Ragman #1 - The Debut of a Legend

Ah, orange hasn't looked this good since Aquaman. Tell me that's not a gorgeous piece of work from Mr. Joe Kubert. I dare you. I've got to be honest here though, it took me a good long while to really appreciate that piece of art. When I first saw it, I already had a basic knowledge of Ragman and that huge pointed top to his hood looked ridiculous to me. Not to mention that the way he's drawn there makes him look more like a guillotine operator (is that even their title?) than the Ragman I know. And that whole "first issue" design looked cheap and lazy to me. But you really have to take a step back sometimes and remember, "Hey this thing was published in 1976. Why the hell are you trying to hold it up to a modern graphic design standard?"

But anyways, there you have the first fact about this issue. It was published in 1976 by DC Comics. It was written by Robert "Bob" Kanigher with art by 'The Redondo Studio'. "Wait a second Chad," you ask. "I thought Joe Kubert had a hefty hand in the creation of Ragman? You're telling me he WASN'T the artist?!" No friends, other than the cover art and character design, Kubert wasn't involved in the art chores on this one (although he DID do the layouts). So who or what was 'The Redondo Studio'? 'The Redondo Studio' was made up of two Philippine brothers: Nestor Redondo and Frank Redondo. Rumor has it that a few other Philippine artists worked under the 'Redondo Studio' masthead but, at the current moment of this writeup, I couldn't confirm anything more.

Our story opens with a duo of thugs executing a hit on a one Bill Dixon. They accomplish this by having a random young girl bounce a ball over to Bill as he's getting out of his car and when it suddenly makes impact with the vehicle...

You gotta admit, having an issue one open with a car explosion in such close proximity to a child is a pretty explosive debut (pardon the jest in bad taste). Luckily  the girl wasn't killed, though we have to assume she was at least injured. As the thugs make their getaway, one of them becomes overly paranoid about a particular pile of rags off in the shadows. His solution? Fire at it haphazardly while proclaiming, "I hate shadows!". Because firing a gun into the darkness will DEFINITELY teach them shadows a lesson. Also, randomly firing off your weapon when you're attempting to make a getaway? Ah well, nobody said your garden variety street thugs were smart. Unfortunately for them, that was no ordinary pile of rags...

So Ragman takes to the roof to confront the thugs and after an acrobatic series of punches and flips (remember that), one of the thugs ends up falling from the roof to his demise as Ragman looks on "dispassionately". In case you're curious, that sequence of panels IS the one you see on the cover. Except, instead of the thug in the blue suit meeting his maker, it's the bald guy (as it should be). But, despite badly crafted potshots at bald people, the recap must go on.

One of the things I love most about this comic is the writing. It really reminds me of some of the existential narrator double talk you'd find in an issue of Phantom Stranger or something. Here, see for yourself...

Doesn't that just sound needlessly exciting? As Ragman makes his way back "home" we find the man under the rags as he arrives at 'Rags N' Tatters'. Surprise! Ragman is Rory Regan, the son of a junkman who had inherited his fathers buisness after his death and a Vietnam verteran (remember that part too). Now here we need to stop and take a good hard look at a page from this issue. What you see on this page is one of the main things I LOVE about the history of Ragman.

Notice how KIND Rory is? He cares for his neighborhood AND the people in it. So much so that he'll take a loss if it means helping other people out. In fact, the only thing mucking up this otherwise poignant take on the potential kindness of humanity is that bitch Bette. We've just seen a man selflessly give of himself to take care of others and suddenly it's juxtaposed with the harsh reality of everyone else's selfishness. OK, maybe in that light Bette's not all that bad...

Whoops. Guess I was wrong. Turns out news photographer Bette really IS a bitch. Also, why does the default occupation for romantic interests always have to be something in mass media?

So, who WAS Rory's father? Good question and guess what? Kanigher is going to answer that for you. Turns out Rory's father was a junk-man who ran his business out of the back of a wagon and took his son along for the ride. It was here that Rory learned about humility firsthand...

Rory's father then promises his son the same promise he made his late wife (Rory's mother): "one day we'll be rich." Well, fast forward a few years and the only thing that's changed is the wagon has been substituted for a shop and the father and son duo are older. Rory, just back from Vietnam (fairly recently it seems), goes out back to find his father and his friends drinking and talking late into the night. It seems Rory's father made some interesting friends...

 And those interesting friends are about to make an even more interesting discovery a few nights later...

Well shit. Rory's dad Gerry, still caught up in dreams of being rich I suppose, was going to split up all the money between his friends (damn decent of him to begin with). But apparently the humble befriend the humbler and the boxer says, "Hell, we're almost dead anyways. Let's just give it to the kid." Well, the second they stash the matress (in a pile of matresses wouldn't you know?) someone shows up to claim it. Then he's immediately shot as someone ELSE demands to know where the cash is. Who is this second party intent on reclaiming the lost two million? Why it's the thugs from the beginning of the issue! Odd, usually this type of thing happens the other way around. FIRST we meet the bad guys who kill the father, THEN we get vengence. Oh no I spoiled it!

Yup boys and girls, after shooting down the power-lines around the fellas, they get caught up in the wires and slowly electrocuted as Rory enters the scene, trying to save his dad. Rory makes a smart decision and reaches for a RUBBER tire to pull his dad out of the wires. That, unfortunately, is shot out of his hands and he is forced to reach desperately for his father by hand...when suddenly...

And that's the end of the first issue boys and girls. So why did I ask you to remember that Rory can flip around acrobatically? And why should you remember that Rory is a Vietnam veteran? Well, let's approach this like it WAS a current first issue. Something you may be asking is, "How the hell can Rory fight so damn good?" Take what you've seen and you can easily come up with three workable theroies:

1) Rory fought in Vietnam. He's got the training for it, of course he'd be a good strong fighter.

2) Check out his fathers friends. If they've known him a long time, they probably taught him a thing or two growing up.

or the most comic book(y) explanation of them all...

3) Maybe, just MAYBE it has something to do with this panel...

and the skills got somehow transferred INTO Rory.

I suppose we'll have to find out in the coming issues! But in the meantime, let's leave you with a bit of levity. I don't plan on making this a habit, but I found this AWESOME advertisement in this debut issue of Ragman...

and through a bit of digging found absolutely nothing. Apparently this record is pretty rare. If ANYONE can find an MP3 version of this song I'd LOVE to feature it on the blog for everyone to download and enjoy! Who knew Bob Kane was a songwriter as well?!

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