Happy Boxing Day – Review Of Joe Palooka #1

Editor’s Note: And one last review of the comics of 12/19/2012 before the comic store open…

From the 1920s and well into the middle of the 20th century, American comics press had a tradition of popularizing idealized characters as heroes – hard bitten detectives like Dick Tracy, plucky orphans who make good like Little Orphan Annie, and tenacious fighters with tender hearts like Joe Palooka.

Created by cartoonist Ham Fisher, Joe Palooka had a very successful run as a syndicated comic strip from 1930 until 1984. At its peak, it ran in 900 newspapers and spawned radio spots, a television show and a movie. The American public continues to demonstrate a soft spot for its fighters, to which the popularity and critical acclaim of such movies as Million Dollar Baby and The Fighter can attest. Even as straight up boxing has moved from weekend afternoon sports coverage on networks to cable and pay-per-view programming, viewers still can get their pugilism fix through any of a number of mixed martial arts programs, like Ultimate Fighting Championship or StrikeForce. So, it’s no surprise that characters inspired by MMA fighters are finding their way back into the comics medium, as with Blair Butler’s 2011 series Heart.

Joe Antonacci, a veteran ringside announcer of boxing and MMA matches, now owns the trademark to Joe Palooka and has rebooted the character as an ongoing comic book series. Joe Palooka, also known in this new book as Nick Davis, is an up and coming MMA fighter with a background in bare knuckle boxing from his time growing up as a child of migrant farm workers. The story has been mapped out by the creative team of Antonacci, with creative partners Matt Triano and Mike Bullock. Bullock also scripted the issue. Art is handled by Fernando Peniche with Bob Pedroza on colors.

So, how does Joe Palooka hold up to his modernization?

Our hero’s spoiler filled origins, after the jump!

At its core, Joe Palooka is supposed to be about a fighter who never really wanted to have to fight and who defends the little guys who need defending. In this new version, Nick Davis is working his way up the ranks of his local MMA circuit. We learn he has a sister, Gwen, for whom he is providing with his fight earnings. This is why he’s in the bank trying to cash his check on the day that it is also, unfortunately, robbed by two thugs. While trying to stop the robbery and aid an elderly security guard, Nick gets into a tussle with one of the robbers, causing the robber to fire his gun and hit the security guard. Despite both robbers receiving fatal wounds, Nick panics and flees the bank, overcome by what he has done. He realizes he should return to the scene, however – just in time for the security guard’s cop son to show up. The security guard points to Nick in the crowd and says something Nick can’t make out to his son. Nick flees the scene again and runs to the border of Mexico with the help of his girlfriend, Nina, where he hopes he can lay low until he can clear his name. While he is in Mexico, he enters bar room cage fights to earn money. When one of those fights goes viral, the law is on Nick’s tail again.

The creative team has shoehorned a great deal of modern ideas into 20 pages. From the update to mixed martial arts from boxing, to the impact of social media on a fugitive’s ability to stay out of the light, along with references to a migrant worker background for Joe that would not have been present in the original, Joe Palooka is an ambitious work. A bit too ambitious at times – in terms of pacing, the story of the bank robbery is told in exposition via text box, which made it feel a bit rushed. The intent of the police officer pursuing Nick isn’t entirely clear either – does he hold Nick responsible for his father’s death or does he want Nick in relation to some other aspect of the robbery? The cop’s need to involve a bounty hunter friend in his pursuit of Nick suggests the former, but the dialogue could be used to lay things out more clearly.

However, the team does have Nick’s heart in the right place where it counts. Nick fights so he can support his sister. He becomes involved in trying to stop the robbery because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. At the end of the issue, despite finding his way out of the country by boat, he still manages to send money back to his girlfriend Nina to pass along to his sister.

The art in the book by Fernando Peniche is dynamic. When Peniche makes Nick bloody another man’s nose, you feel it yourself. Characterwise, Peniche makes use of a medium to bold line, with a fair amount of cross hatching to contour characters’ features. His panel layout is straightforward and clear in its sequencing. Bob Pedroza’s colors pop and assist in overall mood and tone on the pages.

The creative team clearly has a lot of love for this property, which was originally a six issue digital comic series. Readers looking for something a little different will have a lot to like here. Nick Davis is both ultimate fighter and underdog, which is an intriguing and winning combination. Keep an eye out for it at your LCS.

Oh, and if you’re curious, here’s the 1934 movie inspired by the original Joe Palooka. My how far we’ve come.