I’ve never read any of R.I.P.D, not earlier issues of this comic series or any other R.I.P.D titles. I’ve heard of it, however, since I know that a movie is being made about it with Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. I thought it would a good idea to start learning a little more about the comic series as I found the concept interesting.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
The third issue of R.I.P.D starts off with a bang. Roy and Crispin manage to escape from the tentacle monster, which Crispin says is “very old and very powerful”. The townsfolk, who worship the monster, are in various states of distress as the two R.I.P.D members make their way out of town. Before they can get too far, Lucifuge forcibly stops them. The demon offers to work with them to stop someone even worse than Lucifuge: Sterling.
The trio needs to ride the Death Train to get to wherever Sterling is. Crispin wants to use the townsfolk’s souls, but they are too tainted. So they use another group of people, whose souls are untainted, to call the train to them. The train takes them to some kind of factory where what looks like robots are being used to take the people off the Death Train and sort them for whatever Sterling has planned. Once there, Crispin is found out as being a member of R.I.P.D and taken to Sterling. Roy is not and is able to stay behind and start fighting his way out.
I liked the Old West setting (I’m a sucker for anything set in the Old West), as I was expecting a more modern setting. I thought the styling of the characters was true to that time period. I really enjoyed the artwork. Lucifuge and the Death Train look appropriately terrifying and like things to be avoided. Overall, having started with this issue, I found the comic highly enjoyable. Some things were a bit confusing, like who some people were, but that’s what happens when you read a comic three issues in. If you like R.I.P.D then I would suggest you check out this comic.
