Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14 - Small Miracles!
TATTERS! I apologize profusely for the lateness of this post. As I stated last time, I was planning on getting this post up just in time to bookend Chanuka with posts by December 14th. I had the post written up and scheduled to post but evidently there was an issue with the Blogger "schedule" option and we didn't release when I scheduled it. (Thanks to Professor Alan for pointing it out to me on his blog!) Here follows the post I promised you!
Previously I presented you with a FANTASTIC interview with Sholly Fisch (a word I ascribe to the way I felt DOING the interview and interacting with Sholly, not assigning to my skills as an interviewer). Well, HERE I give you my thoughts on the main focus of the interview, the issue from 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold' #14 featuring a special Holiday story with Ragman! Sholly Fisch was the writer, Rick Burchett was the penciler, Dan Davis was the inker, Guy Major was the colorist, and Dezi Sienty was the letterer. Here we go!
We open, as is typical in a Batman the Brave and the Bold story, with a completely unrelated moment. Batman and the Blue Beetle are attempting to stop a sinister plot by Crazy Quilt, Doctor Spectro, and the Rainbow Raider to...change the color of all the snow in Gotham City...
Well, with one batarang, Batman knocks them all out. Leaving Beetle to whine that Bats left nobody for him to take on.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Gotham...
Suddenly a call for help echos from the street and, as the Rabbi goes out to see what's happening, he asks Rory to help by calling 911. Rory of course, darts out into the back alley for his own special brand of helping, not picking up the phone but answering the call for help by becoming RAGMAN.
Out in the street, Ragman stops a thief confidently stealing an older woman's shopping basket full of scavenged bottles and cans for the recycling center. After Ragman returns Lucy's (the old woman) basket, he hears from behind him, "Not exactly an armored car robbery but well done." It's Batman, perched on the hood of a car. Rags retorts with, "Oh, it's you."
While Batman is left momentarily to ponder the harsh reality put forth to him by Rags, the two hear a gunshot in the distance. At the Synagogue the Rabbi is being threatened by two thugs trying to scare him into leaving the place to them because, "This neighborhood is ours."
Quickly they're confronted with a crowd of locals, complete with Batman and Ragman, claiming just the opposite, "No it's OURS!" The thugs begin firing at the crowd as Ragman uses his suit to absorb the bullets and Batman takes care of one thug and Ragman then leaps to punch out the other. Batman asks what happened and the Rabbi retorts that he doesn't know as they have nothing of value in the Synagogue. Ragman expresses the senselessness of staying, not understanding why it doesn't phase the Rabbi. The Rabbi respond by saying that people need places like the synagogue and they need people like him. He says his people (the Jews) have been through much worse before and turns to Ragman as he asks, "Tell me, do you know the story of Chanukah?"
Throughout all of this, Batman is busy messing with the cell phone of the thug. He comes across his call history and discovers that the thug received multiple calls from the MacGuffin Group, the real estate group buying up the neighborhood and forcing people out with higher rents and cost of living. The rabbi confirms this by saying that the MacGuffin Group recently approached him about buying the synagogue. Ragman gets understandably upset and heads off to confront him but, before he can, Batman stops him and says Rags has plenty of take care of where he is, quipping as Ragman did before that, "Uptown is MY responsibility remember?"
Batman quickly pays a visit to the MacGuffin Group and they're promptly turned over to the authorities. A little while later...
And that's that!
I LOVE this story. It's VERY straight forward and obviously meant to be consumed by readers younger than myself. But it manages to be an EXCELLENT Ragman themed story without being overly dark or preachy. A holiday comic surrounding themes like Hanukkah could quickly be dismissed as overly religious or preachy, but Sholly manages to write it in such a way to tie into the story-line and express more "average person" views such as being a miracle to those around you. Of course themes like "God gives you what you need" are in there, but it's not presented as (and here's that word again) preachy, It's more general good natured and positive vibes instead. A sort of "magic of the holiday season" story set with a Hanukkah backdrop. Not merely a story dedicated to a Judaic "agenda".
And in a KIDS comic to boot.
As for Rory/Rags himself? I don't see anything inconsistent here. Rory was never really particularly religious in his prior story's. He was more of a "traditional Jew" in that he was a Jew by family history/tradition and opposed to a practicing member of the faith. And this captures that quite well. He still has feelings of helplessness and a crisis of faith moments from time to time, which, personally, jibes with my own history with religion.
I was raised Christian (Lutheran specifically) and, without going into specifics, left the weekly church services due to the questions they wouldn't answer and the hypocrisy. I still consider myself a Christian, but the DOCTRINE and the SPECIFICS are no longer things I'm confident in standing by. But I was RAISED in the Church. So, no matter what, there are moments I feel guilty or "off" about certain things that I no longer ascribe to but have a built in concern about because of how I was raised. I wonder if the same is true for Rory?
Though, side bar, isn't it interesting that a man whose power comes directly from a Judaic myth would still be a relative non-believer?
As for the rest? Rory helping the community through Rags n' Tatters was a breath of consistency that I especially appreciated. And the theme of the locals being forced out via a shady real estate developer has a very "Pat Broderick/Keith Giffen 1990's Ragman" feel to it.
All in all, this is a fabulously flawless story (well, so long as you discount the ridiculousness of the opening acts villainous plan).
As always, don't forget to COMMENT on this post directly and let me know what you think! Don't forget to share the blog with your friends! See you around Tatters and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
An Exclusive Interview with Sholly Fisch!
Chag Urim Sameach Tatters! That's, "Happy Festival of Lights" in Hebrew for those who don't know. Nope, I don't speak Hebrew, in this case, Google was my friend. So why a traditional Hebrew salutation associated with Hanukkah/Chanuka? Well, yesterday (December 6th, 2015) at sunset marked the first day of Chanuka! As we all know the character of Rory Regan/Ragman is heavily involved in Judaism in post Crisis continuity. So, I felt it was necessary to celebrate the beginning of the Festival of Lights here on the blog with a very special entry!
The other day I finally snagged myself a copy of 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold' #14. This story, though not YET reviewed on this blog, features a very touching story wherein Ragman (with some assistance from Batman and Bruce Wayne) helps save his neighborhood from being overtaken by a real-estate company intent on buying up the property in the neighborhood and forcing the residents out (sound familiar?) via expensive rent and, it turns out, cheap thuggery.
It's actually an extremely well done comic and is often touted by myself and several other friends in the comics world as one of the better holiday themed stories out there featuring the DC characters.
So why not simply review that comic? Well, as you may know, Chanuka lasts eight days. So I figured I'd round out Chanuka at both ends with two very special posts! The first will be THIS very entry featuring an interview with the writer of 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold' #14, Sholly Fisch! The second post (out on December 14th) will be my review of that very issue!
So let's get to it! Sholly took some time out to speak with me about comics, Ragman, this story, and more so without further adieu...here we go!
First and foremost, how did you get into the comics industry? What's your background?
Well, those are really two different questions, but the answers to both are basically "right place at the right time."
Comics-wise, I'd been a huge comics fan since I was five years old. I finished college a semester early, so I had about six months free before starting grad school, and I got myself a job at a tiny publishing company in New York City. (They were about to publish their third book. That's how small it was.) A couple of months after I started, a friend of mine was about to graduate college and got himself a job at the Wall Street Journal, so he was leaving his menial file clerk job at Marvel Comics, and I said, "Wait! Wait! Tell them you know somebody!"I did the file clerk job at Marvel until I started grad school (at which point, my sister took over the job and wound up turning it into a real job in international licensing). While I was there, I met a guy named Sandy Hausler, who was the assistant editor on Marvel's in-house promotional magazine, Marvel Age. Sandy introduced me to the editor, Jim Salicrup, and I started writing articles for Marvel Age. (Incidentally, Sandy and I also wound up sharing an apartment for the next few years, so it's been a very profitable friendship.) Through Marvel Age, I got to know the various Marvel editors, and found out when people were looking for stories. I started writing comics, and the rest is not-quite history.
As for my background, that has more to do with my day job. I have a Ph.D. in developmental psychology, and I've spent the past thirty years helping to make educational media for kids. The first fifteen of those years were at Sesame Workshop (also known as Children's Television Workshop, depending on what year it was), where they make Sesame Street and things like that. By the time I left, I was a VP in charge of the educational side of things for all sorts of projects – TV shows, digital games, magazines, hands-on materials, and so on – and testing stuff out with kids to make sure they'd understand and enjoy them. Since then, I've continued to do the same kinds of work, but now I do it for lots of different clients through my own consulting business. At this point, I've been involved in projects on every continent but Antarctica, and sometimes, I still do some work for the Workshop too.
Were you a fan of specific characters or titles as a kid?
Oh, sure. As a young kid in the 1960s, I was just the right age to get caught up in the Batmania that was sweeping the country, and I read Batman comics, collected Batman trading cards, wore Batman pajamas... In fact, I still have the plastic Batman mask that I used to play with back then. I'd wear a blue towel around my neck when I played Batman – that is, when I wasn't wearing a red towel to play Superman. At Marvel, I was a fan of things like Spider-Man, but my favorite was their parody comic, Not Brand Echh, which was the pinnacle of humor to me when I was six years old – and, actually, I still find those comics really funny. I even have a page of original art from Not Brand Echh hanging on the wall of my office.
As I got older, I still loved Batman, but I also discovered the vast array of other characters out there, and my number-one favorites shifted to Plastic Man and the original Captain Marvel. Not to mention that, in my opinion, no one has ever done comics better than Will Eisner, especially his Spirit. Over the years, I also developed a deep and abiding love for obscure, offbeat, or downright goofy characters, like Bat-Mite, Metamorpho, or Sugar and Spike. And "offbeat" certainly includes Ragman.
How did you happen upon the (for lack of a better term) DC kids line gig?
Heh. Well, I "happened" upon it through two years of repeatedly badgering DC editors. DC started doing comics based on Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network cartoons during a period of a couple of years when I had pretty much fallen out of the comics industry. Basically, since I was working full-time at the Workshop, I wasn't able to stop in at the Marvel offices anymore, and I was doing all of my work by fax. (This was in those ancient days before e-mail.) That was fine, but because I was never in the office, I didn't get to meet new editors in Marvel. And the natural turnover of staff meant that, eventually, I didn't really know anyone there anymore, and my work opportunities dried up.
So, since I'd been writing comics for about a dozen years at that point, had worked in kids' television, and had actually written a few scripts for a preschool show on Cartoon Network, I figured I was a pretty good candidate to write some of the Cartoon Network comics – not to mention that, as a lifelong Bugs Bunny fan, I would have killed to write Looney Tunes. But, of course, editors are paid to get their comics out on time, not to read unsolicited submissions. So I kept checking in every few months, and it took two years and four editors before Joan Hilty took over the kids' line and gave me a shot. With my background in kids and media, it was a natural fit.
Actually, though, I like keeping a foot in both "kid" and "regular" comics. I strongly suspect I'm the only writer whose past credits include both Looney Tunes and Clive Barker's Hellraiser. The kids' comics give me opportunities to just have fun, not worry about continuity, and even bring back all of those offbeat and goofy characters whom I loved over the years. The regular comics give me the opportunity to write stories that "count" in continuity and make my own little contributions to the mythos, like the time when I worked with astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson to establish a real-life location for Krypton. By doing both kinds of comics, I get the best of both worlds.
What inspired you to bring a character like Ragman into the title? Were you a fan of Ragman prior to the issue?
Yup, I've been a fan of Ragman since the '70s. In fact, I have a full set of his original series, and it was always a nice surprise when he'd pop up in Brave and Bold or something.
To be honest, I found his '90s ret-con a little odd, since "Rory Regan" doesn't exactly sound like a Jewish name, and despite the claims of his revised origin, the golem legend doesn't really have anything to do with clothes. But, as a Modern Orthodox Jew, I grew up in a world where there weren't any Jewish super-heroes at all, and even today, there aren't a whole lot of them. So I'm always happy to find a new Jewish hero – especially when it's a character whom I've enjoyed for years.
By the way, I was having lunch with my pal and former editor, Rachel Gluckstern, the other day, and I mentioned we were doing this interview. She reminded me of another bit of behind-the-scenes involvement I had with Ragman: When Rachel was editing Batwoman, she did an issue or two in which Ragman guest starred. The cover of one of those issues had some golem-inspired imagery, including the Hebrew word emet ("truth," which brings a golem to life) transformed into met ("die," which kills a golem). So she asked me to take a look at the cover art, to make sure the Hebrew was accurate and they hadn't accidentally done anything offensive. Seeing Hebrew words and Jewish mythology on a Bat-cover is a far cry from "no Jewish characters" when I was a kid.
Did bringing a character like Ragman, with such seemingly "dark" themes, present an issue when translating the character into your story?
Not so much. Bear in mind, I recently put the Spectre into Scooby-Doo Team-Up, and in my House of Mystery issue of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, I had Cain chasing Abel with a shovel. Whenever I incorporate any DC character – dark or otherwise -- into the kid comics, I always try to home in on the essence of the character, and translate it into kid-appropriate terms. Actually, the bizarre juxtaposition of the dark characters in the kids' comics often makes those moments the most fun and some of my favorite things to do.
How did the idea to use Ragman specifically in a Hanukkah story come about? DC isn't necessarily known for a wide breadth of Jewish characters, so why Ragman?
When I write a team-up series like Brave and Bold, sometimes the guest star comes first and I figure out a story that works for the character, and sometimes the story idea comes first and I think about what character would fit. In this case, it started with the idea of doing a Chanuka story. As I said, when I was growing up, there weren't really any Jewish characters in comics, and there certainly weren't any stories built around Jewish content. With that said, though, I always enjoyed Christmas stories in comics – and still do -- because they were generally change-of-pace sorts of stories with positive messages. Once I started writing comics, I wrote a few of them myself. And, every once in a while, I got to write a Chanuka-themed story, generally in unexpected places like Marvel's parody comic What The--?! or even Scooby-Doo. It's always a treat for me when I get to write the sorts of stories that never existed when I was a kid.
So, once I decided to write a Chanuka story, it made sense to make the guest star a Jewish hero. Since Ragman was an old favorite of mine, he was at the top of a very short list.
What inspired you to give Rory a "crisis of faith" for this story? Is it something you gleaned from prior Ragman stories?
Sort of. It was a combination of a couple of things. One was that, even though Rory has been established as Jewish, he's never been shown to be particularly religious. So, if I was going to build a story around a Jewish holiday, that gave me some interesting character possibilities to play with.
Also, when I wrote the story, the whole "Occupy Wall Street"/"Occupy-fill-in-the-name-of-the-place" movement was going on. So the issue of poverty was on everyone's mind, including mine. Ragman had always been based in slum neighborhoods, helping people on a very down to earth, grass-roots level; he wasn't a "fly out into space and fight Darkseid" sort of hero. So that was a pretty natural fit. And I liked the opportunity for some role reversal with Batman, where another hero could berate Batman for being too "uptown" instead of Batman saying it to Superman or someone.
Mushing all of that together made for some nice parallels, where the pressure of larger social issues could wear Ragman down, and he could simultaneously reconnect with his heritage and also rediscover his faith in himself. Actually, one of the things that made me feel pretty good was that, around the time the issue came out, I gave a talk at my daughter's elementary school about how comics are made, and since it was Chanuka time, I used that issue as an example. Then, a week or two later, my daughter came home from school and told me that her assistant principal used the story in a school assembly that day, when he spoke to the students about Chanuka. Not bad for a comic book...
In your mind, who is Rory Regan/Ragman? How would you define him?
To a large extent, I think it depends on who's writing him, and what sort of series he's in. For example, Ragman in Shadowpact was pretty different than Ragman in the original Kanigher/Kubert series.
To me, though – and I think this is true of most of his various incarnations – Rory Regan is a regular guy who's trying to do some good. Growing up in a slum neighborhood with a father who ran a pawn shop, he's been surrounded by poverty all his life, so he knows all of the challenges that brings, but he's seen people overcome those challenges to enjoy life and help each other through the bad times, too. Given the choice, I don't think Rory would take a Green Lantern ring and fly off into space to defend the galaxy. He knows he's needed right where he is.
Before we wrap up, I wanted to tell you that (though I don't normally read these sorts of titles) I saw and picked up "Scooby Doo Team Up" #13 with the Scooby gang and the Spectre, Phantom Stranger and Deadman. Phantom Stranger and Deadman are some of my FAVORITE characters in the DC universe. So I HAVE to ask, what was the inspiration/what can you tell me about that story?
Yeah, that's one of my favorite issues of Scooby Team-Up too. The inspiration was pretty simple – what could be more natural than Scooby and his gang of ghost-hunters meeting DC's most prominent ghosts? Once I realized that the thirteenth issue would come out just after Halloween, it was a pretty obvious choice to do the story in that issue.
I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read it, so I'll say this fairly obliquely. But, as you could probably tell from reading the issue, there's a Scooby/Spectre panel that popped into my head fairly early on, it made me laugh out loud, and I pretty much wrote the entire issue around it. Actually, when the proofs of the issues were making the standard rounds of internal review at DC, my Scooby Team-Up editor, Kristy Quinn, forwarded me a couple of e-mails saying that even the DC proofreader and legal guy found that scene hysterical. If you can make a lawyer laugh while he's searching for anything that could get the company sued, you know it must be pretty funny.
Beyond that, add in the chance to do some fun moments with the Phantom Stranger and Deadman, and cram in just about every DC ghost character I could think of (including Kid Eternity, Captain Triumph, and the Grim Ghost – or "Gay Ghost," depending on what year it was – all of whom are among my favorites), and it was a whole lot of fun to write.
Is there anything you'd like to promote?
Let's see… I should probably mention that, for anyone who hasn't read the Ragman story, you can find it reprinted in the third All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold trade paperback, which is subtitled "Small Miracles." The book also includes the issue that teamed up every Robin ever (yes, including Carrie Kelly from Dark Knight), a completely insane story about Bat-Mite's crush on Batgirl, and even a few pages of a time-traveling Batman teaming up with Super-Hip and Brother Power, the Geek in the 1960s. So it's a pretty fun book.
Other than that, I guess I should plug my current series. These days, I'm writing Scooby-Doo Team-Up and half of just about every issue of Teen Titans Go!, as well as periodic stories for Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Outside the kid stuff, I also have a backup story coming up in this year's Superman/Wonder Woman Annual. Oh, and every once in a while, I've been writing an occasional story for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles magazine in the UK. When you take into account that all of this is just the stuff I do late at night, after I finish my day job, have dinner with my family, and put them to bed, it's pretty busy around here. I'm not getting a whole lot of sleep, but I'm having enormous fun.
And that is that! For those who are familiar with my usual interviews, you may notice a slight difference in "conversational" language. Well, this is one of the few instances where I conducted the interview via email as opposed to audio-transcribed-to-text. Hence the difference. Regardless it was ALOT of fun getting to speak with Sholly about Ragman and his work in the industry. I highly recommend you check out his works mentioned above and if you're missing the "fun" in the DC Universe, I promise you it's within the pages of the titles he's writing!
So thanks to Sholly once more for taking the time to speak with me, despite the crushing deadline of Chanuka upon us! I also wanted to thank fellow podcaster and blogger Rob Kelly for introducing us. Maybe in the near future I can look forward to a Green Lantern featured appearance in Scooby Doo Team-Up so I have an excuse to talk to him again for the podcast! Other personal character suggestions include; Firestorm, the JSA, Firebrand, Starfire, Infinity INC, etc. Though, if I'm being honest, a team up featuring the Golden Age Alan Scott, his wife the Harlequin, and his kids Jade and Obsidian is my personal favorite idea...
That's it for this time Tatters! See you on the 14th for a review of 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold' #14! As always, please, Please, PLEASE do not hesitate to leave a comment on the blog directly and let me know what you think! And don't forget to share these entries with your friends!
Ragman Merchandise - 1991 Ragman Series Promotional Poster!
Normally I'd post a review (or try to) by today. But my mother is in town from Washington so my free time is booked with more important things until next week. But FEAR NOT loyal Tatters! I have something to stave off your Ragman hunger pangs!
An image NEVER BEFORE SEEN on the interwebs! That's right! I searched high and I searched low across the internet using several search engines and multiple combinations of various relevant search terms and I could find NOTHING but this extremely low-res, tiny little picture for you...
But I resorted to ebay, where I found a helpful little seller of comic related merchandise (and other items) that was SELLING the very poster I was seeking out! (Shout out to eBay seller scsenterprise!) And I found and purchased the poster for all of $0.99! The benefit of being an AVID Ragman fan is that there aren't many of us. So, while it's HORRIBLE for sharing your fandom, it's EXCELLENT for eBay bidding!
I received the poster a few days ago and today managed to scan and combine the various images into a single large, hi-res image! (forgive the lines, the pitfalls of scanning and assembling multiple images into one large one when you're inexperienced)
So, for your viewing pleasure, here is the OFFICIAL 1991 Ragman Series Promotional Poster as it was shipped to comic stores from DC Comics! (Click the image for all it's glory!)
Needless to say, this poster features work by the incomparable Pat Broderick. Assembled behind Ragman are the cover images from all eight issues of the mini-series and the figure of Ragman himself seems to come from the final page of the first issue of the series...
Amazing! And I'm super stoked to have it in my collection. I plan on having it framed fairly soon and I'll definitely update you guys with the finished framed image when it's ready!
As always, thanks for reading the blog and please, Please, PLEASE don't forget to comment and let me know what you're thinking! See you next week for the issue #7 review!
Ragman #6 - Shreds!
Welcome back Tatters! We return once more to the 1991 eight issue Ragman mini-series! This time around we're moving forward with issue number six. Plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Loren Fleming, art by Pat Broderick, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Albert DeGuzman, and edited by the team of Dooley and Helfer.
We open at Rags 'N' Tatters where we left off last issue with Bette confronting the Rabbi. After proclaiming that Rory is in danger, the Rabbi shakes it off. Bette reveals that she knows Rory is "dat rag guy" and that she seems to be the only one willing to help him. The Rabbi says that she shouldn't because "we who are merely human cannot interfere!" Bette retorts that there is nothing mere about being human and leaves Rags 'N' Tatters. The Rabbi thinks to himself, "She is a good woman, but she has never known the horrors of Treblinka!" as Bette thinks to herself, "He's an okay guy, but he never lived on da streets!"
Cut back to the showdown of the century between the Golem and Rory!
Meanwhile, one of the big bosses henchmen from issue #4 (let's call him Sneezy) is approached by the leader of the Nats. Confused, Sneezy asks whats going on and is introduced by the Nat to the leader of the Mimes who guns him down. The two drag the body off into the snow to search him for an ID. Finding none, the two set off in search of the other henchman "the fat guy". The two gangs have teamed up in order to seek out who has been pitting them against one another.
Elsewhere, Bette stumbles across the wreckage left in the wake of the confrontation between the Golem and the Ragman. Noticing clay on the wreckage, Bette reveals (via internal monologue) that she knew "bud" was falling apart. She senses it's a battle to the death and that, "Rory's bein' tested an' he's failin' bad!"
Then we rejoin the fight between the two Jewish folklore combatants...
...suddenly Ragman leaps from the bay and tugs the Golem down into the inky black water. Both resurface as the Golem realizes that it's up to him to help restore Rory's control of the suit no matter the cost. Rory, or rather the suit itself at this point it seems, sneaks off into the shadows to confront the Golem because "no tactic is too dirty. Survival is everything. May the best monster win."
Back at Rags 'N' Tatters the Rabbi laments to himself that he should have warned Rory about the danger involved in the final test. That "in fighting the Golem, you fight yourself. Perceive him as a monster and the monster will be you!" The Rabbi then cries to himself silently.
As we switch back over to the fight...
And as the Golem's head goes bouncing into the darkness, Rory gains control long enough to realize that he must erase the 'Emet' (the Hebrew word for truth) from the Golem's head to defeat him. This proves to not be as easy as he thinks though as the Golem's decapitated body continues to fight the Ragman. It's at this point Bette stumbles across the fight and collects the head of the Golem into her hands. She speaks softly to his head that the fight is over and that Rory NEEDS the good within the Golem to overcome and fight the Rags off once and for all. Tears in her eyes she erases the word 'Emet' from his face and the Golem collapses into dust and clay, uttering his first and final words, "Betty, I love youuuuu." Rory has finally come to his senses and leaps off into the night as Bette says that he shouldn't forget that someone gave up everything for him tonight because she never will.
And as Rory takes off into the night...
The next morning at Rags 'N' Tatters the Rabbi awakens worried for Rory. Slowly he approaches Rory's room and sees, thankfully, that Rory is alive and asleep. Later that day Rory awakens to night falling. He gives the Rabbi a hard time saying that he has a store to run and he should have woken him up earlier. Bette, seated at the dinner table with the Rabbi states that she ran the store while he slept. When Rory is dressed, he steps out to confront Bette about her knowledge of him being the Ragman and her expressed desire to run Rags 'N' Tatters while Rory does his thing as a hero. Rory is concerned about this being no kind of life as a 'nocturnal creature'. The Rabbi retorts that he's finished his final test and that he is welcome to do as he wants now.
But across town, in the spot where the Golem finally fell...
And with that, issue 6 ends.
Heckuva issue.
As you notice, I probably provided more pages than I normally do. It seemed necessary for this confrontation. So many panels featuring great Broderick Ragman art, I just had to showcase it.
I like that the Rags took Rory over. That, with the Golem, the Rags are a curse and a burden that's extremely hard to contain. As the Golem developed a consciousness and a morality, it gave the power a benevolent presence that Rory needed to be passed on to him to fully become the hero he needs to be.
It was confusing at times whether the Golem was fighting for himself or for the sanity and goodness of Rory himself. It seems the idea is that he was fighting for BOTH. That his sense of morality couldn't deny the soul of the man within the Rags. Made for a kind of, as I said last post, a poetry to this fight. Not a climactic final confrontation between good and evil, but a passing of the torch instead. One that had to be EARNED by Rory.
I'm glad we're nearing the end. Rory being given the full power and control of the suit will make for interesting moral questions when he is confronted by Batman later on.
Now onto the ads!
Ah Wayne's World, how we love thee. And that Monarch ad is like the third or fourth I've come across. Unfortunately for the back issue bins, I still have no interest. On the other hand, 'Panic in the Sky' looks pretty interesting actually. For more information on it, I recommend checking out fellow blogger and podcaster Michael Bailey's post over on the 'Fortress of Baileytude' by CLICKING HERE! Bailey is my go-to Superman expert so I defer to him on matters related to the Man of Steel and the Maiden of Might. Seems like a fun story-line though!
Finally, the LETTERS PAGE!
It seems the question of who is in control of the suit is being picked up on by the readers real time. That's good. I was actually a tad concerned that some people might think RORY is the one doing the killing while in the suit. And the concern over the status of Ragman from hero to killer in this re-imagining brought about a valid concern when it comes to Batman's knowledge of him operating in his city. An inevitable confrontation that we'll see come to a head towards the end of the series.
Well that's all for now! See you guys next time! In the meantime, PLEASE don't forget to comment on these posts as we go! I love getting feedback from you guys. There's not alot of us out there, so the more I hear from you the better!
Posted by Chad Bokelman at 11:49 AM 7 comments:
Ragman #5 - Feet of Clay!
...And we're back Tatters! How about that? More consistency and content with the posting! Must've been that ego boost Pat Broderick gave me recently. Anywho, ON WITH THE REVIEW!
This time around we're talking about issue #5 in the 1991 series. Plots and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Loren Fleming, art by Pat Broderick, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Albert DeGuzman and edited by the team of Dooley and Helfer. Ragman #5 was cover dated February of 1992 but actually hit stands on December 10th, 1991. (Thanks to Mikes Amazing World for this info)
We open with Bette (an shockingly non-disappointing fact) taking the Golem out for coffee. Of course the Golem doesn't drink any and off the pair go into the streets and alleys of Gotham. Bette speculates that the reason the Golem didn't drink any coffee is because he doesn't actually have a mouth. They pass by the alley where Rory's father died and Bette excuses herself to say a quick prayer and pay her respects as the Golem senses the Ragman in this place. A quick jump up to the rooftops and...
Meanwhile, Bette is busy expanding on her "no mouth" theory and the Golem senses the Ragman using his powers. The Golem thinks to himself, "The young one is becoming more experienced. And as his power grows, mine ebbs!" Bette notices his weakened demeanor and suggests they visit her friend the doctor. Cut to Ragman taking on a street thug robbing (perhaps more) a woman in a back alleyway. Rory thinks to himself that the last time he confronted an "evil doer" he had to force himself to back away. But this time is different...
Down at the local police precinct, the cops are talking about the latest rash of "demon" reportings in the area. The desk sergeant shrugs it off when "CRASH!" the street thug comes crashing through the window onto his desk as Ragman looks on from a nearby rooftop. Over at the doctors office, the doctor informs Bette that he thinks her friend is dead! He's walking around but he has no pulse or vital signs. Informing the Golem that the doctor is, "a great guy but I think he drinks" off the pair go once more into the snowy streets.
Back at Rags 'n' Tatters, Rory overhears the Rabbi giving the Ragman suit a talking to, telling it that the suit is being tamed by Rory. In the alleys, the Golem is busy contemplating his current situation, "The Rags, I must find them and destroy them! It is the only way to preserve my own life! And that is my mission...preserving life! The Rags are composed of evil souls. So I am justified in destroying them! Even if it feels wrong."
Up in a Gotham high rise, the big boss reads a headline from the Gotham Times "Infant Killed In Deadly Street Gang Crossfire". He thinks to himself that the kid is better off given that he himself grew up in those same streets. But he has other concerns and is off to a billionaires ball for the evening. But little does he know that this same headline is being read across town...
In an alleyway the Golem is taking on a couple of Mime gang street punks quite mercilessly and it takes Bette to calm him down as she calls an ambulance for the kids. At Rags'n' Tatters Rory and the Rabbi are discussing his recent efforts as the Ragman and Rory resolves to disarm the local gangs and doesn't wish to be deterred. Back in the alleys, the Golem is thinking how awful it is that an "old woman must sleep in a cardboard box" when he feels the suit activate. As a finger falls off, signaling the loss of further power, the Golem gets up and walks out of the alley and into the snow, seeking out the Ragman.
As Ragman leaps off into the night, a rag drifts down into the palm of the Golem as he thinks to himself, "A hero. He's killing me! I was almost human before he came. For over forty years I fought the good fight! In just another year or two, I would have been completely human! I would have been able to speak! I will NOT return to clay! One way or another, I'll have the last word!" With a silent farewell to the sleeping Bette, the Golem leaves it all behind. Prepared for the final battle. The Rabbi senses this and thinks, "My two children...what have I done to you?"
And as the two wielders of the same power face one another, the Rabbi silently blames himself until there is a knock at the door. It's Bette warning him that Rory is in trouble. And that ends the issue.
You know, this wasn't as bad as I remembered. LOTS of Ragman in action this issue. The focus on the Golem I had initially thought to be pretty boring. However, on this read through I appreciate it more. Getting this focus on the Golems inner thoughts gives him character and tragedy. If we weren't given this inside glimpse into the Golem we'd have assumed Ragman would be going up against a soulless, mindless hulk. By giving him a soul, you almost feel bad for him. The fight to come becomes not a "win or lose" but a transition. There's some sense of poetry to that inevitability factor.
As for Rory himself, I worry sometimes if his inner dialogue when he's in the Rags is being portrayed as TOO "flourished". As in, it's just different enough that you could be excused for wondering if Rory and the Ragman are two separate entities/identities.
Lastly, I'm starting to think this "big boss" dude is utterly unnecessary. You could have had Rory confront the issue of the rival Gangs (and the Golem) without him. No mysterious benefactor supplying guns. Just a group of rival gangs with access to weapons. But we'll see as we continue how that works out.
Now onto the ADS!!!!
No experience with any of that. Including that "Last Boy Scout" movie. Despite the presence of Bruce Willis, this looks god awful. No desire to see it.
As for the rest, Warlord's origin was recently covered on the Secret Origins podcast hosted by Ryan Daly. Though the ORIGIN from the Secret Origins series was supposedly lackluster, I've heard nothing but rave reviews from fellow comic fans regarding the Warlord series as a whole. If you're curious, I highly recommend you check out episode #16 of Ryans AMAZING podcast.
Now onto the letters page to send us off!
Wow. That last letter from Jon Lydon sure packs a wallop. Regardless, it's good to see so many people so positive about Ragman! And as for that Ragman collection...how about it DC? It's been YEARS now. Surely you've got enough material for an omnibus!
As ever fellow Tatters, thanks for reading the blog. Be sure to COMMENT on these posts and let me know YOUR thoughts! I love hearing from you all! Til next time!
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