Heroes, villains, and detectives: a guide to Dan Schkade’s Lavender Jack

There is no lack of genre diversity in the world of webtoons : from fantasy to romance, from comedy to thrillers, you’re sure to find something that matches your specific interests. There are, however, surprisingly few superhero webtoons, at least compared to how omnipresent capes and tights are in traditional comic books. But if you are curious about exploring the superhero webtoons that do exist, there is without a doubt one that merits your attention: Lavender Jack.

Created by writer and artist Dan Schkade alongside colorist Jenn Manley Lee, Lavender Jack tells the story of a masked vigilante, defending the poor and exposing the corrupt elite in the fictional early 20th century city-state of Gallery. On top of being a superhero comic, Schkade’s series is very much rooted in detective fiction, with some very central characters paying homage to Sherlock Holmes and the works of Agatha Christie. So if any of this sounds like it’s right up your alley, here’s everything you need to know about the world of Lavender Jack.

The city of Gallery

The adventures of Lavender Jack are set about a century ago in Gallery, a fictional European city-state described as an anomaly of history, a place where people from a multitude of different countries, cultures and religions came together to create a city like no other. Gallery is – as cliché as it sounds – a character in its own right in the world of Lavender Jack, a place made for mysteries, full of social tensions and political machinations.

The heroes

Lavender Jack

One of the main strengths of Lavender Jack is just how cool our man Jack is. The memorable, instantly recognizable design gives a lot of its identity to the series: a stylish tailcoat suit fit for a gentleman, paired with devil horns and a venetian mask hinting at a man of secrets and intrigue. On top of all this, Jack’s strange ability to snap his fingers and have guns and light bulbs explode only makes the character more visually iconic, and adds to the mystery of his true nature.

Mimley Bastrop

Behind the devil mask is none other than Sir Mimley Bastrop, nobleman and inventor. Having seen in his past just how cruel and dangerous the people ruling his city can be, Mimley fights injustice and oppression with charm, panache, and a signature mischievousness that is a never-ending source of fun. A blue blood fighting for the working class, a vengeful spirit with a dashing sense of style, Mimley Bastrop is a man of contradictions, someone who was forced to become a fighter but remains a lover at heart.

Ducky

Equal partner in the Lavender Jack adventure is Maureen ‘Ducky’ DeCecco, Mimley’s maid and the strategic mind of the operation. A talented spy, Ducky assembles information on the team’s rich and powerful targets by mingling with the other servants and workers of Gallery, using them as her unwitting eyes and ears throughout the city. Although she could easily have been nothing more than Alfred to Bastrop’s Batman, Ducky is just as much Lavender Jack as Mimley is, even if she doesn’t wear a mask. Bastrop and Ducky’s complex relationship defies all clichés and is a very strong core upon which is built their ties to the rest of the supportive cast.

Madame Ferrier

One of the most noteworthy characters in Lavender Jack is Madame Theresa Ferrier, the great detective hired by the mayor to track down Gallery’s vigilante and expose his identity. Not only is she an incredibly clever sleuth, she is also a force of nature, an aging adventurer who often serves as a mentor to the other protagonists. Madame Ferrier is the strong-armed moral heart of the series, and her loving relationship with her wife as well as the parts of her backstory that are revealed throughout the series make her the real standout character of Lavender Jack.

Honoria Crabb

The character that goes through the biggest evolution in the series is Honoria Crabb, the no-nonsense detective tasked with aiding Madame Ferrier in the Lavender Jack case. Starting off as a loyal cop firmly believing in Gallery’s system, Crabb is confronted with the rot at the heart of her city and ends up becoming the living incarnation of Lavender Jack’s legacy. Not only does Honoria Crabb play the very fun role of being both the Lestrade to Ferrier’s Sherlock Holmes and the Commissioner Gordon to Lavender Jack’s Batman, but by the beginning of the second season, she becomes almost as much of a protagonist as the titular character.

Johnny Summer

Johnny Summers is introduced in the second season of the series as the rich owner of the Margravine Club, a love interest for Mimley, as well as a potential suspect of secretly being the villainous Black Note. In his club, both his business and his home, Johnny is king, a wealthy playboy respected by all. But that status is contrasted by the fact that he also is a trans man, confident inside the walls of his ostentatious home, but struggling with his fear of stepping out as himself in the outside world.

The villains

Lady Hawthorne and the Inclement Investment Company

The main antagonists of Lavender Jack, at least in its first season, are a group of rich businesspeople from Gallery’s upper class called the Inclement Investment Company. Involved in much of Gallery’s secret dealings, and willing to exploit and sacrifice anyone as long as it makes them richer, the Company is the face of the city’s corruption and evil. They are also responsible for a specific tragedy in Mimley Bastrop’s past, tragedy that drives much of his quest of vengeance against them and their ilk. Most notable amongst them is the cold and ruthless Lady Hawthorne, the brains of the Inclement Investment Company. Hawthore quickly becomes something of an arch-villain for Lavender Jack and friends.

Lord Hawthorne

One of the most terrifying villains in the series is Lord Hawthorne, the husband of Lady Hawthorne and muscle of the Inclement Investment Company. First introduced half-naked, killing people with his bare hands in single combat and taking from them their possessions and titles, Hawthorne is a wild beast of a man, someone who lives only to fight and nothing else. His marriage to Lady Hawthorne is a strange, twisted and yet somehow functioning – and at times loving – relationship, that gives the duo of villains depth and originality.

The Black Note

The Black Note is the first true “supervillain” encountered by Lavender Jack and friends, a masked menace with strange and destructive sound-based powers. Although in theory his ideals of tearing down the corrupt institutions of Gallery’s society and building back up something better aren’t opposed to Jack’s mission, in reality, the Black Note causes nothing more than death and destruction, and is more than willing to sacrifice the small folk to further his plans.

Chief Justice Endo Gall

As Lavender Jack and his Lavender League grow to become the defenders of Gallery’s population, their rise is mirrored by that of Endo Gall, a bureaucrat who temporarily assumes the position of mayor in season one, and ends up taking control of the city and turning it into a heavily militarized authoritarian police state. Gall met Madame Ferrier as a young military officer in the Platinum Wars, and although the story of their first encounter isn’t told until season three, we do know that Gall is someone Ferrier distrusts and shows little respect for. Although never the main threat in any of the seasons, Gall is the incarnation of everything Lavender Jack stands against, a corrupt politician who is more than happy to turn Gallery into a fascist state in order to keep power in his own hands.

Lilac Jack

Introduced in the third and final season, Lilac Jack is a villainous copycat of our main hero. Brutal and lacking any personality, he is a soulless brick wall of a man. His suit is a drab military uniform that couldn’t be further away from Lavender Jack’s classy purple tailcoat, and his mask is frozen in a sinister, silent smile that both mocks and opposes Mimley’s more talkative nature. Whereas other villains challenge Lavender Jack intellectually or show him what he could have become had his life gone in a different direction, Lilac Jack is his dark reflection, his complete opposite in all aspects: an empty shell used as a weapon by others to terrorize the city, instead of the collaboration of a heroic network of friends and allies trying to improve it.

With its great cast of characters and captivating mysteries, Lavender Jack makes the case for more webtoons playing in the worlds of superheroes and detective stories. So if you like either, or both, or if you just like comics and webtoons in general, come on and give your loyal chum Lavender Jack a try.