By Dan Traeger
So, Halo Jones... yeah. Is there really anything new to say about her? She’s like that girl you used to date a hundred years ago and you keep running into her at the gas n’ sip often enough where it seems like it could be a coincidence but maybe not. Then you find out she’s friended to a bunch of your friends online, and you suddenly realize she’s been Facebook stalking you for a few years and the whole thing is just kinda creepy. It’s not like Fatal Attraction, boil the kids pet rabbit creepy or anything but you can see it from there. I’ve read buckets of reviews on The Ballad of Halo Jones over the years and they all boil down to the same keywords, fluffy pet bunny not included: amazing, groundbreaking, cult classic… blah, blah, blah.
The truth is Halo Jones is all that, but the reason her story hasn’t been stuffed into a quiet corner of Alan Moore’s hall of fame museum with old issues of Captain Britain and his excellent Future Shocks short stories is a simple one. The Ballad of Halo Jones was originally planned to chronicle Halo’s life over nine volumes, however somewhere prior to the publication of the third volume, Halo’s copyrights went into contention and we’ve seen nothing since. The publisher at the time, IPC/Fleetway had agreed to turn the copyright over to Moore and Gibson, and they didn’t. Now we’re stuck in a catch-22 of development hell. Moore and Gibson can’t finish the story at another publisher for fear of a lawsuit, new publisher Rebellion can’t print anything new without them because Moore holds the copyright on any new Halo Jones stories.
Her story isn’t finished, she left us early on and it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see any more of her life. And we’re comics fans. We hate that more than almost anything (ask Harlan Ellison if you doubt my veracity here.) So we whine and we badger and we plead and to placate us, every few years they re-release the three volumes that Alan and Ian gave us. We willingly fork over our money and we get to walk away with a repackaged version of the same unfinished story. Sometimes we even get a new cover, but not from Ian Gibson. Sometimes we get a new introduction from a professional who grew up loving Halo Jones, just like we did, but the tone while exuberant, is ultimately bittersweet.
In 2000, the British video game company Rebellion bought the publishing rights to many of the old 2000AD Magazine characters and they’ve done an admirable job with keeping properties like Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper alive in both Britain and The United States. What they haven’t done is take any steps to clean up what was originally Fleetway’s mess, nor have they rectified the situation with Alan Moore and Ian Gibson. They just keep reprinting The Ballad of Halo Jones and taking in the money because they don’t “legally” have to pay the creators more than a pittance. With the publication of this newest colorized version they couldn’t even be bothered to reach out to Ian Gibson for a new cover and he’s far more likely to play ball with them than Alan Moore.
So here’s the thing... this new printing of The Ballad of Halo Jones is nothing new story wise. You know this girl well, and you know going in that she’s going to leave you before the story is over. But...she’s got a new makeover by the excellent Italian color artist Barbara Nosenzo so she’s looking better than ever. Barbara’s work on this is obviously a labor of love and it shows through on every page. It’s a delightful read anyway, and Barbara’s color pallette just enhances the hell out of Ian Gibson’s delicate linework. Is it worth the price of admission? Yes, the addition of Barbara Nosenzo to the mix makes this special and worth getting. Just remember what you’re dealing with, what you’re supporting when you buy this graphic novel. Halo is trouble, an ethical quagmire wrapped in a pretty package.
Score 5/5
The Ballad of Halo Jones Volume 1
Alan Moore & Ian Gibson
Rebellion