Review by Ian Keogh
Ragman is a character that’s never really caught on with superhero fans, being a star of several short series since his 1970s introduction, and a guest star in mystical-based features. None of his previous outings have been collected into graphic novels and this 2018 reboot does little to promote his cause.
Ray Fawkes begins again from scratch, picking and choosing from assorted earlier iterations to create a new Rory Regan, now previously a mercenary who was part of a tomb-robbing raid with disastrous consequences. He’s the only survivor, yet the spirits of his dead colleagues are drawn to him via a costume created from tattered bandages. It enables him to suck out people’s souls. However, the tomb raid has consequences, and Gotham is beset with demonic entities after Regan’s return.
This takes some figuring out, as Fawkes is a writer who obscures what’s happening well beyond the needs of perpetuating mystery, and tends to forget matters readers might want to see resolved. For instance, Ragman may be responsible for sorting everything out in the end, but what kind of hero starts off robbing tombs?
With one major caveat, artist Inaki Miranda is the star turn. He tells an unclear story as clearly as possible within dynamically drawn pages and the supernatural threats are as menacing as the Demon, who comes to Ragman’s aid. The one disappointment is Ragman’s new design. There was an appeal to the previous hooded and cloaked version who stood out, but despite light shining through from underneath bandages, this version just looks generic.
Regan is overcome with guilt, but more to do with his dead comrades than what they were up to, and has to be dragged into his new protective identity via accelerated tuition from Etrigan, the Demon. Only lip service is paid the Jewish heritage bolted on in the 1990s, and if the story is actually meant to investigate survivor’s guilt there’s little finesse.
Most of the time you’re likely to be confused about what’s going on and that’s no way to attract readers to a new concept.
