Since discovering the work of Jason in the New York Public Library (see my thoughts on his book I Killed Adolf Hitler several weeks ago), I’ve been anxious to get my hands on another of his comics. After reading The Last Musketeer, I’m now looking forward to a third Jason comic.

The Last Musketeer tells of Athos, last of the fabled three musketeers (one deceased, one retired), and his efforts to save the world from Martian invasion. Like my previous exposure to his work, I find it hard to talk about without spoiling too much of the story. Jason’s books are entirely plot-driven, yet delivered with a dry, morose humor that gives the narrative an offbeat tone. Coupled with his ear for snappy dialogue, Jason’s plots become surprising romps that mash up divergent adventure clichés.

After an initial attack on France, Athos finds two Martian scouts, slays one and forces the other to take him to Mars where he can prevent further attacks. Falling in with a small band of rebels who disagree with the antagonist stance taken by Mars’ leadership, Athos fights to discover the secret leader of the Martian revolution and to destroy the ultimate weapon aimed at his home world. Science-fiction has a long history of swashbuckling, romantic adventurers, heroes of the Flash Gordon/Han Solo mold. Athos’ origins in the older world adventurism of Alexandre Dumas seem no impediment to fitting the character comfortably into this outer space romp.

All told, Jason’s books, including The Last Musketeer, are pure escapist fun romps. Having so many of them available at my library, a great resource for discovering new comics (and books, and music, and…) and saving cash, is just perfect. I’ll be looking for more of Jason’s comics, and hopefully more readers will also check his stuff out. You may even be able to borrow it from the local library.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Features, It Came From the NYPL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.