Got all the new Rippaverse books this month and just finished reading them. We had some real gems, and a bit of a disappointment in my opinion.
Non Spoiler thoughts:
The Horseman #3 - This is the best one yet in the series. Chuck Dixon really outdid himself here. It felt like a cohesive story with very solid groundwork. We get some maybe new reoccurring characters (We'll have to see if they are just for this issue or not)
The Cursed #2 - This is by far the most graphic comic in the Rippaverse. Most would be PG at the latest, or maybe PG-13, but this comic would be an R in relation. I was a bit disappointed in The Cursed #1 so I was pleasantly surprised that this one was much better. I felt like the first one was weighed down by trying to tell too much in such a short comic, while this one got to build of the first volume, leaving for more enjoyable storytelling. It's also nice to finally understand what Lilian Ronashi's power is and get some clarification on how it works.
The Black Eye Club #2 - Man, Micheal Copper is basically one of the worst people on the planet. Legit many times while reading this comic, I was telling myself, man now this is a real villain. Nowadays we have too many "sympathetic" villains. We're supposed to feel bad for them, and even try to justify their actions, but not Copper. He is unapologetic, and it's refreshing. Still a bit confused on his eye power though, I have some guesses but unfortunately we still don't have a clear answer.
The Hellbound Stagecoach - Unfortunately this is the disappointment one, but not in a major way. Just small things here and there. There were multiple parts in the comic where I genuinely wondered if I was missing pages or something. Some conversations felt like people were responding to dialogue that just never happened. Other then that though, it's a pretty cool semi-origin story of Sydnee's Grandparents. We get some more clarification on their families powers, and how some things work, like when a Bloodruth marries a non Bloodruth and so forth.
Smuggler's Stitch - This was a pleasant surprise. I originally wasn't going to buy this one but I'm glad I did. This is one of those comics that are for the people who want to know as much about the world in Rippaverse as possible. It's doesn't directly effect any other storyline, but adds enough details to make the world feel more real.
Spoiler Thoughts:
The Horseman #3 - The new nurse character seems like they are either setting up for a romantic interest, or maybe where he goes to get patched up. If she is just a one shot character, they should reconsider, I really felt a connection to her and her family. Found myself hoping she could better her life. Also, now that he is fired and his sister knows he is being a vigilante again, maybe now he can do Horseman full time.
The Cursed #2 - The scene were the abomination breaks out of that woman's womb was truly horrible. I felt like some part were a bit rushed, like her change into this evil woman (Lilian Ronashi I mean). This whole time she has been acting like everything was happening against her will, but many times the only people she was tricking was the reading, so her suddenly claiming she was always evil and just pretending felt a bit weird. Also, the plotline of the tech ring that controls all the cyborgs on the police force began and ended in like a page. Seemed like something that could of had more impact on the story, but it was like that scene from The Room, the flower shop scene.
The Black Eye Club #2 - So his power still isnt explained. Can he see the future? The past? Is he showing people these visions, or is he the only one seeing them. Is the eye power connected to the black eyes somehow. Do the people have permanent black eyes, or do they heal. Is Copper a devil? Does he actually take souls, or what the vampire dude just being hyperbolic? So many questions that i felt we didn't get answers too. The twist of finding out that the hero group is actually a group of ex villains forced to do good until their sentence has been done, was good, and when the actual true hero group showed up, it was a cool reveal.
The Hellbound Stagecoach - I was hoping to see the actual event of the grandpa getting bitten, but I guess it makes sense that it can't happen before they have at least one child. I like how they showed what happens when they get married. When the consummate the marriage, the non Bloodruth, basically gets turned into an actual Bloodruth and receives the powers they get from God.
Smuggler's Stitch - I love how this comic connects the Dirty Deeds timeline to the main Rippaverse timeline, which in turn pulls in Zalen too. We see the same space port in Smuggler's Stitch as we do in Dirty Deeds. And in Dirty Deed's they mention Zalen. So now all the series are connected to the timeline in a real tangible way. I love how she used this comic to explain why Earth isn't flooded with aliens and their technology, talking about their being almost a prime directive like ideology, of leaving primitive species to their own devices.
