ISOM #1 – Review

ISOM #1, from Rippaverse Comics on October 1st, 2022, follows Avery Silman, aka Isom, an enhanced individual content to live a quiet life away from the city when a plea for help leads to a quickly escalating cycle of violence.

The Details

• Written by: Eric July
• Art by: Cliff Richards
• Colors by: Gabe Eltaeb
• Letters by: Eric Weathers
• Cover art by: Cliff Richards
• Cover price: $35.00
• Release date: October 1, 2022

Is It Good?

ISOM #1 is the inaugural offering from fledgling comics publisher Rippaverse Comics, and we have the pleasure of checking out this Original Graphic Novel (OGN) to give you our best assessment. There’s a whole heap of Internet buzz about this title and the writer, Eric July, but our mission is, and always will be, to critique the finished work. Twitter nonsense is just that – nonsense. Let’s do this.

Since we received a physical copy, we’d be negligent in not talking about the quality of the shipping and the OGN’s construction. The shipping box is appropriately sized for the OGN, with a box designed with guard tabs to add a buffer against shipping damage. The OGN is bagged and boarded neatly, and the delivery communication was clear, timely, and thorough.
The OGN is constructed with a heavy, durable cardstock cover, the pages are thick semi-gloss, and the ink does not smudge under normal handling. By any reasonable measure of quality, this OGN is a well-constructed, packaged, and shipped product.

July’s script centers on Avery Silman, aka Isom, a man with enhanced durability and strength who lives out in the valley, away from the headaches of city life. Avery receives a call for help, one he can’t refuse, to find a missing woman. The investigation runs Avery afoul of an old acquaintance turned dangerous gangster.

The plot is clean and clear, the pacing (for a 100-page OGN) is surprisingly brisk, and the dialog is relatively natural. On the whole, this is a solid superhero action story that flows beautifully.

There are a few down points in July’s script you may want to consider before purchasing. First, Avery’s origin is unclear. We don’t know the extent of his powers, how he got them, or even if he’s human. If this was a standard 22-page floppy, a little mystery to intrigue readers has value, but leaving out so much information about the main character doesn’t give readers much to get behind to understand his point of view.

That gap in understanding leads to the second down point. Without understanding the character’s point of view, there’s no clarity about the characters’ motivation. At best, Avery is motivated to lash out against his enemy because he felt disrespected, which is a thin motivation when you consider how far Avery goes to stay off the grid and away from the public. In other words, Avery’s actions now are inconsistent with the life he built, so without clarity about his motivations, Avery becomes a contradictory character.

Third, the cliffhanger is weak. It’s fair to say there is no cliffhanger. The story simply stops with a “to be continued…” feel that isn’t satisfying. It would have served the story to end on a high note or a low note. At least something other than a weak note.

Overall, this is a decent superhero action/adventure story. It’s not spectacular, and it’s not bad. It’s a solid, middle-of-the-road story that introduces readers to a new hero and gets the hero from Point A to Point B.

Moving over to the art, Richards’s style and Eltaeb’s coloring are outstanding. The lines are pristine. The character designs portray athletic men and beautiful women. The panel composition is excellent. The action scenes have plenty of energy. And the overall visual appearance is well done.

The minor down point in the art is a few spots in the action where the choreography doesn’t make sense. For example, during Avery’s second fight against an Except (the Rippaverse version of an enhanced person), there’s a splash page where the two characters leap at each other (seee the preview image below). In the very next panel, the characters are sliding away from each other without movement in between. It’s as if a panel went missing. Those little hiccups in the choreography take you out of the fight, which is the major part of visual interest.

The last point to consider is the price. $35 is a steep price tag for a 100-page OGN by modern standards, so the big question is – Is ISOM #1 worth $35? No. The art’s excellent, but the story is slightly better than above average for an indie comic. If you find art to be most important, you may feel differently, but a prestige OGN with a prestige price tag should deliver a prestige story. ISOM #1 is a good story, but not one that will blow you away.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

We begin with an introduction to Avery Silman, a man who owns a ranch on the outskirts of FloresPark. Avery keeps to himself and prefers to stay away from any of the complications of city life. One day, Avery receives a call from his sister asking for help as a favor for a mutual friend. They need help locating a missing woman named Jasmine. Avery agrees to help out of respect for his sister and their friend, so he pays a visit to the last person known to associate with Jasmine – Darren.

Avery heads to the city to pay an unannounced visit to an old schoolmate, now turned gangster, Darren. Avery soon learns Darren won’t cooperate by divulging what he knows about Jasmine, so the friendly visit quickly spirals into an all-out brawl. During the fight we learn Avery is tougher and stronger than any human should be. However, Avery is beaten by one of Darren’s hired hands – an Except who matches Avery in strength and toughness.

Later, Avery sneaks out of his hospital bed and begins a crusade to beat down Darren and his men for the disrespect he suffered. Avery’s crusade grows more personal when he learns what happened to Jasmine, and Avery swears to save Jasmine from Darren’s dirty business. We conclude the issue with a rematch, an escalation, and a visit to a tailor.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.

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