An Exclusive Interview with Pat Broderick!

This past weekend (September 11th - 13th) my future brother-in-law (Gary) and I headed down to Alamo City Comic Con in San Antonio, TX. We were granted two press passes so I could interview creators for the LanternCast and Gary could snap pictures of the event. While there, I had an opportunity to speak with artist Pat Broderick regarding his work on Green Lantern. Since I had his ear, he was gracious enough to spend some time with me talking about Ragman for this very blog! And, surprise surprise, Pat knew of my blog and has even read it from time to time! Let me tell you, that made me feel pretty awesome. So without further adeu, here follows the transcribed interview from Alamo City Comic Con 2015! Enjoy!

When Ragman was created by Kubert and Kanigher, he had a very subtle supernatural element to him. Mostly in the way that the electrical shock transferred his abilities to him, supposedly. But when you came on, it was post Crisis, and they had a whole new bent to it. What was it like throwing in this much more direct supernatural element?

Well it was Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming. But what I liked about it was how they tied it into the Judaic folklore, to the Golem, and to the Judaic mysticism. The ability of the rags to capture the souls of the villains. I thought that was a very unique twist to the character. And we were exploring the powers of the suit which Keith was revealing further and further into the series you know? So on my part, as an artist to draw Ragman, I've always been an incredible Joe Kubert fan and I love his war stuff. But when he got out of his war stuff and did things like the Viking Prince, Hawkman, Ragman, and Tarzan it was refreshing to see something that wasn't World War II. I loved Kubert's work and his design was incredible, it was always dead on. So I was a huge fan of Ragman when it came out because I was just a boy. I wasn't in the industry at the time. And the development of it with Rory and the characters that Joe and Kanigher had developed, that Keith and Robert had brought over. It brought a freshness to them. The Batman one where Batman became aware of Ragman and what he was doing, I thought that was a wonderful tie-in to the DC Universe. And it was a situation where I was brought on to work with Keith Giffens style which was why it was in the nine panel format...not my personal favorite selection.

Mine either and I know you've read the blog so you know it's not.

You know, it's a grind when one has to do nine panels everyday, everyday, everyday. But I respect Giffens work. I've read so much of his stuff where he did the nine panel layout and enjoyed it. But for me and my form of storytelling I like to pace things in that, when you hit the peak of say scene two, you expand that peak for the dramatic effect of it. Much the way Kirby structured his books in the early years. The chapter one, chapter two, chapter three and then a little prologue which led into the next story. It seems to me that all writing is based off of theatrical screenplay/Shakespearean format. The introductions, part one, part two and then a conclusion which works well in ANY format. But in the beginning it was a wonderful opportunity to work on the character that connected me back to my childhood. It's like an elixir, it's like a drug when you can feel like a kid again especially when you're 62 years old.

You brought up Kubert's War stuff. Rory was a Vietnam veteran so there are some Vietnam flashbacks. But it's also tied into the tale of the Golem so there’s some World War II stuff. And I remember a very specific page featuring a full page splash of a concentration camp. What what it like to draw, not just a character you grew up with, but really emotionally intense scenes?

Well there was one splash where the Jewish prisoners are behind the barbed wire and I centered on the gaunt, lost look on their faces. I was trying to capture the emotion of what they had to feel at the time. The separation, the barbed wire, the boot and the dog prints in the snow from the German guards and their dogs. I'm a big history fan, I love history so I enjoyed that part of it. Some of the splash pages like the montage page of the Golem battling everything. I'll tell you a little secret on that page. I had no layout, the plot was just, "multiple scenes. we want the Golem doing five different things and combine them into a montage". I turned in nine versions of that page to them.

Wow. Speaking of multiple versions, I've heard tell that artists used to charge more for certain characters such as Jack of Hearts. I know your art style has a lot of lines and details, but was Ragman a little more of a challenge because of the amount of work you had to put into his suit in every panel?

It was far easier than it would have been to do Jack of Hearts. (laughs) I only had to be concerned about cloth patterns. It had the Kubert/Ditko feel, the Spider-Man style mask, the almost magically flowing cape, and I was able to do a lot with that.

Was making the cape it's own almost living element your choice?

No, everything I drew I drew over Giffens layouts. Because Keith would lay a story out as his form of writing. So he had introduced the cape aspect of it and I picked up on what he was doing and I basically ran with that game.

Now, the evolution of Rory from unwilling accomplice in his fathers legacy to becoming a bonafide hero and being protected by the inhabitants of that Gotham slum. You drew a lot of Ragman and developed a lot of that. But there had to be a different side to developing Rory himself. What was that like?

Remember when the Rabbi entered the story? Rory’s development kinda took off from that point. The previous issues were when the mob took over the pawn shop, killed his father, sliced him to ribbons...that was sort of a prologue. The introduction of the suit, the realization of the crime and the harm and the loss that he felt, placing the little stone on his fathers grave as the Jewish tradition goes, and what he was going to be doing from that point on. Because he never expected to be doing that. He never expected to become the Ragman. He knew that the pawnshop was a losing financial proposition for him because he kept helping out all of the people in the neighborhood when they'd bring this junk jewelry but he knew them and felt for them. They'd say, "These are family heirlooms" and he'd know they're costume jewelry but he'd give them $50 for it or $100 for it.

And say, “I'll hold on to it for you.”

Right. And that compared to the thugs coming in and bringing in broken gold chains and broken watches which clearly identified it as stolen merchandise and then throw them out.

I don't know if you remember this when you were reading the Ragman comics that Joe was doing, and excuse my language, but Bette Berg was kind of a bitch to Rory. You just read her dialogue and knew she wasn't a legitimate love interest because she was such a bitch. It was almost like the Crisis Gods in the DC Universe, "Well she's awful. Let's make her homeless." Now Bette in your series was the biggest complete character 180 from what she once was.

It was a surprise for me too but I liked the way they developed her. It left open that there was an in-between story where she fell from her position to become a person of the streets and the alleys. Like you said, her total personality change where she was a bit of a bitch in the first incarnation now she felt a lot of empathy for other people in the alley and other people that had fallen on hard times. I'm assuming since she had experienced it herself it was a wake-up call for her perhaps in how she had treated other people and how shes now in the position where people are treating her with the same disdain.

You said you read Ragman as a child. One of the things I love so much about Ragman, and especially those Kubert issues, is the heart. Rory doesn't understand why his father does what he does in the pawn shop but he respects it and he does it himself anyways. There's a lot of heart in that. Like the way he protects that deaf and blind kid. Is that something that also resonated with you as you read those comics? Because Ragman to other people is such an obscure character, but is that what drew you in?

Yeah. It was a total change of plot structure and characterization. DC started to experiment at that time with Steve Ditko's Hawk and Dove, and a few other series that were going into more human type stories. That, to me, was showing a nice direction to go into the human tragedy instead of just superheroes and super-villains and eventually beating the super-villains and all is well. Which seemed to be the basic structure of the story. Compared to the Marvel structure of the stories where they had heroes and legends but they all had major problems in their lives and it made it more humanistic and you could relate to it more. Especially like Peter Parker going to high school and being bullied by Flash and knowing he could mop up the floor with him but, first of all, Peter wouldn't do that even with his powers because he wouldn't do that before he had his powers. His concern and admiration for Aunt May was the same as Rory's concern and admiration for his father. He'd say, "Dad why are you paying money out for this junk jewelry? You're giving the business away. I don't understand." And his father would reply, "Rory this is our neighborhood and these are our people and they've fallen on hard times" Rory never went through Auschwitz. His father was relating to those hard times. And there were still hard times. The Jewish community was still suffering prejudice towards them and I liked the fact that they were tackling those issues because they were prevalent then and they're extremely prevalent today. It makes that storyline timeless.

You know I'm a big Green Lantern fan and that's also one of the things I love about the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series also. The human issues. I understand with DC and the industries history why series like Ragman and the first Firestorm got canceled. But those series, more than those other series that remained after the DC implosion, those stories wore more worthy of being kept around rather than those that didn't have as much heart.

Some things survived the implosion. I mean, clearly it was all a financial decision because of the market at the time and the expansion and the expected return on sales vs what the reality was. For the administration they sometimes make decisions based on the projections for what they think should be and if it doesn't even hit that then it's not worth pursuing. Instead of considering building up the market because Ragman had a core following. I felt in the first incarnation it could have gone much further. In the second incarnation it certainly could have gone much further but, I'll tell you the honest truth, the sales didn't project it. The sales on the series started out very high but then with each issue would drop substantially. Which led to a telephone meeting where they decided that they wanted to do Ragman on a monthly basis but the decision was based off the sales of the first issue. I had to point out to Kevin Dooley that the sales had dropped faster than a comet striking the earth and they had lost 20,000 each month. By the time we get to the 8th issue you might only be selling 20,000 copies. You're basing a decision based on how strong it was at the beginning yet you weren't willing to change the format.

Do you think the sales were dropping because of the nine panel layout or the change to Ragman or they just didn't like the direction? Did you have any idea what it was?

I don't know. At the time it was coming out so many things are happening in the industry that, in my personal opinion, it was pulling a lot of attention towards elsewhere. Jim Lee's stellar success on X-Men, and the things that Marvel was doing based off of that. In my opinion, in this industry there’s a huge fan-base following, but it shifts to where the interest is. At the time I felt it was controlled more by the potential collectibility. Where in the beginning issues number one and two sold really high because they were banking on the value of those issues. But three, four and five...by four that's where, historically, your sales level out and once you hit that you know what you're going to do every month. But the other factors involved with the projected return on investment I think it created a whirlwind of massive buying. If they renumber any series back to issue number one it pulls the attention from all the market because they all think, "Well it's a number one. It's going to be worth a lot more." And these are decisions that are controlled by vice presidents of marketing. They're not very creative.

With the way the big two are doing things these days, let's just say I agree with you. One last question. There were a lot of quiet moments in the series. No more so than towards the end when Ragman faces off against Batman and there weren't a whole lot of words exchanged. I know you've been in the industry awhile, but what are those quiet moment like for you as an artist, getting to showcase YOUR storytelling talents?

A good comic is derived from a great story but the pictures have to be able to tell the story by themselves. For me, that particular section, you'll recall I did Batman previously. I did Detective, I did Batman Annual, I did Batman Year Three so I was very familiar with the Batman character and very comfortable with the Batman character. The standoff and the face-down between the two, Keith and Robert did not supply any dialogue for it and I knew that they wanted the emotion to carry and I was able to fill the order for them.

Well I wanted to thank you personally for what you've done with Ragman and all the other characters I love that you've been involved with such as Firestorm and Green Lantern. I definitely wanted to let you know, as one Ragman fan to another since there's not a lot of us out there, I appreciate your work and all the efforts you threw into it. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me.

It was a pleasure. Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about it.

Is there anything you'd like to promote? How can people get in touch with you?

I have a website www.patbroderickart.com and you can contact me through there. I'm on Facebook and I'm accepting friend requests every day so you can find me there. I also get a lot of commission work through Facebook. I also have a page up on www.comicartfans.com but that seems to have slowed down for a lot of people but I still have a page there. People are welcome to contact me through any of those three venues.

And that, as they say, is that! I highly recommend you check out Pat's work! Thanks to both Pat and his wife for being so accommodating over the weekend and to Alamo City Comic Con for letting us attend. Keep an eye on the LanternCast twitter and Facebook for pictures from the event and the LanternCast main page for more coverage in an upcoming special episode!

Ragman #4 - Above the Fray!

Welcome back beloved Tatters! This time around we're talking, obviously, about 'Ragman' #4 with plots and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, scripts by Robert Loren Fleming, art by Pat Broderick, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Albert De Guzman, and edited by the team of Dolley & Helfer.

We open as we normally do in this series, with Ragman standing in a dark and snowy alley in Gotham. Rags stands over a low level dealer who is begging for his life, offering to cut Ragman in on the cut of his "small fortune".

"I find myself surrounded by sin." Such a simple line but oh how I LOVE it for Ragman. Anywho, moving on...

Back at 'Rags N Tatters', the Rabbi is worrying about Rory's efforts as Ragman this evening over a cup of coffee (tea?). Rory comes in and is asked how the night went. Evidently not killing (or absorbing the soul of) the man he confronted in the alley was a test put forth by the Rabbi to test Rory's skill as the Ragman. A test to see how well, one can only assume, Rory can resist the call of the suit.

Back in a Gotham high-rise, the big boss-man behind all the latest goings ons talks with his henchmen about the trouble that Rory (not known as Ragman at this point) has been giving them. Things now cleared up, the boss believes Rory is now a known element and thus has lost his surprise factor. He then asks, "Who's in a position to take over that neighborhood?" His thugs respond that some gangs have risen up to fill the power vacuum...

Back at 'Rags N Tatters', the Rabbi is continually pestering Rory about his efforts as the Ragman (even while Rory showers, which drives him nuts). Rory states that he needs time to process everything he's experienced. The Rabbi goes to sleep and Rory opens up the shop for the day. His first customer? A member of the Shamrocks, a local gang. The Shamrock asks Rory to buy some gold and jewels off him and asks what his best price is. Rory responds by telling him to take a hike or he'll call the cops as he's not a fence for stolen goods.

Down at the doctors clinic, Bette is informed that a young man she brought in the night before has passed away...

Meanwhile, the henchmen are setting about their task of setting up the Nats and the Mimes for a fall by luring them both to the same place later that evening for a weapons drop. In the midst of all of this, the Rabbi visits the grave of Rory's father to tell him he's looking out for Rory but he's afraid...to lose another.

Back at 'Rags N Tatters', Rory and the Rabbi are arguing about Rory going out as Ragman as Rory says it's snowing. Rory relents and says he'll go change, but the Rabbi says not to put on the suit, but to merely call it and it will come to him...

...and Bette has now seen Ragman for the first time. A shadowy wraith flying over the rooftops of Gotham.

Now, at a local construction site, the Nats and the Mimes ambush one another in a brutal flash of gunfire. Members on both sides are going down. The death is viewed from above by Ragman as he thinks to himself, "The utter banality of what I am witnessing is the very essence of evil. Blind hatred. In the absence of reason, chaos prevails..."

And with that, Ragman stands revealed not just to a scant few, but to the remaining members of two entire gangs.

Nats and Mimes alike being firing into the form of Ragman, but the bullets do nothing to harm the man in Rags before them. With the option of killing them put out of his mind, Rory opts for the one final "instinct" left for him to follow and he leaps atop a nearby crane...from the ground.

Back at 'Rags N Tatters' again, the Rabbi senses Rory's personal triumph and silently congratulates him for passing this test...a test that Rory's father...failed...

Back at big boss-man headquarters (come ON let's give him a name already!) the henchmen inform the boss of the arrival of the Ragman. Fully informed once again the boss orders another edict, "Find out what it is, where it operates from, and what it's objectives are! Then wipe it out!"

Finally, back in the alleys of Gotham...

...and we end with Rory finally getting some much needed sleep, only interrupted briefly to tell the Rabbi to buzz off, with the Rabbi muttering dejectedly into the night.

And that's that!

Whew, ok. So, as I've said before, the 9 panel layout of this series has always been a sore point with me. But Brodericks art really shines in this issue, especially with the title character. Despite having a face devoid of distinguishing features, Pat manages to put true expression on the "face" of Ragman with very few adjustments. And the splash page where Ragman drops in on the middle of the fight was gorgeous (though the colorization of the eyes bothers me a bit in this otherwise flawless panel).

Story-wise I DO feel as if the plot is dragging just a TAD slower than I'd like. I agree that the drama and suspense is being built up, but I'd rather see more action, less set-up. But hey, I know where this is going so I suppose these types of critiques aren't valid when the issue has been out for years and you're just anxious to get to the parts you REALLY loved.

Now onto the ADS!!!!!!

Hmm, never read Batman/Predator. Not much of a Predator guy though so I suppose it's no big loss. Did any of these 90's Alien, Predator, etc. crossovers ever actually become crowning moments in comics? Let me know in the comments below.

As for the games, I've never played any of them, though the 'Return of the Joker' one looks like fun...

Now, lastly, THE LETTERS COLUMN!!!!

As eluded to by one of the fans, it seems I'm not the only one with a distaste for the 9 panel layout. But again, such a minor quibble as it's not a fault of the artist, but of the times. The distaste for Pat Broderick as an artist mentioned by one of the fans caught me off guard though. I mean, Broderick isn't my NUMBER ONE favorite artist and he was far from flawless, but I'd never refer to it as abysmal. But hey, art is subjective I suppose. For my money, Broderick is an acquired taste that is only helped by my penchant for characters like Firestorm, Green Lantern and (of course) Ragman.

But that's it for this issue folks! See you back soon for issue #5!!! In the meantime, be CERTAIN to leave a comment with YOUR thoughts on the issue, the series, the character as a whole and more BELOW!!!

Featured Fan Art - Luke Daab!

So quite some time ago I became aware of the talents of Luke Daab via the 'Fire and Water Podcast.' His cartoonish and beautifully simplistic art style immediately captured my attention. Unfortunately, like so many of my favorite artists (many of whom I know personally), I can often not afford to commission the art I desire from them. Not because they're overly expensive, but because I just don't always have the extra cash, and if I do...well, there's always something slightly more important to purchase with that money. And I REFUSE to ask for free work (Seriously guys, ALWAYS pay artists. ALWAYS.)

Cue the entrance of Pete into my life. Pete is a HUGE fan of Ragman as, CLEARLY, am I. As Pete was establishing the AWESOME new Facebook page for Ragman (Ragman - DC Comics go like it!) he contacted me and made me an admin. Evidently dedicating a blog to the character earns me some respect around here! Well, Pete told me some of his plans. Including a Featured Art Friday where he'd feature the Ragman-centric art of various artists across the internet, perhaps even commission them to work on a Ragman piece for himself. Ever the crafty selfish asshole, I dropped Luke's name and suggested Pete check out his style and commission a Ragman piece from him if he liked what he saw. It turns out Pete took the bait and BAM!!!! I got to see Luke draw Ragman, get paid for it, and I didn't have to spend a dime!

But enough nefarious origin story, here now as featured on the Ragman Facebook page (seriously, go like it) is Luke's perspective of these events, Ragman as a whole...and the AMAZING artwork!

"Let me set the scene… Pete Maxfield, Administrator of the Ragman Facebook Page stands over his kitchen stove. A juicy steak sizzles and pops in the pan over the flame. Pete wafts the scent of rare meat to his waiting nostrils. His eyes close in ecstasy as he lets the aroma engage with his senses. He doesn't see the bottle of Merlot quietly disappear from the counter. Pete smiles to himself as unbeknownst to him, the bottle raises in the air behind him. Suddenly and without warning… THONK! The bottle crashes across Pete's head, spattering red Merlot across the kitchen. Pete collapses into an unconscious heap on the floor. His kitty laps the wine from the tile, then hobbles away like a bum drunk on hooch.

That's how I managed to take over the Ragman Fan Page! That's right… I've stolen the keys! Accessed the secret access codes! Stolen the Death Star plans! But who am I, you ask?

My name is Luke Daab. I am an artist that was commissioned by Pete to create an original Ragman illustration for the blog! Why would I repay Pete's kindness by bashing him on the head with a 2010 California Merlot, you ask? Allow me to admit something… that whole story was a lie. I made it up. I just needed a good opener.

I was introduced to the character Ragman by Chad Bokelman during his guest appearance on my favorite comic book-based podcast, The Fire and Water podcast hosted by Shag Matthews from firestormfan.com and Rob Kelly from the aquamanshrine.net! I had never heard of Ragman before the podcast, and to be honest, I haven't thought much about the character since. As the episode aired, I searched Google Images to give myself a visual reference. "What an bizarre-looking character," I thought. That's pretty-much where I left Ragman.

Fast-forward to many many months later. Pete Maxfield contacts me to create a Ragman commission. I think to myself "This is Chad Bokelman's doing," and I was right! Suffice it to say, I was intrigued by the opportunity to draw this strange hero I had Google-image-searched so long ago. Rather than diving straight into creating the artwork, I decided to get to know Ragman first. I went to my local comic shop where I purchased issues 1-5 of the original series, and the first two issues of his 8-part and 6-part miniseries. Here's what I have to say about them: I loved them.

Of everything I've read so-far, the original run of Ragman is by far my favorite. Why? For so many reasons. Ragman's story is a very human story, and like most of our lives, it's filled with hardship and tragedy. As someone who's closed a small business, who's marriage has seen its share of strife, and as someone who's looked at the cupboard and said "let's see if we can stretch this out for a month," I resonated with the melancholy tone of the book and the hardships of the characters therein. Ragman is a hero to the hurting and a servant to the lowest of low. He is hope for the hopeless and a voice for the voiceless. This truth becomes quite literal when Rory befriends a street orphan who suffers from being both blind and mute.

Ragman opens by giving the reader a glimpse into Rory's world—a pawn shop in an urban neighborhood. We meet people in at the bottom rungs of society, selling their prized possessions in order to survive. In this environment, Rory Reagan shines. He is compassionate, and restores honor to the disgraced who enter his shop. Even before donning his tattered cape and cowl, Rory is a servant to the downcast. I liked that a lot about Ragman too.

In each incarnation I read, Ragman's comics felt poetic, melancholy, mysterious, supernatural, but ultimately human.

I knew my piece had to capture that.

To capture the poetry of Ragman's story and the author's writing, I drew Ragman in an elegant pose, almost dance-like. The colors of the piece are muted and a little dirty to represent the humble environment for the hero. Finally, I drew Rory Reagan's portrait behind the costumed figure to remind the viewer that Ragman is ultimately human—a man with his own struggles, dreams, fears, hopes and failures. He is one-and-the-same with those for whom he seeks justice.

I'm sure I've failed at communicating everything that captured me while reading Ragman. There's simply too much to convey. But I DID enjoy working on the piece. You know what? I don't think Ragman's costume is ever drawn the same way twice—across any two panels of his comics. Talk about a moving target!

Ragman is a great character with a lot left to explore! I hope DC take's advantage of his heritage and writes more Ragman stories. As DC Comics explores the mini-series format more-and-more, I hope to see Ragman return! I would leap at the chance to rejoin the character!

Well… it looks like Pete is finally coming to. I better get out of his kitchen! Thanks for letting me spill Merlot all over your fan page, guys. Enjoy the piece!

Your friend,

Luke"

It's pretty safe to say at this point that my (and Pete's) faith in Luke to pull this off was WELL founded. If you want to contact Luke to commission a piece from him, and I HIGHLY recommend you do so, please CLICK HERE TO CONTACT HIM!

Thanks guys for swinging by to read the blog! Don't forget to follow and, most importantly, COMMENT on the posts! See you soon!

Image Mock Up - Ragman TV Show Logo!

Hello friends of the Suit of Souls! Tatters? Is that what I last called you? Oh well, Tatters it is! I figured a low key post is the best way to come back to this. Attempting to catch, or re-catch, your interest in this blog by starting a NEW review post with some explanation of why I've been absent isn't the best way to maintain your interest in the review itself.

So here we are.

Recently I've occupied my limited free time by playing around with various image effect combinations using things like the photogrid app, pixlr.com, picfont.com and the plethora of PNG comics images found online. I've created images for my own enjoyment, for friends podcasts and even for the LanternCast as well. (see below images and feel free to follow me on Instagram!)

Made another fan edit image! #comics #DCcomics #superman #blacklightning #plasticman #adamstrange #atom #swampthing #sgtrock #redtornado #mistermiracle #dcpresents #dccomicspresents

A photo posted by Chad Bokelman (@cagenarleigh) on Mar 11, 2015 at 9:42am PDT

Got bored, so I made an image with my favorite #Spidey characters. #spiderwoman #Venom #carnage #antivenom #silk #spidermannoir #spidergwen #punkspiderman #spiderman

A photo posted by Chad Bokelman (@cagenarleigh) on Feb 26, 2015 at 10:52am PST

I got bored, so I decided to play around with online photo editing software and images of almost every one of my favorite comic characters. #DCcomics #Marvel #comics #GreenLantern #firestorm #Ragman #Deadman #PhantomStranger #Gambit #Firebrand #Venom #Thor #Starfire #Firestar

A photo posted by Chad Bokelman (@cagenarleigh) on Feb 8, 2015 at 2:45pm PST

So if I've got free time to create images, why am I not blogging more? It's a fair question. Well, writing, even blogging or reviewing comics is an outlet for me. It requires a clear mind and once I set fingers to keyboard, I try to make it as coherent and "me" as possible. If it's not "me" I'm not satisfied and I re-do it. And re-re-do it, and re-re-re-do it until it's right. That takes time. Time I usually don't have because MOST of my free time these days when it comes to comic stuff is devoted to the LanternCast. Not just recording episodes, but reading comics for it, researching, editing, coding, creating album art, posting and even social media posts letting people know when new content is available. As well as interacting with our listeners via email, Facebook and Twitter.

That said, podcasting doesn't fulfill most of what I hope to accomplish in comic coverage. That COMBINED with blogging completes the circuit. But time is limited.

That being said, I'm coming back to blogging. It may be infrequent, but I'm coming back. I've GOT to make time for it because, and this may not make sense to YOU, but I need to in order to stay sane.

So expect new content here on the blog! Like this image I just created!

With The Flash, Arrow, Constantine, Gotham and iZombie out there, there are a few comic related DC tags at the end of each show if you watch until the end of the credits. (SEE BELOW)

So I decided to take it upon myself and create one for a RAGMAN TV show! (yeah right, but hey, I can dream)

So here's what I came up with! Feel free to use it as a social media cover photo...I am!

Keep an eye on the blog in coming weeks! We're back!

Ragman Cosplay - DragonCon 2014!

Dragon Con has come and gone folks, and the biggest cosplay convention of the year did not disappoint for many people. Including us here at the Ragman Blog! My friend Dan texted me a few images of a Ragman cosplayer spotted at this year's proceedings!

As of this posting, not much is known about this mysterious cosplayer. I've no idea who he (or she) is and thus am unable to give proper credit where credit is definitely due! If anyone knows who this is, or how I can contact them, don't hesitate to reach out to me! All I DO know for certain is that this is not the first time Ragman has appeared at Dragon Con! The following image is from the 2013 convention...

Fantastic work indeed. Mad props go out to this cosplayer, whomever they may be, for doing such a fine job of representing our favorite tatterdemalion! You must be a true fan! Also, my friend and fellow podcaster/blogger Shag shot me a link to the following video on Facebook where we get a brief look at Rags in action! So thanks to Dan and Shag for being my eyes and ears out at Dragon Con! Hope everyone had fun! Don't forget to comment!!!

Post by Kelly Miears.

Ragman #3 - The Folktale!

Back a week later folks and it's time to review issue #3! Now a couple of caveats before we get started:

1) This particular entry is going to have ALOT more images from the actual issue than usual. That's because this issue highlights the ORIGIN of Ragman as it relates to the Suit of Souls concept. This is huge stuff in terms of Ragman history and I don't want to miss a thing. So every panel from the history/flashback stuff will be on display here. To properly read ANY image, DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON IT TO ENLARGE!

2) The origin of Ragman is steeped heavily not JUST in Jewish folklore (The Legend of the Golem) but also in WWII. It can be a sore subject for some, regardless of how it's portrayed. Fair warning.

3) I'm aiming to get a post up every week. Trying to post the same DAY every week though will prove impossible due to my work schedule (and erratic flow of business) mucking things up. But look out for a post once a week!

Now, into the review! As I stated, this issue covers, by and large, the origin of Ragman. So let's get started.

We pick up where we left off, Rory is entertaining his surprise guest, the Rabbi from last issue. As they speak over tea, the Rabbi makes a snide remark about Rory's middle name being "killer" as he has killed four people since donning the suit. He reveals that he knows this because Aunt Mabel has evidently become quite the chatty Cathy since being absorbed into the suit. Rory maintains that Mabel is only in a vegetative state while the Rabbi reveals that she is most certainly dead...and "that suit is ALIVE!" Rory demands to know what the Rabbi wants of him and the Rabbi re-iterates that Rory is to be his apprentice...the same as his father before him. The mention of his father quiets a stunned Rory as he settles in to listen to the tale of the Ragman from the Rabbi...

It's at this point that Rory interrupts, maintaining that the story is essentially poppycock. This angers the Rabbi and he jams the suit in Rory's face. He screams, "Five people are dead! Do you find that RIDICULOUS?! Because I do! I find it ridiculous that anyone so unworthy would dare put on a suit comprised of the souls of the dead!" He dares Rory to listen to the torment in the voices of the souls in the suit but before he can, the Rabbi suggests one soul in particular...

Rory then vomits into the kitchen sink and the Rabbi, disgusted, goes to pick up a framed picture of Rory's father. Wondering aloud what happened to him, the Rabbi calls him 'Jerzy Reganiewicz' and an indignant and ignorant Rory insists that his fathers name was Gerry Regan. The Rabbi scoffs, saying that isn't a name fit for jews. Rory says it was good enough for his father and the Rabbi blames himself for that, after all, he was with him May 15th, 1943 in the Warsaw Ghetto before they were separated!

Rory, still in disbelief, asks if his father ran away. The Rabbi turns away and says no, that it was the suits safety feature of having an aversion to fire. He then states, "It is a Ragman's duty to protect his people and to inspire hope...but there was no hope left in that place."

Rory asks if he ever heard from his father again. The Rabbi replies that he never did and his father must have assumed him dead. He even goes so far to say that, if Rory hadn't put on the suit in the first place, he wouldn't be there now. This reinforces the connection between the suit and the Rabbi. 

As the two start turning in for the night, Rory offers to make up a bed. The Rabbi states he will sleep in Rory's bed and that Rory should get used to sleeping in his fathers bed. Rory exclaims that his father died in that bed and the Rabbi replies, "I know that Rory. Do YOU wish to die in bed?"

Later that night, the Rabbi wakes Rory from a sound sleep and casually mentions that he raised another Golem and that it was on it's way to kill him now because, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

The Rabbi says that the Golem is on it's way to kill Rory because it's been around too long and is afraid of being replaced. He suggests Rory get some sleep because his training will begin tomorrow and the Golem will be only the first of the monsters Rory will face.

Cut to a dark and snowy alleyway where an unfortunate dope dealer runs into the Golem. Exit with the Golem quietly crushing both dope and dope dealers skull.

Cut to businessman from previous issue finally being informed of the deaths of his crew (Vorst and the like). He discovers a stray Rag on his model of the section of the city (the slums inhabited by Rory and CO.) he wants to control. Exit scene.

Cut back to Rags N Tatters as Rory is having another Vietnam dream. He dreams of himself carrying others through the war, refusing to give up. In the dream he stumbles across the Golem and asks for help to save him. The Golem says it's up to Rory and always has been. Rory shouts that he never wanted to be a leader and even actively tried to put himself couldn't but never could. He realizes in the dream that he always has been the Ragman. He awakens to the realization and reflects on them momentarily before grabbing the suit and saying to a suddenly present Rabbi, "I'm ready Rabbi. Teach me what I need to know."

Heckuva issue. Really. While the art was consistent with the past two issues in terms of panel layout, I have to say, the splash pages by Broderick are ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. From Ragman in the flaming Ghetto to the heartbreaking concentration camp scene to the Golem history layout. Wow. Had to showcase those. THAT'S the Broderick I'm familiar with.

And the history of Ragman is WELL thought out. It's incredibly detailed and steeped in real world events and folktale. Fantastically done. I imagine most people adverse to the idea changed their minds by the time they got to this issue.

ON TO THE ADS!!!

Last but certainly not least, we have the FIRST letters page for the new series! Check out the reaction to the "all new" Ragman!

All accolades all the time it seems! Nothing but excitement for the return of DC's Tatterdemalion of Justice!

Til next time folks, don't forget to subscribe/follow the blog and MOST importantly leave your comments on the posts! Feedback is encouraged whether its agreement or dissent! I just want to hear YOUR thoughts, not be alone in my own! FANS OF RAGMAN UNITE!!!