Ragman #5 Review and **SPOILERS**

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What, These Old Rags?

Writer: Ray Fawkes 

Artist: Inaki Miranda 

Colorist: Eva de la Cruz 

Letterer: Josh Reed 

Cover: Guillem March 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: February 14, 2018

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Last time we left Ragman, uhh…his dead buddy’s little son was menacing him or something? I seem to remember some kind of macabre scene like that. We begin the last act of the miniseries with this issue, so check out my review of Ragman #5, at the link!

Explain It!

When I was in high school, I would trade clothing with my friends. I think all teenagers do it, beyond siblings and besties. It’s more a matter of having a similar body type than being emotionally close. Indeed, if one is less close to a lender of cloth, they’re less likely to give you shit for stretching or tearing a given article. I recall wearing a pair of my friend’s Reebok sneakers for about half a year in 1992, that the only GAP t-shirt I ever owned was lent by a friend in Long Island who was more in touch with fashion than me (which is to say, he was in touch with fashion at all.) When what you wear is a sign of status, as is the case in any high school I’ve ever heard of, clothing becomes a commodity all its own, its value somewhat irrespective of the tagged price or the actual components from which it is made.

So when he is out of souls to spend, betrayed by Etrigan, and faced with the spiritual death of everyone in town, Rory has no trouble acquiescing to the simple demand of mega-demon Z’Dargall: give up the magic hell cloak, despite it resulting in the loss of his own life. He was nigh suicidal, anyway.

And…that’s really it, folks. Shining Knight shows up to help with the Z’Dargall’s zombie hordes and offer some encouraging words, and that’s about the only intriguing thing in the whole issue. Otherwise, it just more of Rory on the ropes (or should I say…rags??? ok I shouldn’t) until the very end, when he does something that only places him in more peril. Indeed, sacrificing himself to Z’Dargall might be the most heroic thing he’s done this whole series. It all looks nice, and if you’re into spooky, fiery images, well you’ll find plenty of them here. The issue is devoid of story, like too many issues in this miniseries. Another narrative casualty to the tendency to write for the trade collections.

Bits and Pieces:

Will Ragman make the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone and everything? Eh, probably. He's been a Reluctant Rory this whole time, but I bet he'll pull it together.

4/10