So I read Richard Corben and Bruce Jones’ five-issue mini-series RIP IN TIME (1986) last night. As with any review, there are some spoilers ahead but nothing overly specific about the story’s resolution.
The writing was entertaining and engaging enough to keep me reading (rather than growing bored and just skimming through for the artwork), which is actually hard-to-do with my ADHD addled brain, but I also can’t say I found it particularly outstanding – the star of the show is clearly Richard Corben’s artwork.
The plot and approach is very pulpy, something you’d see in a direct-to-video release or a SyFy channel movie (if they could swing the dinosaur effects)… which for me actually adds to the charm and entertainment value. This is a very fun read, no question – I can easily imagine it as an 80s / 90s Sylvester Stallone or Bruce Willis action flick that enjoys a small but enthusiastic cult following.
A very simplified breakdown of the premise: LAPD police officer Rip Scully and his fiancé, Maggie, stop at a liquor store to get a bottle of wine for a party. He walks into a stick-up attempt and after a brief scuffle, hardened criminal Sid steals Rip’s car with Maggie in it, using her as a hostage to escape. He arrests Sid’s accomplice / girlfriend Darlene, commandeers Sid’s car, and gives chase to rescue Maggie. Things go even more sideways when they go off-road and drive into a government-run time travel experiment and end up in the era of dinosaurs (I’m guessing the Cretaceous period given the T-Rex, but it could be some other kind of large theropod). Rip, with Darlene in tow, must now brave the perils of prehistory to rescue his fiancé as the evil government agency behind the project adds further challenges along the way.
The thing that sticks out immediately are how well-defined most of the characters are, though all are drawn from well-used tropes. They’re very much from the noir tradition of having dark flaws, with the exception of Rip himself, who is cut from the classic honest-to-a-fault, blue-collar action hero mold we see in most action movies of the 80s.
In fact, I wouldn’t mind reading an interview with Bruce Jones on this story, as virtually every character seems to embody an action movie trope to the point where it almost feels like a tribute to the genre. As mentioned, we already have the classic tough-as-nails hero cop, but there’s also Sid as the sociopathic, uber-violent career criminal, Darlene as the bad girl with a heart of gold who comes from a tough background, the hard-assed and amoral military woman in charge of the project (with something to prove as a woman in a traditionally masculine profession), the rough-around-the-edges but earnest lead scientist of the project, and of course, the psychotic government assassin with the mentality of a serial killer who deeply respects the hero as a “fellow hunter”.
The only character that doesn’t quite fit the typical tropes is Maggie, as her story takes a disturbing turn throughout. From a very wealthy family, she handles the dangers of her situation with a cool, unfazed confidence – things turn dark when Sid begins a campaign of physical and sexual assault, implying that she “likes it rough.” We’re not really given a clear answer on whether that’s true or the rantings of a vile sociopath. She’s a hard character to figure out, nothing seems clearly defined and there’s an ambiguous quality to the way she reacts to things.
Finally, the art – as always, Richard Corben delivers an amazing art job with clear and powerful storytelling, beautiful figure drawing, and expressive characters. Unfortunately, the printing doesn’t do a great job of servicing the black and white artwork and the lush grey tones Corben is famous for. I read the single issues printed on newsprint, so perhaps the paper stock of the TPB solves this issue, but the tones often appear muddy, which negatively impacts the art’s readability – you can do it, but it is a noticeable effort at times to tell what’s going on. I think most of the issue is the paper stock, as Corben achieved mind-blowing results with this approach in the original black-and-white printing of his legendary Bloodstar OGN. That said, this is a series that would have greatly benefitted from color (especially if those gorgeous covers are anything to go by) as the dinosaurs and prehistoric setting would really come to life with Corben’s expressive and surreal color treatments. Alas, I’m guessing the realities of the DSM likely didn’t allow for a printing budget that supported color.
Another very noticeable element of the artwork for anyone familiar with Corben’s oeuvre was the lack of gratuitous male and female nudity. Given the prehistoric jungle setting and situations that would easily allow for torn and lost garments, one would expect to see the hyper-endowed male and female figures he’s so famous for throughout this tale – I wonder if it’s Corben attempting to go a bit more mainstream with his work to reach new audiences, or if he hit a point in his career where he lost interest in depicting nude figures, as the amount of nudity in his work begins to decline at some point in the 80s and 90s. Was the choice economic or artistic? One might assume the former, but given his refusal to reprint his earlier work which features more nudity, maybe he had a change of heart at some point?
In any case, while the figures remain generously proportioned, they also remain fully clothed throughout this story, which I feel better services the story. While Neverwhere remains my favorite of his works, it is jarring to constantly see Den’s flaccid footlong member swinging freely as he pummels bad guys.
In any case, I enjoyed RIP IN TIME and would heartily recommend it to Richard Corben fans, Bruce Jones fans, and anyone who likes pulpy action stories.
