Posted by With a new release from Rippaverse Comics comes another review. This week I’m looking at Goodying The Polymath. As with all Rippaverse releases so far, I enjoyed Goodying. However, much like Yaira #1, it’s not perfect and I have some critiques.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Goodying: The Polymath is meant to be a standalone origin story for Cato Goodying, who first appeared in Isom #2. Goodying succeeds as an origin story. It depicts Cato’s journey through grade school, high school, college, his first job working for a tech firm, and then his success as an entrepreneur, complete with romances and challenges. Woven into Goodying’s story is the tale of Ronald Hodges, who began as Cato’s school bully before becoming a soldier, and eventually a super-powered contract killer. Due to Goodying’s success as a brilliant inventor and scientist, he’s made some enemies, including Hodges’ employer Procurement Inc. The two have a brief encounter with Goodying easily besting Hodges, but Hodges is able to escape from the hospital, and the comic ends there.
Goodying is too short and some parts feel a little rushed or underdeveloped. For example, after Hodges gets his powers, he tests them on a dog, then his employer calls in an employee that seems to have betrayed the company so Hodges can take care of him. This sequence of events occurs over a single page and I had to reread it multiple times before I fully understood what was going on. Another example occurs earlier when Goodying loses his job at Madwire in the span of half a page. And yet there are a few pages I can think of that include an extra panel or two that just don’t need to be there and could be used to flesh out other sections, like the one in which one of Goodying’s employees betrays him and sells off information only to then be killed a page later. Another issue I ran into was getting characters mixed up because they look very alike. There’s a scene early on where Hodges and another soldier spar, and I had to reread the exchange a few times before I finally figured out who won and what happened. This isn’t really a problem I’ve had in other Rippaverse Comics, but I definitely found myself needing to slow down and reread sections. Finally, the ending feels rushed and incomplete. This is meant to be a standalone, yet Hodges is still a threat to Goodying and on the loose. I’m definitely excited and interested to see what happens next, but I don’t know what that’s going to look like since this is supposed to be a standalone.
Turning to the characters, I like them all. Cato Goodying is a fantastic hero and a great person who uses his abilities for good. But unlike a lot of heroes who basically have the superpower of being smart and rich, like Batman and Iron Man, Goodying isn’t a fighter. He can fight, as illustrated when he defeats Hodges, but he’s an inventor first and foremost. He uses his intelligence to help others, such as by fighting fires. He’s a great character, and one I’m excited to see more of. Ronald Hodges, or Splatterpuss as he becomes known as, is a solid villain. His arc is an interesting one because he starts off as a bully, then becomes a soldier not out of any desire to serve his country, but because he wants to kill people. Hodges is never a good person. Sure he’s loyal to some of the people around him, but he’s just a jerk through and through. I really like how he got his powers through a freak accident not dissimilar to what happened to the Flash. Splatterpuss has the power to change the heart rate of those he touches, which he uses to give people aneurysms and kill them. It’s a cool power that will be interesting to see explored. I also really like his design with the menacing tattoos(?) all over his face. Even his name has grown on me. At first I thought it was kind of silly, but then when I saw being used as an unofficial name for him much like how the media coined the name “Unabomber” and it stuck. My only real complaint with Splatterpuss is that after he gets his power, he just kind of loses his hair and gains the tattoos with zero explanation. The same is somewhat true of the wingsuit his employer gives him; it lets him fly but there’s no explanation for how it works. The final character I want to talk about is Gina, who’s Goodying’s childhood friend and eventual wife. I think that her inclusion was great because she acts as a confidante and necessary support base for Goodying. They have a very wholesome relationship that I don’t think gets depicted very often in superhero comics.
SPOILERS END
The last element I want to talk about is the art. It looks good. I didn’t have any moments like in Yaira #1 where I looked at a panel and just thought it looked silly. Aside from my above complaints about some characters having too similar of designs, I think the art is all around solid and never took me out of the story.
Overall, Goodying: The Polymath is another strong offering from Rippaverse Comics. While I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite release of theirs, it’s not bad by any means. If you’re a comic book fan, it’s definitely worth the money, especially seeing as the price per comic is continuing to go down. I enjoyed my time with Goodying: The Polymath, and Rippaverse Comics keeps putting out such excellent products that I have no qualms supporting this company, and I would recommend you to check them out too.
Broad Scope Entertainment 