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Review: ‘R.I.P.D.: City of the Damned’ #1

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11 years ago

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With Dark Horse Entertainment’s motion picture release of “R.I.P.D.” hitting theaters next summer, the publisher has decided to team up with writer Jeremy Barlow, and artist Tony Parker, to bring back Peter M. Lenkov’s original characters for a 4-issue mini-series. R.I.P.D.: City of the Damned functions as a prequel to the upcoming feature film, and acquaints readers with the intrinsic and indispensable properties that characterize Lenkov’s world.

WRITTEN BY: Jeremy Barlow
ART BY: Tony Parker
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: November 28th

For all you R.I.P.D. virgins, the basic story centers around a slain U.S. Marshall named Roy Pulsipher, an equally dead Chicago cop named Nick Walker, and their journey as undead police officers working for the Rest In Peace Department; a divine law establishment which serves the Almighty by protecting the living world from evil and ensuring the dead move on into the afterlife. It’s a remarkably fun concept, which might sound familiar if you watched MTV’s “Death Valley”, or if you read Chap Taylor and Peter Johnson’s “Haunted City” from Aspen Comics.

Issue #1 opens with a single panel dedicated to the exterior of Rest In Peace Department Headquarters, which Parker models after the Roman Colosseum and, apparently, the Burj Khalifa, as he portrays a timeless and strong structure that appears to stand as tall as the sky. It’s a very telling first page, as the majority of the story takes place a century ago to chronicle Roy’s journey through his recruitment to the R.I.P.D.

The issue mainly takes you into the interior of R.I.P.D. Headquarters where Parker’s artistic vision explodes into an arrangement of chronologically inconsistent events, cultures, objects and people from different historical eras. In one panel, you can spy an iron bridge from Victorian France, traditional Chinese lanterns, a futuristic administrative assistant who looks like she belongs in “The Fifth Element” but is working inside a Japanese temple, which just happens to be beside a Mayan tomb. Let me just reiterate that this anachronistic Charlie Foxtrot is featured in one panel.

The rest of the issue follows our sarcastically cranky protagonist, Roy Pulsipher, a fantastically old western styled cowboy, and his Puritan partner, Crispin Mather, as they embark on an R.I.P.D. assignment, in hopes of defeating a mysterious evil and finding answers to the circumstances surrounding Roy’s death.

It’s a solid first issue which delves into the origins of how Roy comes to work for R.I.P.D.; it’s a great starting point for new readers who are interested in the Film. Parker’s renderings add to the script, and bring Barlow’s vision alive with his superb visual storytelling. Even though it feels like the background story is compressed into insufficient space, the premise is still refreshing, and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

3.5/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – ShadowJayd

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

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5 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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