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Grimjack is the main character of a comic book originally published by the American company First Comics, and later by IDW Publishing. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are credited as co-creators of the character, although Ostrander had been developing Grimjack with artist Lenin Delsol before Truman's arrival on the project according to Ostrander's own text piece in Grimjack #75. In that same essay, the writer also revealed having initially conceived the character to be the star of a series of prose stories, set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago.
Grimjack is the street name of John Gaunt, a sword-for-hire, ex-paramilitary, war veteran and former child gladiator. He operates from Munden's Bar in the Pit, a slum area of First Comics, a pan-dimensional city to which all dimensions connect.
Issue #1 of Grimjack was published by First Comics in August 1984, and ran until issue #81, in April 1991, with all stories written by Ostrander. Artists who worked on the series included Timothy Truman, Sam Grainger, Tom Mandrake, Jim McDermott, Steve Pugh, Tom Sutton, Paul Guinan, Martin Thomas, and Flint Henry. With issue #55, the character of James Twilley, a future incarnation of Gaunt, was introduced as the timeline jumped forward 200 years. Throughout its run, with the exception of a few full-length issues (as well as #60 with its expanded letter column), Grimjack featured a backup story in the manner of other First Comics series. From issue #2 to 69, the backstory was titled Munden's Bar, a telling of events at the eponymous bar. The story brought a small amount of fame to the series for its occasional guest stars, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Grimjack #26 Starting with issue #70 a new backup feature began, as John Ostrander felt that Munden's Bar was getting too far away from his original intent and he suspended it for reworking. In its place was his own serial entitled Youngblood, drawn by Steve Pugh. Youngblood told the story of John Gaunt's troubled childhood, via flashbacks from a point in Gaunt's life prior to his first published appearance in Starslayer, but after the "Demon Wars". It concluded in issue #81. Although one of First Comics' most popular titles, after the company declared bankruptcy, it did not make it into print again until 2005.
In 1990, First published Demon Knight, a stand-alone graphic novel featuring the James Twilley incarnation of Grimjack going back in time to the Demon Wars to try to change his fate. Although a stand-alone, the story ties in thematically with the "Demon Wars" flashback storyline taking place in issues #66–69 and Twilley appears in a panel of issue #69.
First's Grimjack Casefiles, a reprint series covering the Starslayer backup stories and the first issues of the Grimjack series, ran a total of 5 issues from November 1990 to March 1991.
Following their recovering the rights to Grimjack, John Ostrander and Timothy Truman teamed up again to publish Grimjack: Killer Instinct, a 6-issue miniseries published by IDW Publishing. The miniseries, since reprinted in graphic novel form, serves as a prequel to the First Comics Grimjack series and shows John Gaunt's life leading up to his first appearance in Starslayer #10. The series met with critical acclaim for its art, storyline and original setting. With a script by John Ostrander and art by Timothy Truman, the series was lettered by John Workman and edited by Mike Gold. All of them had worked on the original Grimjack comic. IDW Publishing also re-issued the First Comics Grimjack run in a series of trade paperbacks under the title The Legend of Grimjack. As of October 2007, 8 collections have been released.
The character was serialized in a new storyline, The Manx Cat, as a Comicmix.com webcomic in January 2011. It has since seen print as a six-issue miniseries through Comicmix's arrangement with IDW Comics. The story involves "The Manx Cat", a statuette of such a cat that at first seems to be a simple MacGuffin like the classic Maltese Falcon of the novel and films by that name, but which begins showing malevolent powers. The plot thickens with time travel, reincarnation, and Elder Gods. Like most modern comics, it features digitally-created art.
When John was about five years old, Old Nick attacked and killed Jack in a drunken rage. Grimjack #72 He was sentenced to prison but later escaped. The day he returned home Mouse vanished. It is unknown whether Old Nick killed her. On John's eighth birthday, Old Nick, having decided that Gaunt was actually Jack's son, attacked John with a broken bottle. This caused the distinctive vertical scar that Gaunt carried through his life. Grimjack #73 Old Nick fell in the fireplace and burned to death. Grimjack #74
Following their father's death, the four brothers survived on the streets by stealing. One night they broke into the house of a merchant to rob him. Jake killed the merchant when he discovered them in the house. Nick, Jake and Joe escaped but Nick knocked John unconscious and abandoned him to take the rap for the murder. John was found guilty and sentenced to fight in the Arena of Cynosure. The day he arrived in the Arena he vowed to kill Nick. Grimjack #76
Gaunt joined one of the gangs of child warriors called "Wolfpacs". Grimjack #16 During that time, Gaunt went by the name of "Grinner" and was known as the second-best fighter in the Arena, second only to The Dancer. Gaunt was released from the Arena at age 22 because, while he fought and killed, he refused to make his kills entertaining to the crowd. Grimjack #66
Following his release, Gaunt began a search for his brothers. Attacked and badly wounded in a street fight, Gaunt stumbled upon the entrance to the dimension of Pdwyr. There he was nursed back to health and met the love of his life, a woman named Rhian. He studied magic with Rhian's father, Maethe Mathonwy, but while Gaunt could summon power he did not have the inner peace needed to properly control it. Another Cynosure resident, Major Lash, found his way to Pdwyr and informed Gaunt that the city had been invaded by Hell itself. Lash convinced Gaunt to return to Cynosure and fight in the Demon Wars by persuading him that if the city fell the demons would find and destroy Pdwyr. The city's forces were able to repel Hell but demons invaded Pdwyr, causing the destruction of the land and the death of all those Gaunt loved, including Rhian. After burying his dead, Gaunt joined the Major's group of temporal bounty hunters, the Lawkillers, not knowing that it was Major Lash who had betrayed Pdwyr to the demons. Gaunt would not learn the truth for some 25 years.
At age 30, John Gaunt had a final fateful confrontation with his brothers. Nick shot John, leading Joe to draw his gun and shoot Nick. Jake then shot Joe and Joe shot Jake. John shot Nick. Jake shot Joe again, killing him. John then finished Jake. Nick shot John again and John killed Nick. Grimjack #80
After leaving the Lawkillers, Gaunt joined the Trans-Dimensional Police, Cynosure's police department. Upon quitting the TDP, he was enlisted as the first member of Cadre, a spy agency of the Cynosure government. After the events detailed in the Grimjack: Killer Instinct storyline, he abandoned Cadre and set himself up as a mercenary and private investigator in Cynosure. At some point he purchased the bar known as Munden's, apparently named after bartender Gordon Munden, from Munden's ex-wife. Grimjack: The Manx Cat #5
In the fourth chapter of his 1986 Amber novel Blood of Amber, Roger Zelazny introduced a character named "Old John", who works as an emissary for the King of Amber. Old John is described as having a "nasty-looking scar running both above and below his left eye" and a "nasty grin", wearing a dark feathered hat.Zelazny, pp. 740–41. Zelazny, a fan of the Grimjack series since its premiere issue, later contributed the introduction to the Grimjack graphic novel Demon Knight. In the short story "The Shroudling and the Guisel", published posthumously in Amberzine #8, Zelazny refers to Grimjack by name: "I stood among the grave markers of unknown mortals—Dennis Colt, Remo Williams, John Gaunt—and swore to be her champion if ever she needed one". This story was later reprinted in the Zelazny collection Manna from Heaven.
After 12 years of efforts, all rights to Grimjack were released and a new company was founded, NightSky GrimJack Rights and Production Vehicle (Four Wheel Drive Model), LLC, with legal ownership to the character. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are said to have "substantial equity positions" in the venture.
At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, the Russo brothers announced their production company AGBO were developing an animated television series adaptation for Amazon. It's being written by Kevin Murphy and the Russo brothers will produce the show.
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