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Adventures of Jack Burton
"Old Man Jack" Part 3
Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack #3
BOOM! Studios
Written by John Carpenter & Anthony Burch
Illustrated by Jorge Corona
Colored by Gabriel Cassata
Lettered by Ed Dukeshire
Cover by Stéphane Roux
November 2017 |
Jack is confronted by the mistakes of his
past.
Story Summary
Driving through the Plains of Fire, Jack
and Lo Pan are haunted by visions of the past meant to trick
them into taking rash actions. Lo Pan sees Miao Yin and Jack sees
Wang Chi and Egg Shen. Jack's vision reveals that he caused
Wang's death in an accident while they were driving in the
Pork-Chop Express. Jack had later got a hold of one of Egg's
mystical books and summoned the demon Ching Dai to make a deal
to bring Wang back to life. Ching Dai agreed but also tricked
Jack into providing a bridge from the underworld to Earth. This
is how the Hellpocalypse came about ten years ago (and Jack was
never even reunited with Wang).
Continued in
"Old Man Jack" Part 4.
Notes from the Jack Burton chronology
This story takes place in the year 2020.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this issue
Jack Burton
David Lo Pan
Miao Yin (as illusion only)
Wang Chi (as illusion and flashback only)
Winona Chi (mentioned only)
Egg Shen
(as illusion only)
Ching Dai
Didja Know?
Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man
Jack is a 12-issue limited series published by IDW in
2017-2018.
Didja Notice?
Previously referred to as the Ocean of Fire, Lo Pan now refers
to the flaming landscape he and Jack drive through as the Plains
of Fire.
In Jack's vision on page 5, Wang tells Jack that his daughter is
getting married. Wang's daughter with his wife Miao Yin is
Winona Chi, last seen in "Second
Beginning". Winona also has a twin sister,
Whitney, not mentioned at all in the "Old Man Jack" storyline
(last seen in "All-In").
Jack also mentions missing out on throwing Wang
a bachelor party before he married Miao Yin (in
"The Ghosts of Storms").
Jack's vision of Wang on pages 7-11 imply that he caused Wang's
death in an accident while driving the Pork-Chop Express. Wang
here appears thin and has a full head of hair. In
"Encino Man", which took place in
2015, Wang was heavier and balding. However, it's likely that
that timeline was reset when future Jack and Winona arrived in
1986 to ensure the proper timeline in
"Second
Beginning".
On page 12, Jack implores Lo Pan to help him against the vision
of Miao Yin that attempts to strangle him by exclaiming, "Help
me or I'll run this truck straight into a hellmouth--!" This may
be a reference by the writers to the areas of high supernatural
energy called hellmouths in the two shared-universe TV series Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and Angel that aired 1997-2004.
Getting annoyed at all the visions
appearing of people he accidentally
screwed over, Jack incredulously asks on page 13, "Am I
on This is Your Life?"
This is Your Life was a first radio, then TV,
show airing on NBC from 1948-1961 that led the on-air guest
through a retrospective of their life.
On page 17, we learn the reason why Jack is missing half his
right arm.
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Adventures of Jack Burton Episode Studies