There's a signpost up ahead - The Twilight Zone.
Take a second and just absorb that freaky lookin' cover. Bliss all tripped out. Jack burnin' up. And - - and, the squid-octopus woman. Wow! Tony Harris has created one freaky cover, that's for sure!
After getting his @$$ handed to him last issue, Jack suits up, grabs his staff and heads back to the circus for some well deserved payback.
Okay, this may have been done before, but I doubt that it's been done as well, by James Robinson. I wasn't really expecting that the freaks were Bliss' prisoners. I probably should have seen that coming. I didn't see Bliss as much more than an ornery circus operator either.
And what's up with those interludes?
But the way this issue opens, and the way that it gets where it's going is why this is such a great book. Jack Knight is not a typical spandex super-hero. James Robinson, Archie Goodwin, Tony Harris, Wade Von Grawbadger, John Workman and Chuck Kim all know it. Jack himself knows it by looking in the mirror. You and I know it.
It's like watching a football game. Sometimes it ain't pretty - some plays are Grabowski plays - but it gets it done. It's never boring - it's a thrill a minute.