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Big Trouble in Little China Comics, a Reading Guide

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Jack Burton is not your ordinary hero… because he’s not a hero at all! He is the iconic sidekick who thinks he is the leading man. This gave us the 1986’s cult classic Big Trouble in Little China, directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong.

Although Jack Burton was born ready, the amazing and hilarious adventure he had was almost impossible to predict. The wisecracking truck driver found himself embroiled in an ancient battle between good and evil when his friend Wang Chi’s fiancée was kidnapped by bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown and had to be rescued.

Despite its lack of success at the box office upon release, the film has become a cult favourite. In fact, almost 30 years later, Boom! Studios continued Jack’s journey through multiple ongoing stories. Today, we are taking a closer look at the adventures of Jack Burton in comics for some serious trouble and serious fun. 

Big Trouble in Little China Comics Collection

Big Trouble in Little China, the official sequel to the cult film

More than 25 years after the release of the movie, the macho, truck-driving adventurer Jack Burton made his comeback for new stories! Director John Carpenter, writer Eric Powell (The Goon), and artist Brian Churilla (Secret History of D.B. Cooper) collaborated to deliver over-the-top action and humor in the first 12 issues. After the completion of their run, Fred Van Lente (with various artists) took over as the main writer and wrote the rest of the comic series.

The story begins mere moments after the movie’s ending. Wang’s wedding has been invaded by evil forces with one thing on their minds—revenge against Jack Burton! 

Big Trouble in Little China Legacy Edition — Boom Studios reprinted the complete series in their Legacy Edition softcover format, collecting the series at a value price.

Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York, the crossover

John Carpenter and Kurt Russell didn’t just create one cult classic together, they created two. Escape from New York was actually their first collaboration. Snake Plissken is the tough hero from Escape from New York who lives in a dystopian reality. So what were the chances of Jack and Snake meeting? Well, more than one might think!

When Jack is sucked into a dimensional portal while driving his trusty Pork-Chop Express, he finds himself in the dystopian future of Escape from New York. Snake Plissken catches wind of Jack and goes on the hunt to find out who is trying to steal his identity. This John Carpenter sanctioned crossover event was written by Greg Pak (World War Hulk)) and illustrated by Daniel Bayliss.

Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack

2020 was the year of the global pandemic. But in Jack Burton’s world, hell was literally on Earth that year. Sick of relying on screw-ups like Lo Pan to do his bidding, Ching Dai broke the barriers between Earth and the infinite hells and declared himself ruler of all. Sixty-year-old Jack Burton was alone in a tiny corner of Florida, with only his broken radio for company, until one day it picked up a message. There is someone out there in the hellscape who knows how to stop Ching Dai. This story was written by John Carpenter and Anthony Burch, and illustrated by Jorge Corona.

Want to read more comics based on movies?
Check out our Alien & Predator Comics Guide

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