A 25-issue comic series created by Boom! Studios based on the 1986 film of the same name, the comic picks up right where the film left off, with Jack driving his truck through the rain before being suddenly attacked by Lo Pan's demon monster, who had been stowing away on the truck.
Rather than trying to kill Jack, however, the demon pledges its loyalty to him as the one who killed its master and inherited the magical bond. Jack takes the monster in and names it Pete before returning to Chinatown in hopes the sorcerer Egg Shen can release the bond, but when he arrives he's ambushed by Qiang Wu, a disciple of Lo Pan.
Qiang Wu abducts Wang Chi and in exchange for his life he demands Jack travel the Black Road in the Hell of the Seven-Faced Widow and retrieve the souls of the Three Storms. Jack accepts, kicking off his latest adventure.
This film provides examples of:
- Black Comedy Rape: This is implied to be the punishment of those who end up in the Hell of the Horny Dragon.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: There are many Hells and basically all those that aren't horrific torture forever are this. A few examples...
- The Hell of the Oily Dragon, where people are forced to dress in lingerie and spread stinky oil over a dragon's back for eternity.
- The Hell of People Who Were Killed by Idiots, where Lo Pan went after being killed by Jack Burton; their punishment is being forced to admit the embarrassing way that they died, before getting whacked in the back of the head by a derpy-faced Oni holding a stick, then to repeat this process forever.
- Crossover: Has one with Escape from New York. Actor Allusion ensues.
- Credits Gag: The credits page for the comic takes the form of a Chinese restaurant menu, even promising "free delivery" and "no MSG."
- Denser and Wackier: Compared to the movie. There's more of an emphasis on the comedy aspects of the story, Jack Burton is less Straight Man and more The Fool, the Masquerade is so paper thin that it seems everyone must be idiots for not noticing that magic and monsters are all around them, and Jack is able to screw with and get the better of the villains much more easily
- Expansion Pack Past: The comics like to talk about all the previous Mrs. Burtons. It turns out Jack has had run-ins with the occult before, and just never caught on.
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: The Masquerade here really is paper thin, as especially evidenced through Jack's recollections of his past marriages. He's been abducted into a Babylonian cult, stalked by a vampire, and even spent several months as a voodoo zombie. How he and the rest of the world haven't caught on yet is unbelievable.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Qiang Wu's hat has a big eye on it, which even moves!
- The Farmer and the Viper: While traveling the Midnight Road Egg and Jack ask for directions from a demon woman tied to a tree. Despite Egg's warnings, Jack takes pity on her, tries to be nice, and is nearly killed for his trouble.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X":
- Jack does this to the villain in the first comic.Qiang Wu: I will skin you next for your disrespect, Yankee. But for now, tonight my focus is totally on Wang!
Jack: Heh heh. - Qiang does it right back to him in issue 4.Jack: We've come for Wang!
Qiang Wu: I'm sorry, you've come for what?
Jack: Wang! We've come for Wang!
Qiang Wu: Sounds like you want wang really badly.
Jack: Yes! I want Wang really bad—oh, ha ha. Very funny. I see what you're doing! He stole that joke from me!
- Jack does this to the villain in the first comic.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: In exchange for Wang's life, Jack must find and deliver the jars containing the souls of Lo Pan's Co-Dragons within three days.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Pete, the unearthly hell beast (former) servant of Lo Pan.
- Noodle Incident: Jack's second marriage, which apparently involved a fake pregnancy, Mexican bikers, and a Babylonian death cult.
- No-Sell: Qiang Wu manages to shrug off even Egg Shen's magic.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: When hauling Pete through Chinatown, Jack disguises him with a baseball cap, sunglasses, spiked dog collar, and a t-shirt, none of which in any way hides the fact that he's a gigantic, furry hell-beast.
- Paper Tiger: The Seven-Faced Widow. A Phony Psychic who turns out to have very little power at all, certainly far less than people believe. She has managed to kill or drive mad numerous opponents in her time, but only because they were all too scared to challenge her directly, instead steering clear so she could manipulate and destroy them from afar. When the hero does challenge her directly she proves unable to accomplish much of anything at all.
- Prophecy Twist: "Seeking the House of the Seven-Faced Widow is a fool's errand." It doesn't mean that you're a fool for seeking her, it means that literally only someone who is foolish can find the way.
- Too Dumb to Fool: This is the reason why only Jack can face the Seven-Faced Widow. Anyone more knowledgeable in Chinese mythology would have heard all the stories about her vast prophetic powers, they would be too afraid of her to call her bluffs and would fall into her mind games and be driven mad. Since Jack only knows what he's seen, he quickly realizes she's full of crap and absconds with the MacGuffin in short order.
- Weirdness Magnet: The comic confirms that the events of the film were by no means Jack's first encounter with the supernatural. They were just the first time he happened to be paying attention.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: Killing Lo Pan means Jack inherited the black magic bond that tied the unearthly hell-beast to his master. The only way to get rid of it is for someone to kill Jack, meaning they'll inherit it instead. Or if the beast's original master is resurrected.
