demon incursion.
I said I didn't really need to know how Gaunt came to own Munden's Bar, but I did actually enjoy his introduction to Gordon and the hostile start to their relationship. The notion not everyone in the Pit saw the Dancer's rebellion the same way as Gaunt.
As you might guess, Truman's not one for splash pages (I think Mandrake's run as artist had more splash pages than all the other GrimJack comics combined), but he brings back the same look and atmosphere to Cynosure from his original stint on the book. Most of the places Gaunt goes are dingy and cramped. Subways, apartments, clubs, everything has a grime to it. Even Mayfair's private office feels close, the tight panels making it seem like there's no room to move. While the improvements in printing and color certainly make Truman's art clearer, I think it takes a bit of the gloom away from the surroundings.
His GrimJack is also a bit bulkier, but he's also younger here, so maybe that's to be expected. Have to cinch up the belt when you're self-employed instead of living on a government paycheck.
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