Josh Jaffe is living the dream: from suburban schlub to superhero in one easy swallow of a shady Internet drug. This is where his nightmare starts. An unflinching humanity and surreal level of detail to this tale of a midlife crisis—with superpowers!

Is Jacked another male empowerment fantasy? Yup, you better believe, it, but writer Eric Kripke seems to wear what the series is on its sleeve. This is the male midlife crisis through the lens of superpowers. A mashing of Fight Club and Preacher with all of the ultraviolence as you might expect combining the two.

The series is absolutely male empowerment with Jaffe taking a pill to make all his issues go away. That pill allows him to have sex for longer, beat up individuals, and in general feel like a winner as opposed to how he normally feels. Still, even with that rather antiquated view, the story is still entertaining giving us an over the top superhero story for the midlife crisis set.

Part of the issue’s success is John Higgins whose art depicts the bloody glory as if tapping in to Vertigo releases of the past. The violence is ultra and over the top, reminding me a lot of Preacher.

This comic isn’t for everyone, and it’s very clear as to what it is. Having said that, the series and issue is entertaining in its over the top nature that you can’t take seriously. It’ll be interesting to see where it all goes and if Kripke has something to say as the series progresses, but for now this is a series that has no issue going over the top tip-toeing the line with silly. And due to that, it finds it’s sweet spot of entertaining.

Story: Eric Kripke Art: John Higgins
Story: 8.2 Art: 8.2 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy

Vertigo provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review