5 out of 5

Automatic five stars for avoiding the obvious ‘get jiggy with it’ tagline.

My short experiences with Mr. Jigsaw in the pages of the Charlton Arrow were certainly enough to sell me, considering I went all-in and purchased the at-the-point-of-this-writing available 13 issues (and one special), but even with that vote if confidence, color me impressed by just how fun these books are.  …And they’re collecting stories of which some are 20+ years old!

Creators Ron Fortier and Gary Kato’s Mr. Jigsaw did, indeed, have its roots with Charlton – back in an anthology mag in 83 – and had sporadic appearances thereafter in print and online, compiled intro these first three issues of a new-material-thereafter ongoing.  Jiggy can rearrange / separate his molecules as he pleases – taking apart his body like a jigsaw puzzle – which is so wonderfully captured in comicdom’s most succinct “he was born that way I guess” origin story.  Very self-awarely aiming to be a superhero, Jiggy finds an associate in Portland reporter Buck – whilst roadtripping his way to herodom – and decides to ply his chops there, giving us fantastically amusing and inventive hijinks with robotic snowmen and giant lobsters and etcetera.

Artist Gary Kato has a Phil Foglio lightness to his look, but the backmatter sketch of Jiggy’s apartment in issue 1 is telling: the panels breathe life; Kato has this world fully realized, even if he doesn’t strike you as the most detailed artist.  Every page exists in a real space.  And writer Fortier proves to be not only a sharp wit but an intuitive plotter, taking his creation through Golden-age inspired high action without the taint of it feeling retro.  When the action heats up, sure, it’s not life or death, bit it’s still page turning stuff, not just trading in tropes.

And again, the timelessness of this stuff – and how well it all reads together – is all the more impressive considering it was written spread out over decades.

As long as no one gets jiggy with anything, this title is a must read for any fans of old school adventurism.