R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D. (collected editions) #1

by Matt Lunsford, Randy Emberlin (inks), Lucas Marangon (pencils)

Welcome to the Rest In Peace Department -- the devoted, yet dead, officers of divine law enforcement "patrolling the deadbeat...reporting to one boss." Yep -- THAT boss. Nick Cruz was murdered by an unknown assailent, at the height of his personal and professional life. Now he's traded a hundred years of service to the R.I.P.D. in exchange for a shot at finding who killed him. Unfortunately his search will take him to Hell and back -- literally! This title R.I.P.D. #1-4

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Horror, Supernatural, Crime

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2003

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually like to read the book after seeing the movie, and comics aren't much different. I like experiencing the movie without having a clue about what's going to happen, and the book usually varies enough from the movie that I can enjoy that story, too.

I thought the movie adaptation of R.I.P.D. was a lot of fun (I saw the parallels, but didn't think it was a Men in Black knock off). And the book was thoroughly enjoyable, and different enough that I had no idea where it was going. Like the movie, the comic was light and fun, easygoing eye candy. A decent read if you're not looking for anything serious.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw the movie and didn't completely hate it, so I decided it was worth trying out the source material. And I didn't completely hate that either. The movie did a fairly decent job of translating it to the screen. The biggest knock is that it is almost beat for beat the same story as Men in Black, except with demons instead of aliens. Neither of the lead characters gets much development (and the book doesn't have Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges, whose charisma manage to sell some things), and the whole concept and execution of the creatures coming back from the dead doesn't feel very well thought out. There are some decent action beats, but nothing too exciting. And the art style is weirdly out of alignment with the story - it's cartoonish, but with a surprising amount of gore. It doesn't quite resonate right for me. It's honestly a very middle-of-the-road experience. I don't think the time spent reading it was wasted, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone either. Maybe later volumes do more and in more unique ways, but this first volume feels too familiar for its own good.

[lili.darknight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na základe tých hodnotení som si myslela, že to bude väčší prúser. Ale vo výsledku ma to celkom aj bavilo. Bola to skrátka čierna komédia a tie väčšinou nedávajú stopercentný zmysel, ale ako oddychovka je to obstojné. Navyše ma dosť baví ten námet. Škoda len, že sa mu nikto nevenoval viac.

[Luke Zwanziger · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I heard this was picked up for a film starring Ryan Reynolds (Wolverine, Green Lantern, Deadpool), I figured I would take a gander at this miniseries. I picked this up in single issue form on Ebay and I am glad I didn't pay more for it.

The premise sounded promising: An cop killed by a demon, brought back to serve 100 years as an undead law enforcer. But what ensued in the following pages was menial dialog, cookie-cutter tropes and contrived action that only 12 year olds would appreciate (no offence to twelve year olds). While a young teen may have enjoyed this comic, I found it unsatisfying at nearly every turn.

I can only hope that the film version drastically alters the vision of the series, but even then I might be non-plussed.

[Jack · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe they made a one hundred and thirty million dollar movie based on this.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crime never rests... even when it’s an eternal rest.
R.I.P. D. Is the Rest In Peace department - the afterlife police force, dedicated to tracking down damned souls who escape their punishment, and returning them to their final sentence.
A rookie officer is tempted into joining the département with the opportunity of an afterlife - the chance to solve his murder, alongside his supervisor - a senior officer named Pulsifer who is nearing his own retirement.
~*~*~*~*~

Never a good sign when I read the book this week and I had to go back and look through it to refresh my memory as to what it was about.

It’s not a bad story, but ultimately it’s - well - forgettable. The plot is pretty thin, and mostly and excuse for big guns and macho posturing. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the movie, and for all the bad reviews it got I’d say it’s actually an improvement on the comic. For all that the comics’ art style looks like it should be humorous, it’s rarely gets as much as a smile. The movie was actually fairly amusing at parts - I just wonder how many people went in expecting some Batman-style action film.

It’s a quick enough read, but you could honestly skip it and just go to the second volume, which is a fair improvement over the first, without missing much.

[Solace Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for half price at my local comic shop, because I had seen the movie and I love to compare. The movie... is better. The movie has fleshed out characters, or at least the main character is. This is a quick telling of a great idea with no real depth to anyone or anything. There's no emotion. It's fast paced and tells a story that should be good, but not in a 20-30 minute read. It would be like watching an entire series in one half an hour episode of a show. Movies have a hard enough time in under 2 hours giving characters depth, this comic had no hope of doing that. Again, the IDEA is brilliant, it just didn't work for how quick it was.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to say that I loved this book, but it is such a hard premise to follow. This book is packed with content people who saw the movie might remember, but that is also its downfall. The most memeorable parts of the movie are not in this book. I think that either more development has to be done with the story, or a different character should be introduced before I really buy the ‘student becomes teacher’ trope they are trying to pull off.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are too cartoony for me taste. My guess is they are like that on purpose to lighten the dark, gory subject. The balance is off. Interesting but not great, the world building is a bit clunky

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this numerous times over the years and it still a very enjoyable story. There is something about the art the really appeals to me but it is the story that brings me back every time. It is fun and lightweight but is such fun that i love rereading it every time.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good but I mainly read it because I had seen the movie and wanted to compare the two.

[Sara Kreps · Rating 3 out of 5]

the execution of the plot was simplistic but i'm willing to try another volume

[Chandra Michaels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome concept, wish there was more. It felt sort of rushed

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great young adults graphic novel!

[Rivulet027 · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was such a fun read!

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Animation was kool. The film version did more but overall, not particularly memorable, either iterations of this story.

[William O’Pomegranate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is too rushed nothing gets a chance to breathe. This is a story that should've been given 4 or 5 volumes and instead is told in one. It's hard to get into it without going into heavy spoiler territory but our protagonist on his first day manages to do far too much.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good start to the Rest In Peace Department, for those of you who saw the movie before reading the graphic novel you will recognise many of the traits and ideas within. The two main characters are a sheriff who died 99 years ago and due to retire and his new trainee, a fresh out of death copper. The characters are well fleshed out and interesting with many unique and darker takes on the world around us. I really hope that the author is able to keep the dark humour going throughout the rest of the volumes.

[Mark Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally managed to get a copy of this. Disappointing.

Here is my full review:
http://jugglingdragonworm.blogspot.co...

[Sean Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty thin book with some ugly cartoony art and a shockingly short story, but an admittedly solid Men In Black but in Heaven concept. There's enough in the fun ideas and potential to elevate the generic material.

[Kitap · Rating 1 out of 5]

The best thing about this miniseries (and they do mean mini—I finished it in less than twenty minutes) is that I did not pay to read it. Basically it's a buddy cop tale set in God's undead police force; two revenant cops—a veteran and a rookie, of course—solve the rookie's murder while hunting and killing demons which are on the lam. (It reads so quickly that it basically sums itself up.) There are no surprises here at all—this is 99 and 44/100 pure formula. I cannot imagine an entire feature film based on this book. (Okay, I can, but it isn't pretty.) Fun enough, I guess, but don't shell out $12.99.

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read. I haven't yet seen the film so I won't make any comparisons to it; though the film is one of the reasons I decided to read the comic. (I like to read the book before I watch the film.)
The story was a bit sparse in some places, but I sort of thought this was a one-off so there wouldn't be much investing in the world building. Even for being a bit thin on background/action in some parts, the story moved along pretty well and I feel that the characters were clear enough to be individuals instead of lumped together. Though, with the quickness of the story, it wasn't difficult to figure out the (kind of) mystery of who killed Nick. Still, I had fun reading it.

[A. Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I can say that I think I've seen the movie now. This had it's moments of humour and fun. I'm trying to decide what it was that I didn't really care about but I think that's it - I didn't care about the characters or the plot. It was fun, light, and I've set it aside totally now that I've put it down. And we're left with "it was okay" as my reaction to this. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just...there. Kind of disappointing.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced fun story blending hard-boiled police action with fanciful monsters and demons. It manages to balance the noir elements with humor and horror very well. I really liked the more cartoony art style also. We'll see if the movie adaption can come anywhere close to being this entertaining.

[Jimmy Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short but not exactly sweet. Having seen the film, I knew where things were going regarding a particular part of the plot but that isn't the book's fault. The art is fine although there were a couple of panels where I wasn't 100% sure what was happening. Still, it is inoffensive and quick to read so it is an OK time passer.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much of a graphic novel reader, but I figured I would give this one a shot. It was short and straight to the point but I genuinely liked it. It's a good starter graphic novel for people wondering what all the craze is about.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely on the short side. Nick and Roy could have done with more fleshing out. Plus, the character design (like the difference in stature between Nick and Roy) was a little too comic-y/unrealistic for my taste.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good! It's a little cliched and it's very frustrating that it's so short! Will definitely read more of these if they come into being! Will have to be satisfied with the prequel that has been written for the upcoming film...

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I found the movie funnier and a lot more clear as to how the whole R.I.P.D. works I enjoyed the original version as well! Also, after having lost it for about seven months, I'm glad to have the opportunity to read it at all!

[Jarlos]

amusing. fun concept. but lacks wit or clever artwork. a cute read, more suited to 13 year olds.