{"id":355,"date":"2015-06-13T03:11:42","date_gmt":"2015-06-13T03:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2015-06-13T03:11:42","modified_gmt":"2015-06-13T03:11:42","slug":"big-trouble-equals-big-fun-act-3-jacks-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/?p=355","title":{"rendered":"Big Trouble Equals Big Fun \u2013 Act 3: Jack\u2019s Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well this week was supposed to be the finale of the review of the first story arc of Big Trouble in Little China, the comic.\u00a0 But due to a production delay, as of this writing, I don\u2019t have Issue #12, which seems to tie it all up.\u00a0 I make that last comment based on the descriptions of Issue #13 in Previews that states that a new creative team is taking over and Jack Burton is being brought into the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s all for the best as this review will end with a bit of a cliff hanger that may whet the reader\u2019s appetite even more.<\/p>\n

Anyway, of all the three acts, the last one is the poorest.\u00a0 While still fun, it lacks some of the originality found in the first two.\u00a0 At times, it seems that one is reading the same set of panels as in the previous issue.\u00a0 In addition, the narrative is confusing in places and there is still a strange interaction that I haven\u2019t yet figured out.<\/p>\n

At the end of Act 2, Lo Pan was once again defeated and killed but at the expense of Jack\u2019s death being thrown into the bargain.\u00a0 Where Act 2 was darker and more grim, Act 3 captures more of the light heartedness of the first set of issues.\u00a0 Perhaps this explains the lapses in storytelling.<\/p>\n

In any event, the action starts in the Hell of No Escape, where we find the spirit of Mr. Burton consigned with his arch-enemy, David Lo Pan.\u00a0 Since Jack can\u2019t suffer any bodily harm at the hands of Lo Pan, he is even cheekier with the ancient Chinese sorcerer and much of the humor in this act comes from the back and forth between the two.<\/p>\n

As an example, shortly after their arrival in the underworld, Lo Pan turns his frustration on Jack and laments the fact that he will not be able to have his earthly pleasures with Miao Yin.\u00a0 When Jack points out that Miao Yin was never into Dave, Lo Pan begins a pouty \u2018yes she was\u2019 back-and-forth with Jack responding in turn with a \u2018no she wasn\u2019t\u2019.\u00a0 Finally Jack asks<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

further confirming Lo Pan as a total nut job.<\/p>\n

Their argument is soon interrupted when a demon cohort comes to torture them.\u00a0 Captured and soon to be ravaged, Lo Pan convinces the demons to free him and, in return, he will show them where a martyr can be found to make their \u2018games\u2019 all the more fun.\u00a0 The demons agree and Lo Pan explains Jack\u2019s situation.\u00a0 As he leaves the Hell of No Escape (come on there is a way in there must be a way out), Lo Pan is quite happy at the thought of Jack\u2019s imminent suffering.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Egg has Wang Chi dump Jack\u2019s body into a pickle barrel and off they go to find someone who can help restore Jack to the land of the living.\u00a0 The pair soon arrives at the home of Tai Sui Laohu<\/p>\n

\"Tai<\/a><\/p>\n

who is chowing down on some rice as he\u2019s kicked back in an easy chair with his bunny slippers.\u00a0 Tai Sui Laohu thinks there is a way to get Jack back but says that all of them are going to have to consult a guy who rides a turtle.\u00a0 More on this later.<\/p>\n

Back in hell, things don\u2019t work out quite the way Lo Pan hopes and soon Jack has the demons ponying up their stuff in an all-out game of Texas Hold \u2018Em.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether demons are stupid or whether these ones had an sinister plan is never quite clear, but Jack wins a way of the Hell of No Escapes with all their stuff by cheating them in a manner reminiscent to the classic episode of Star Trek called \u2018Piece of the Action\u2019.\u00a0 As Jack leaves hell, he makes an interesting observation about marriage which is best consumed straight from the horses mouth.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

Note the amulet around Jack\u2019s neck, for reasons I can\u2019t explain, it plays a critical role in some later events.\u00a0 \u00a0As Jack leaves the Hell of No Escape behind, he finds himself in the spaces between and then soon in a new hell where he meets a reptilian demon whom Jack dubs Slinky.\u00a0 Jack tells Slinky he could really go for a trip to a bar and is amazed when Slinky points out that there is one handy.\u00a0 Jack offers to buy Slinky a round<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

and almost immediately Jack has a new demon BFF. Another inexplicable item is worth mentioned here (as seen from the advantage of hind sight).\u00a0 Note the curious hole in Slinky\u2019s breast plate.\u00a0 It looks like something round and amulet-sized might fit in there. Hmmm\u2026.<\/p>\n

Well off they go to get some brew and no sooner do they enter the gin joint then what do theirs eye behold?\u00a0 None other than David Lo Pan, belly up to the bar with a face that could curdle fresh milk.<\/p>\n

Jack and Lo Pan get into a fracas.\u00a0 In the commotion, Jack loses the amulet and Slinky (who is much smaller than his armor implies, finds himself able to seize it as a prize.<\/p>\n

\"Slinky<\/a><\/p>\n

He flees with the amulet while Jack and Lo Pan are cuffed by the owner and forced to pay of the damages by washing dishes.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

Some while later, Slinky returns to liberate Jack, sporting the amulet in his breast plate, sort of like Iron Man\u2019s main repulsor ray on his chest.\u00a0 Why Slinky took the amulet and why he comes back are quite a mystery to me \u2013 and one I don\u2019t believe will be explained in the final issue of this arc.<\/p>\n

Slinky and Jack face overwhelming odds in their attempt to escape but, at the last minute, a giant flying demon, like something out of the demented mind of H. P. Lovecraft, swoops in to kill all their pursuers.\u00a0 And you thought deus ex machina<\/em> was dead and gone.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Lo Pan also escapes and threatens them with a horrible revenge as soon as he retrieves something called the Black Serpents Tongue.\u00a0 Playing the role of Captain Obvious (or a Cistercian Monk for those who get that reference), Slinky steps in with a handy explanation of why they should be worried.\u00a0 He tells of the god Yama defeating the Black God of Chaos by ripping the beast\u2019s tongue from its mouth. Somehow, Yama forged it into a sword of great power but he soon lost it<\/p>\n

\"Ancient<\/a><\/p>\n

In order to get the power to retrieve the blade from the Hell of Ice and Sorrow, Lo Pan makes a particular evil deal with the Dark Gods of the East<\/p>\n

\"Lo<\/a><\/p>\n

who consent to give Lo Pan the power of the Breathe of Green Flame.<\/p>\n

While Slinky and Jack pursue Lo Pan in the hopes of preventing him from retrieving the sword, Egg, Wang, and Tai Sui find the man on the turtle<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

whose name is P\u2019an Ku (although it should be Master Roshi).<\/p>\n

And this were it ends.\u00a0 As explained above, Issue #12 looks like it should draw this story arc to a close.\u00a0 If I had to guess, I imagine that Lo Pan is lost forever in the Hell of Ice and Sorrow.\u00a0 Jack returns to the land of the living but somehow 28 years into the future, probably due to some spell cast by P\u2019an Ku.\u00a0 And what about Slinky?\u00a0 I think he\u2019ll open his own bar in the Hell of a Thousand Hangovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well this week was supposed to be the finale of the review of the first story arc of Big Trouble in Little China, the comic.\u00a0 But due to a production… Read more ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboutcomics.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}