Junkyard Joe #5: I Wouldn’t Call Him an Average Joe

Junkyard Joe #5 picks up with Emily and her siblings running into the clandestine group who are hunting Joe. Meanwhile, Joe and Muddy are in town for Muddy to discuss Joe’s existence with an old friend who may have a government contact that can help him figure out what is going on. Joe and Muddy later return to Muddy’s house to find Emily and company held at gunpoint. Joe springs into action, buying some time for Emily and her siblings to escape. Muddy stays behind to call the police but is beaten unconscious. Emily and Joe escape to the woods where they run into hunters. Joe reacts poorly to the gun that the hunters are holding, scaring them off, before the group arrives in town. Emily’s father finds Muddy and calls an ambulance, leading to Muddy waking up to warn him about the people after Joe and the kids. The issue concludes with the revelation that the government project that created Joe “Project Beta,” was shut down since Joe had killed everyone he interacted with.

This issue definitely feels like it is picking up the slack from some of the slower entries early on. This is the penultimate issue in the first chapter of Junkyard Joe, and the fast pace really makes that obvious. That being said, this issue is actually really great. It’s a shame that it took five issues for things to start picking up, but I have a feeling that this series is going to read a lot better when collected. There was a great blend of exposition and action here that genuinely made the more negative aspects of previous issues feel like they didn’t matter as much. Unfortunately, we only have one more issue in this chapter so it almost feels like a “too little, too late” situation.

The shining aspects of this series have been everything Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Brad Anderson have discussed within the subtext. The first couple issues discussed issues of racism that we have yet to return to; however, there has been an overarching theme of the effects that war can have on a person. Muddy has been reclusive, but expresses himself through the building of this fantastical comic strip, which allows him to talk about his experiences in war and his history with Joe. Joe, on the other hand, has been a bit more mysterious, the reveal at the end of the issue will definitely be answered in the next issue, but it’s clear that Joe is struggling with his own form of PTSD. Joe reacts poorly to the gun that the hunters are holding, and is quick to act when faced with the clandestine organization holding Emily and her siblings hostage; however, when he’s in a more relaxed environment, he is constantly cleaning and fixing things. Without any idea of what will happen next issue, I can only surmise that Joe tries to stay busy cleaning and helping people so that he can keep his mind off of the war and possibly his instinctual programming. Beyond anything else, this series has been an excellent discussion about the lasting mental effects of war.

Frank and Anderson’s art continues to stun. This duo can do no wrong here, with every single page looking absolutely gorgeous. There’s a great panel after Joe freaks out and attacks the hunters, where we see the reflection on Joe’s eyes, showing that he’s looking at Emily, which brings him out of his addled state. I have mentioned this in my reviews of the previous issues, but Frank and Anderson have done a magnificent job in depicting emotion on an expressionless face. The duo is well known for their excellent character depictions, highlighting emotion in facial features. It’s awe inspiring to see this same level of technique practiced on a robot that cannot express emotion in this way.