Welcome back to Rotten Ink and our 5th in our countdown to Halloween 2017 and another in our “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” updates.. This time around we are going to be looking at Jason X, the tenth film in the super popular Friday The 13th series! This year on October 13th we fans and movie goers were supposed to be treated to the 13th film in the series, but Paramount Pictures dropped the ball and did not make the film allowing the rights to revert back to Warner Brothers, who, by most accounts, has zero interest in making a new film in the series. But this year while Paramount disappointed us, Rotten Ink won’t as we will explore Jason X as well as its killer Jason Voorhees and the Avatar Press comic based on it. So sit back and be ready to be scared as we travel to space and try not to become the target of the hockey mask killer Jason.
Before we get into the film and comic, we need to take a look at Jason Voorhees who is the killer not only in this film but most of this comic. Jason Voorhees was a young deformed child who drowned at camp at Crystal Lake when the counselors did not pay attention to the boy’s cries for help. After his mother went crazy and heard the voice of her son in her head, she kills all who try to reopen the camp. This leads to her own death and the rebirth of Jason Voorhees, who returns as an unstoppable killer who knows nothing more than to murder those foolish enough to travel to his domain of Camp Crystal Lake or even just get in his way. Jason is indestructible and cannot be killed with guns, knives, toxic waste and even bombs as all these items have been used on him and none have worked to keep him down. Jason has superhuman strength and can dismantle a human body with his bare hands and cause death with a single punch. Jason also seems to have the power of teleportation as he is slow moving but seems to be able to pop up in order to get his victims showing that he is a supernatural being. When in space he is blown to pieces and falls into a medical machine that ends up healing his wounds and binding his undead flesh with metal creating Uber Jason, who is even more indestructible and can give way more damage to human bodies and even can withstand the pressure of space as well as the heat of atmosphere reentry. Jason’s weapon of choice is a machete that he brutalizes with. He has so much power that he is able to kill with his hands with ease as well as he just can’t be killed! His weakness is the fact he is slow moving at times as well as the fact he is not all that bright and can be tricked and lead into traps that can render him out of commission for a while. While he cannot be killed, he can be stopped and almost “shut down” as he is put out of commission. Plus he knows he is unstoppable and leaving him always pushing forward and leaving himself open to taking damage as well as the possibility of being stopped for sometime. So as you can see, Jason Voorhees as normal undead supernatural being and as Uber Jason is a force to be reckoned with and is one of Horror history’s most brutal and powerful slasher killers.
So now that we have taken a very brief look at Jason Voorhees, the killer of our comic and film, now it’s time to take a look at the film itself. The film’s write up is once more taken from our pals at IMDB, and after, I will talk about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film including the first time seeing it.
Jason X (2002)
“Set way in the future, Earth is no longer inhabitable, so humans have colonized in outer space. One colony receives two cryogenically frozen bodies, and when they defrost them, one of the bodies turns out to be…..who else? Jason Voorhees. No longer in the forest or Camp Crystal Lake, Jason stalks the colonists in a whole new environment.”
Jason X was released in theaters on April 26, 2002 by New Line Cinema and was directed by James Isaac. It starred actors Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell and Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees for the 4th and sadly final time on film. This film was the second for New Line Cinema and was made in order to keep interest in the character as the “Freddy Vs. Jason” film idea had been stalled, and they wanted to unleash Jason on movie goers again as the last time they made a Jason film was in 1993 and that was Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday. The film’s idea to take Jason to space was thought up by Todd Farmer who thought the idea would advance the franchise into a new direction and even got him cast in the film. The film had a budget of $11 million and only brought in $13,121,555.00 and coming in at # 135 of the year and beat out such cult films as Frailty, They, Death To Smoochy, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Auto Focus and Equilibrium to name a few. So sadly the film was a bomb for New Line Cinema. The film was panned by critics and by most fans at the time of release, and it would not be until years later that it would gain a following and respect from many younger horror film fans.
I saw the film on opening weekend and watched it with my brother Bryan and our good friend, the late great Andy Copp. I can remember being super hyped to see it and them being lukewarm on the idea of Jason in space. I can remember that not a lot of people were in the theater with us. I enjoyed it for the over the top kills and silly nature of Jason running wild on a spaceship, let alone how can anyone who loves slasher films not enjoy the kill of Jason freezing a woman’s face in liquid nitrogen and shattering it on a metal table, or the fact he fights a sex robot who is also strong and trained in fighting! Not to mention the double kill of naked girls in sleeping bags. Super silly stuff and all enjoyed by this monster kid! While Bryan and Andy disliked the film and thought it was dumb and silly, it still remained the first Friday The 13th film I was able to see in the theater.
While a bomb at the box office, Jason X did end up having its fair share of merchandise that was sure to please fans of Jason Voorhees, and even now Uber Jason is gracing products. This film and Uber Jason has graced t-shirts, posters, music CDs, action figures, comics, novels, cardboard standups, Halloween masks and even has made an appearance in the world of video games! With a rumored appearance in Friday The 13th: The Game for PS4, Xbox One and PC, a Nintendo Game was also made by Pacnsacdave that is a homebrew game that is lots of fun. So I am sure your wondering what I own from these products. I own both video games, the soundtrack score done by Harry Manfredini as well as all the comics! I did always want the Jason X Uber Jason figure that was made by Mcfarlane Toys as part of the Movie Maniacs line but sadly never have gotten it. With that, take a look below and see some of the very cool items released based on this movie.
Jason X, just like Friday The 13th, makes for a good comic series, and I give Avatar Press credit for trying to make this happen just like Topps Comics did before them. This comic is also the Special # 1 and shows events that happen after the film and continues the crazy psycho killing journey of Uber Jason. As we drift around here in space, I can hear this echoing off the walls “ I grade these on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story”. And I also would like to remind you that if you would like to read more of me talking about Jason Voorhees in comics make sure to check out my write up for Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday in film and the Topps Comic adaptation. I also want to thank Lone Star Comics for having this in stock after I could not find my original copy I got from Mavericks when it was released. So prepared to be scared as we take a journey into the deep dark reaches of space with one of the world’s most brutal masked serial killer slashers Jason Voorhess.
Jason X: Special # 1 **
Released 2005 Cover Price $3.99 Avatar Press # 1 of 1
The year is 2045 on Earth II and Uber Jason has just fallen from the sky and witnessed by two young adults who are turned on by the science of what they think was a meteor falling from space and decide to have sex, which leaves them both dead as Uber Jason smashes them with a tree! We soon see that this was set up by Kristen and Michelle, two young ladies who want to find a way to destroy Uber Jason and are using robots to find a way to do so as Uber Jason is really being held captive by a machine that allows him to think he is free and killing when in reality his captors are trying to figure out a way to kill him and use his cell structure to find a cure as Kristen and her sick husband Neil are both dying and the last of their kind and are surrounded by robots. Uber Jason is awakened by his mother Pamela Voorhees voice, and he escapes his mechanical prison and makes short work of Michelle and the other robots and sets his sights on Kristen who is trying her best now to use tissue samples to make her husband well, as time is running out as Uber Jason wants her dead and so does his mother. Kristen tricks Uber Jason and shoots him into space and as Neil wakens from his sickness and it appears the cure has worked we find out he is possessed by Pamela Voorhees and she kills Kristen and then forces Neil to commit suicide. Uber Jason’s ship lands on a larger ship that is hosting a party and this leads to him coming in and slaughtering all onboard.
Uber Jason slashed his way into the comic world with this special and sadly I would have to say that his outing of killing was just mediocre and felt like standard slasher comic fair. The plot has two remaining humans capturing and studding Jason in order to find out his secrets for eternal life and soon find themselves the target of his rampage when he breaks free and the voice of his mother urges him to make them pay! Uber Jason is a silent killing machine and while he gets to kill some robots and aliens his bloodlust seems not to be quenched as he clearly would not stop killing. His look is part metal and part rotten flesh and because of this its clear none of our human characters stand a chance against his rampage and that they would have to use their brains to escape him. The voice of Pamela Voorhees is present and for the most part is the real villain of the comic as she is the one who instructs Uber Jason to kill as well is the one who kills the humans as she possesses the make to commit a murder suicide! And when put together this combo of mother and son are brutal, ruthless killers who have no remorse for the acts they do and the lives they take. Kristen and Neil are two humans on a planet that is filled with robots that are both slowly dying and while they have the brains to outsmart Uber Jason they still are just weak humans who meet their match when pitted against the evil Mrs. Voorhees! The robots are just that mindless robots who are just in the way of Uber Jason and all get destroyed as they try and protect their masters from harm. The comic has some brutal moments but most of the kills really are to robots, aliens or illusions that are feed into Uber Jason’s mind when he captive and being studied, and while not as brutal as many of the Avatar Press New Line Cinema Horror comics it still does have lots of the red stuff. The cover is pretty cool and is eye catching to fans of Horror Films and Horror Comics and like always Avatar had a ton of variant covers. The interior art was done by Sebastian Fiumara and is pretty solid stuff and brings Uber Jason and his bloody ways to the comic world. Over all there is not much to say about this comic as its just kind of average in story, solid on art and a very cool piece of Horror Comic history. Check out the art below to see what the style of Fiumara is for this comic special.
So while Jason X: Special # 1 was nothing special, it still was a great way to continue the legacy of Jason in comics and introduce the comic world to Uber Jason. Avatar Press would also have a mini series that they used him in called “Friday The 13th Jason vs. Jason X” that pits Uber Jason against good old classic Jason, and yeah we will talk and review it on a future update for sure! So as we wrap up this update on Jason X and another From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update, we will jump into our 6th update in our countdown to Halloween 2017 as we take a look at the film WaxWork and the comic adaptation from Blackthrone based on it! So until we meet again, read a Horror comic or three, watch a Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update at the WaxWorks!
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