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[movielover]

For this week, we go to Australia for the book, Jet Fury 22, found here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=40206

Either story, so have at it

[SuperScrounge]

Rebellion In Jarvira - Okay, although I wonder why Jet needs so many companions. I mean, Blacky and Marie did nothing, at least Sandy got herself kidnapped. 

Underground - Otherwise okay, but that plot has been used so many times by so many different writers. If I ever inherit a mine, I'm automatically firing the foreman because he's obviously evil. 

[lyons]

SuperScrounge, your comments made me chuckle.  True, there is a plethora of interpretations and versions of the Underground story - but Jet Fury manages to display enough variation of the familiar to keep it interesting.  It's not inspired writing, but it's not derivative, either - and it never exceeds the threshold of believability.  Super powers are unrealistic by their nature, and Jet Fury is a refreshing interpretation of a believable superhero.  A good read.  Thanks movielover.       

[SuperScrounge]

Yeah, the writing was okay, it was just the plot element I rolled my eyes at. I should have been clearer on that.

[The Australian Panther]

No long exposition here, Just to say I enjoyed the read,
I think I like Horak's early style more than the one he eventually developed.
And i'm curious, why does Jet Fury never take off the helmet? He doesn't appear to have a secret identity. So what 's the point? 

[narfstar]

I think the helmet was just for visual appeal not common sense. Like the crazy costumes superheroes wear, they are not practical but they look cool. My first thought on the second story was similar to SuperScrounge, this has been done a million times. But what story has not? But it was OK. The best part was the attempt by Barton to get away and then attack Jet. My favorite was the panel where Jet punches Barton through the window. I did not enjoy how easily Barton caved in at the end but I guess they had to quickly explain.

[positronic1]

And i'm curious, why does Jet Fury never take off the helmet? He doesn't appear to have a secret identity. So what 's the point?

EDIT: After having a bit of a closer look through more issues of the series, I came across panel 3 on this page (https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31479) of JET FURY 15, with a caption which reads "There's a quick change and Randolph Gray the eminent aircraft designer becomes Jet Fury". So apparently he does have a secret identity, known only to his friends Sandy and Blacky.

[paw broon]

As this is my scan, I'd like to add a couple of things and thoughts.  I checked my old superhero card index and I see I noted, years ago, that Randy (Randolph) Gray is Jet Fury, a fact known only to Sandy and Blacky. Also, as you'll see in the first story, the Comet has an anti-gravity ray.
This issue is an odd format which was used for a short time in Australia as the front and back covers are upright but the interior is landscape.  So to read the physical copy, you have to turn the book on it's side.  As you view the cover, the staples are at the top.
As for the story, I'm a fan of Jet Fury and I enjoyed anew both stories.
Thanks for choosing it.

[crashryan]

The stories are all right. As SuperScrounge suggests, if you inherit a mine, fire the foreman. And what's with Marie in "Rebellion in Jarvira?" She disappears never to return! Jet and the rest of his retinue don't even notice she's gone. Perhaps it's because she never says anything.

But it's the artwork that most interests me in Jet Fury. It's fascinating to see Yaroslav Horak developing his skills. I like Horak's art but not without reservations. From what I've seen of his early and middle-period work (hardly a comprehensive overview), his sweet spot was around 1960 when he drew Captain Fortune. He'd raised his drawing and inking to a mature level, but he hadn't yet developed the idiosyncratic quirks that typified his later artwork. When he was drawing James Bond the highly stylized faces and hands were (in my opinion) so overpowering that the reader missed just how good Horak's drawing was. He was especially talented at composition and spotting blacks. His first strip, "The Man with the Golden Gun," and another early continuity, "The Hildebrand Rarity," have some dynamite panels if you overlook the bizarre faces.

Back to Jet Fury. Something strange is going on in the CB+ issues. Some stories in earlier issues appear to have been produced later than stories in higher-numbered issues. I may be seeing something that isn't there, but the stories in which JF flies the single-engined plane with wingtip tanks seem to be older than those in which he has that nifty twin-engined jet. This would make "Underground" a reprint of an earlier vintage than "Rebellion in Jarvira." It would also mean that the material in our issues 24 and 25 was produced before that in issue 15. Certainly the artwork in #15 is slicker than that in the other two issues.

Thanks to Paw Broon for scanning this gem and to Movielover for suggesting it.