R.I.P.D. Volume 1 TP (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Price: $12.99
Creators: Peter Penkov (writer), Lucas Marango (artist)
Format: 104 pgs., Full-Color, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9-781-616-55071-4
Age Rating: 12+
ICv2 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
 
Nick Cruz is a murdered cop who in the afterlife gets a chance to find his own killer by joining the Rest In Peace Department, an elite group that takes down "Hell Raisers," underworld dwellers who escape to earth.  So while trying to solve his own murder, Nick has to deal with his new partner, Sheriff Roy Powell, and a little demon who has big plans for St. Michael's sword.
 
It would be easy as well as accurate to call R.I.P.D. "Ghostbusters by way of Men In Black" but to be fair it also has in its DNA aspects of every buddy cop movie ever made.  Each character and plot is instantly obvious and there's nothing wrong with that; my problem with it is the creators can never quite decide just how seriously they want to take their own story.
 
The Peter Penkov script is mostly full of flat jokes, and occasionally trades in cheap gay gags (when Powell asks Cruz if he was close to his old partner he answers, "As close as two guys get without walking funny the next day") and the art by Lucas Marangon is definitely on the wrong side of goofy if we’re supposed to any of this seriously.  That's really the problem with R.I.P.D., with this kind of prosaic predictability.  You never care for the characters for even a second.

This is a new collection of the first four issues of the comic series.
 
--Steve Bennett: Writer and retail services consultant.