Getting To Know GrimJack - Manx Cat #4

Well, you know the drill by now. This issue might be kind of tricky, since GrimJack's astral form is hitching a ride inside another person for the entirety of the issue.

Page 1 - GrimJack's (aka John Gaunt) astral form has moved outside his body before, back in Pdwyr, a place he mentioned in Manx Cat #2. While there, he had a mentor named Maethe. The section of Cynosure we see looks old, medieval. GrimJack's seeking out St. John of Knives, an outlaw saint/demon killer from a millennium ago.

Page 2 - We see St. John, fighting on a rooftop. I stick by my description of him from last week's reviews: Ragman with swords. Fighting vaguely reptilian things.

Page 3 - Gaunt thinks St. John saw his astral form. If he's right, does St. John have extrasensory perception, like GrimJack seems to? GrimJack implies St. John was fighting demons, so they were loose in Cynosure in the more distant past.

Page 4 - Souls can apparently hitch rides in other people's bodies, in addition to simply floating free of their own. At least in this case, that causes a sharing of memory between the 2 parties.

Page 5 - The things GrimJack described as demons call St. John a 'goblyn'. So maybe they aren't supernatural? Also, despite everyone we've seen so far using pointy weapons, guns do work.

Page 6 - St. Dryden, the one with the gun is someone St. John knows, and works with at killing these alleged demons. St. John knows 'the way of violence'.

Page 7 - However allied St. John and St. Dryden may be, John doesn't feel inclined to mention there's another soul inside him besides his own. Why?

Page 8 - St. John not as young as he once was, but who is? The city has a 'Lord Protector'. Demon blood smells pungent.

Page 9 - St. John actually Priest Fra Benjamin Marsh. St. Dryden is Fra Hugh Pentacost, another, younger priest. The head priest of the Sleepless Monks from last issue was 'Fra Jess'. Same religion? Marsh and Hugh live at the X Street Mission. Marsh is attracted to Hugh, but Hugh doesn't know it, and Marsh won't mention it, as he feels the age gap is too great. Marsh was a warrior who sought peace as a priest, but it didn't take. GrimJack says he can relate. So did he have a stint as a priest, or similar peace-minded person?

Page 10 - Butterfly arrives. Hugh dismayed to see it, Marsh grimly resigned. Butterfly a message from Maethe. To GrimJack, Maethe is dead. Not surprising, since Gaunt knew him Pdwyr, and he described that place as 'doomed' in #2. Since Grimjack says he also knows the land, are they now in Pdwyr? If so, it has green grass and pink pterosaurs-type things.

Page 11 - Maethe says reincarnation is common, but it doesn't always move linearly(?) He remembers all his lives, but warns that could drive you mad. Hugh's is not impressed. Chaotic Gods get a mention. The sky was pink, kind of frothy on page 10, not it's gray, like night fell.

Page 12 - Maethe reiterates some of what Fra Jess said last issue. The Chaotic Gods exist outside existence, and they want in to Cynosure. Since all of the multiverse meets there eventually, the Chaotic Gods could get anywhere from there. They plan to use Mannachs to open the way. Mannachs is cruel towards humans, and not trustworthy with its own kind.

Page 13 - Maethe taught Hugh and Marsh how to fight demons, but why? Hugh not happy that they do the fighting, while Maethe does the planning.

Page 14 - Lord Protector lives in the Manson Mansion, next to the Iron Cathedral. Iron Cathedral is headquarters for the UCCC - United Covenant Church of Cynosure. All churches fall under its rule and protection, even if the worship demons. Iron Cathedral is where the center of the Pit will be someday. Hugh doesn't like wizards, tends to sulk. Marsh doesn't mind, GrimJack does.

Page 15 - To reach the Lord Protector, one must get past the Prefect Trifecta. Three heads, named Wynn, Plaise, Shaw (oh, the puns!), set in a door. Each head looks slightly reconstructed, though moving from left to right, each head is more artificial (metallic) than the one before. Prefect Plaise is concerned with punctuality. Marsh can be a bit of a smart mouth. Plaise says it's a sin to keep the Lord Protector waiting. Is he serious, or just melodramatic?

Page 16 - Lord Protector's name is Damian Kristos. Wears partial mask, has sword, staff, jester shoes. Or he needs to get his toes straightened out. He keeps churches fighting with each other to keep himself strong. Gaunt doesn't approve of that. Kristos not concerned with Marsh's complaints about demons near their mission. Actually makes a fair point that one sentient's god is another sentient's demon. Which would actually make Marsh and Hugh religiously intolerant, what with their killing of what they term "demons". Kristos probably only saying that because the "demon" worshippers pay him lots.

Page 17 - X Street Mission is poor, pays with information. Kristos wants to catch St. John of Knives. Kristos also not a fan of pants, has about as much back door coverage in his outfit as Psylocke does in hers, so something for the interested ladies and gents. There's a place called 'Extreme Junction'.

Page 18 - Kristos wants St. John gone badly enough to summon battle cherubs, or as Marsh describes them, 'imps from Hell'. They're little pink things, with gold wings, red boots, diapers/underpants, and oh yes, guns. Marsh is not pleased by this development.

Page 19 - Lot more saints than just John and Dryden, all garbed and armed roughly the same. They describe themselves as the 'Church of Ephemeral Salvation'. Why Emphemeral? Because their battle never seems to end? Because they save by killing demons, and so they're saved for the brief instant between death and a return to Hell?

Page 20 - The other saints don't know Marsh and Hugh are John and Dryden, consider the two priests informers and turncoats.

Page 21 - In Cynosure, dimensions meet and co-exist, adjacent to each other. The Extreme Junction is where they blend. It looks like a Stargate with a huge fog machine set somewhere nearby. Dryden would rather die than wind up in a state of living death.

Page 22 - St. John can't promise he could kill Dryden to spare him that. Gaunt can be quite cruel.

Page 23 - Apparently certain powers come with being Lord Protector. Kristos can fly, and he may have summoned the Battle Cherubs, or they may just hang out at his house. Are those some of the powers? Mannachs has Night Terrorists, the living dead lining the street leading to Extreme Junction. They're asleep, but still up and moving, and whatever they see in their sleep makes them want to kill everyone.

Page 24 - Lord Protector unwilling to work with St. John against Night Terrorists. He's a better swordsman than St. John.

Page 25 - So being punched into the Extreme Junction is not immediately fatal. Might drive you insane. And it's where Mannachs is hanging out. Oh, and Mannachs is a giant, female, partially mummified cat-person. She says she's seen St. John coming and going, which I'm thinking is a reference to GrimJack moving through time and hitching a ride. She does describe them as 'my new playthings'. That's plural, so she clearly thinks she has more than one.

That's it for this issue. Lot of new things to learn, though it'll be interesting to see how much of it applies in GrimJack's time.