Jack (webcomic)

Jack is a furry webcomic by David Hopkins. It is set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals and focuses on judgment and afterlife, which function here according to Christian beliefs. Jack is noted for its depiction of disturbing and distasteful acts, including, "[...], [...] use, swearing, graphic [...] acts, incest, cannibalism, nudity, savage violence, and images of Hell."

Jack focuses on its title character, a wizened green rabbit who lives in Hell. He is The Embodiment of the deadly sin wrath, whose punishment is being the Grim Reaper. In life, the unfairness of some deaths, particularly towards the ones he loved, made him angry. In his position as Grim Reaper, he now has to witness more death, the cause of his wrath. Jack attempts to remember the sins he did in life in order to be forgiven for them. This is hard for him as his other punishment is having no memory of his life on Earth.

Jack was joint winner for the award for at the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in 2004. It is one of the most read webcomics on the internet. It is in the top 100 most read according to BuzzComix, TopWebComics, and The Webcomic List.

Overview

Jack covers subjects related to the attitude a person can lead in life and its consequences to them and to the people around them. Frequent features are disease, [...], [...], [...], bereavement and redemption. The comic is divided into a number of arcs (subplots) of varying length. Artwork style and presence of color differ from arc to arc. Arcs take place on Hell, Earth, Heaven and Purgatory. Arcs set on Earth take place during different, not always consecutive, time periods. In Heaven and Hell there is no concept of time. The eyes of characters symbolize their status in the Jack universe: sins have no pupils; living souls and angels have full pupils; the souls of deceased persons have "pin-prick" eyes as long as they do not recognize their sins.

Jack is based on Christian tradition, but the world and its rules are inconsistent with typical Christian views. The angels are the forces of good, and the sins are evil personified. Many of Hell's denizens enjoy inflicting pain on one another. However, there is confusion at times, with people who were good in life up going to Hell. The unfairness of the fates of many of these people, and the observations of Jack on the unfairness of life, are central themes to the comic.

History

David Hopkins, a minor furry comic artist, who previously created comics such as Rework the Dead. After creating a comic entitled "Trixi and Tet" (which later became the third story "Arc" of Jack), his then girlfriend (and later wife) Katie suggested that he should break out to a bigger audience. Initially hesitant as he was used to a smaller audience, he then expanded. After "Trixi and Tet" was published, he had around 5,000 readers. Since then, Jack has grown in popularity, with four published comics books, spin-off comic books, and a growing fan base.

The comic has since made references to other comics in the furry fandom, including guest art from furry fadom such as Albert Temple and Candy Dewalt, and also appears in other furry webcomics such as A Doemain of Our Own and Gene Catlow.

Characters

Jack

The embodiment of wrath, Jack is a wizened green rabbit, wearing a ragged, brown cloak and carrying a scythe. His job is to collect the souls of the dead and lead them to their final judgment as the Grim Reaper. The plot revolves around his attempts to recollect the sins he committed during his life, which have been removed from his memory as part of his punishment. Due to his lack of memory, little of his live on Earth is known, but he does remember parts when angels from Heaven allow him to. It is known he was created by humans as part of an experiment, and his anger was triggered by the death of another similar experiment called "Jill".

Fnar

Fnar is a fetus who died before he was born and appears as a child dressed in a sailor suit, curious, trusting and always smiling. Fnar is unaffected by the horrors of Hell, which he wanders around aimlessly, since he is innocent and ignorant.

Drip Tiberius Rat

Embodiment of lust, Drip is a monstrous blue rat with black eye markings, who was a [...] and [...] when alive. Of all the sins, he causes Jack the most trouble. His punishment is that although he can commit the sins he did in life, he is unable to feel anything unless the person he is having [...] with allows him to. Drip appears in other projects by Hopkins.

Farrago

A "young" angel, portrayed as a female ferret with bloody stumps for wings early in the story. She is kind and trusting, intent on helping Jack restore his memories.

Central

A senior angel of a mixed breed of animals, who strictly obeys God's rules. When she was alive, she and Jack were very close. She now deeply dislikes Jack, but still has sympathy for him. She has white fur, angel wings, and a lion's tail.

Others

Other characters include the other five sins, Vince Van Morrison (Greed), Dr. Kane (Envy), Bob and Lisa Vorsh (Gluttony), Emily (Pride) and the unnamed Sloth (Sloth). There are also denizens of Hell, Heaven, Purgatory, and characters living on Earth.

Merchandise

Currently, there have been four comic books containing collections of Jack comics (also referred to as the "dead tree versions") have been published by Furnation Multimedia. These include bonus story arcs not available online. There are also comic books by Hopkins and guest writers set in the same universe as Jack. These are Cliff (2 issues) and Long Island (1 issue). The former is a joint project with Roz Gibson, the latter is with Katie Hopkins. There is a fan-made freeware platform game based on Jack.

Reception

Jack has a mixed reception. Positive reviews claim Jack is enjoyable because the story arcs contain meaning and comments on morality. One review of it said, "Each story arc has been deeper than the last, showing The Politics and struggles of those that control Heaven and Hell. Each story has a moral to it; a massively deeper meaning that gives the reader a GLIMPSE into his or her own soul. Jack is philosophical. Jack is intense. Jack is violent, sadistic, cruel, merciless, and never holds back a punch. Jack is also perhaps one of the absolute best comics on the web today. It takes an iron stomach to be able to see some of the images that David presents to the reader, but if you can handle it, you'll be hard pressed to disagree."

However, criticis attacked Jack because of these attempts to make serious stories. One critic wrote, "It's tempting to read Jack as a reflection of Author Hopkins' belief system. Tempting but almost impossible, since Jack is a nonsensical hodgepodge of touchy-feely new age gibberish and Dixie-fried Fire and Brimstone pissiness. To people who value glitz over substance, Jack can pass for a deep and thoughtful meditation on the meaning of life, death, retribution and punishment. But stop to think for a moment, and what once looked like depth is really just so much chaos. That's too bad, because Jack is a comic that so desperately wants to be taken seriously, so desperately wants to shock and appall "the squares" with poorly rendered guts and gore, so desperately wants to be oh so edgy."

Criticis also comment against the use of graphic violence, the way that it deals with Christian issues, and spelling mistakes, with one review saying that, "Jack could benefit from a good editor."

Awards

Jack was joint winner of "Best Dramatic Comic" (alongside Demonology 101) at the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in 2004. It was also nominated in 2002, 2003, and 2005. In the same ceremony, it was nominated for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic" in 2002 and 2003. It was also nominated for "Best Environment Design" in 2003 and "Best Story Concept" in 2005. Jack was nominated for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip" at the Ursa Major Awards in 2001 and 2003.

External links

• Jack
• Furplanet - Publishers of Jack comic books
• Jack Wiki