Reviewer: Mathan Erhardt
Story Title: Origin of the Tatterdemalion
Written by: Bob Kanigher
Art by: The Redondo Studio
Lettered by: Erick Santos
Editor: N/A
Publisher: DC Comics
The issue beings with a startling murder. As the perpetrators make their escape a cloaked figure follows them to the nearby rooftop. On the rooftop they battle, one of the criminals plunges to his death, the other escapes.
Then we see Vietnam vet Rory Regan being a compassionate human being to the down on their luck people who visit his Rags N Tatters junk shop. And of course he has trouble catching the eye of the attractive journalist Bette Berg who only seems to have eyes for Ragman (isn’t that always the case?)
Rory then flashes back to his childhood with his father. And then we flashback to the recent past where Rory’s father and three of his friends are sharing a drink behind the shop, when they stumble onto the money from a bank heist. After hiding the money they are confronted by people looking for the loot. The thugs shoot some power lines down on top of the old friends. Rory comes and tries to rescue the men but the electric current passes through the four friends to Rory, killing them and knocking him out. After waking up Rory goes to call the police and discovers a birthday present from him pop, the Ragman suit. He dons the suit. To be continued.
Kanigher crafted an amazing story. Everything is so descriptive. Rory is shown to be a caring person and feels real. And the sacrifice his father makes doesn’t sound hokey. Everyone complains that today’s stories aren’t told in a single issue. Well this story is from 1976 and the origin isn’t even finished. Yet you don’t feel cheated.
The Redondo Studio does a fantastic job on the art. It is clearly influenced by Ragman co creator Joe Kubert. The change of expression on the gunman’s face on page six is great. And the characters in the shop also look distinct. Comics don’t look this good anymore.
On a non-comic note, I couldn’t help but notice that the ads 27 years ago were for magic sets, b.b. Guns, fishing rods, learning to play instruments, learning to be a locksmith, learning Kung fu and bicycling. All of these are activities. I look at the ads in a current comic and all I see are ads for video games, which ( no disrespect to my compadres at 411games) is the epitome of inactivity. It’s kind of sad.
