The Resurrection Man is back, courtesy of the Eisner Award-winning team of Ram V (New Gods, Detective Comics) and Anand RK ( Urban Legends, Blue in Green). Mitch Shelley has led thousands of lives—and with each death and unexpected resurrection comes a new superpower. But now Mitch revives with a new purpose…saving the universe! Follow Resurrection Man through time as he fights a monster of his own a sadistic World War II internment-camp commander who has inherited a twisted version of Mitch’s own powers. Collects Resurrection Quantum Karma #1-6.
Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.
Utterly brilliant. Ananda’s art is so gorgeous and a perfect match for this flowing, ethereal story that was simultaneously about the destruction and creation of the world and the smallest of intimate moments between people. Ram writing a stellar, sweeping narrative is just kind of taken for granted at this point, but I thought that this was is right up there with his recent New Gods book, though a bit quirkier. The character of the cannibal general felt like something from a Murakami novel but with a distinct spin from Ram and Anand. Man, Anand makes that guy look gnarly.
Great art, but I felt like I needed Resurrected after reading it. It’s deathly boring - which is par for course with Ram V these days. Do not attempt to read in single issues.
I just finished the 6 single issues and I’m not sure I understood everything that occurred but something about the somewhat impressionistic writing, art, and colours was very enjoyable. There are a few different levels of the story going on. I enjoyed the retelling of Mitch Shelley's various lives (with some inventive deaths/rebirths that showed the potential of the character) and it seems like this part of the story may have tied together some of the continuity of previous series - though I haven’t read them so I wasn’t sure of all the references. Another part of the story is set in the present (or maybe a place outside of time) where there is a conflict with his future self and with a cannibalistic entity. Some of the scenes in Samsara are quite abstract and philosophical, but there is also another, more practical path through this that involves help from Human Target and Phantom Stranger. Chemo even shows up in a panel halfway through the series, to my delight. It probably relies on a bit of knowledge of the DC Universe as a few, more obscure characters appear, but the story otherwise stands alone and can be enjoyed by anyone who has a grasp on Mitch's unique "power". I feel like this short series flew under the radar a bit, even though Ram V’s name was on it, but what do I know? Maybe it sold like hotcakes. It’s something one should be able to get a few reads out of and pick up more details each time - or maybe you'd re-read just enjoy the art all over again. It also features some of the final work by co-creator Butch Guice, who was involved in some of the intro pages to each issue and who died part way through the series being created and published.
After the first three issues of this, I was like "Oh, that's clever." Ram V takes Resurrection Man's powers to the extreme, since the method of his death informs the powers he receives when he resurrects next time around. He finds himself facing a variant of himself with more knowledge of the future, and a villain with similar powers who is literally eating his way through the multiverse. Like yeah, that's neat, and something he's never had to face before.
And then the second three issues prove to be even more clever, wrapping in not just every previous Resurrection Man story and making them canonical here, but also offering new and interesting interpretations of the events so that they can be seen as part of an even larger whole, before the final story takes things even further and comes full circle in a superb way.
Plus, Ram V looks at the nature of birth and death, whether anything matters if you're going to live forever, and how sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest impact.
This book's all about big and small, poignant topics that'll make you think, and clever storytelling that wraps back onto itself in a mobius strip by the end. So instead of "Oh, that's clever," I ended on an "Oh, that's clever!"
And that's without talking about the artwork from Anand RK, which manages to capture the big universe-ending insanity and the quiet character beats perfectly while being unlike anything I've seen before, aside from perhaps V's other recent DC collaborator, Evan Cagle over on New Gods. It reminds me a little of Christian Ward too with the versatility of it.
Superb. Takes a second for you to realise just how wide the scope is, but this is truly excellent stuff.
4.5 stars Ram V teams back up with Anand RK and Aditya Bidikar for another philosophically existential story, grappling with the meaning of life in the face of oblivion, a la his earlier stories Laila Starr and Rare Flavors. The big difference this time is it’s told through a multiversal superhero lens, albeit a thoughtfully high-concept one. A couple of headline DC comics characters make brief appearances, but this is primarily focused on obscure or new faces. It probably gets a little too clever and conceptually convoluted in the middle, but the beginning and end are both solid enough to leave me satisfied. Anand RK’s pastel-colored art is beautiful to see, and brings to life several challenging panels.
“Past every horizon was only the promise of another.”
“People are always hopeful at the end of wars. They’re full of aspiration and expectant of change.”
“Everything pales in reflection of death and desolation.”
“They wouldn’t be regrets if they weren’t tethered to memories worth holding on to.”
“There is a theory that at the edge of the universe are several Big Bangs, each giving rise to universes of their own…This is how we exist, how we tell stories. Every action, every choice in turn setting in motion infinite others. Every story spawning countless more at its edges.”
This was a weird one for me. I really like the first couple of issues, got a little lost during the middle two, and then the ending tied everything up and I loved it after all. I think familiarity with the character might help some, though I'm not sure how referential the story actually is.
Basic pitch is that Ram V gave Resurrection Man the BRZRKR treatment, making him and ancient undying warrior with an evil twin. The story starts with the character dying of old age. In line with his powers, he gain control over time, lands in a place between time and learns of the coming of a devourer of worlds he helped create.
Then it's a mess of non-linear timeline shenanigans, until everything suddenly makes sense in the end ?
Expect some musings on mortality and purpose, of course. Reminded me of Keanu Reeves and China Mieville's Book of Elsewhere in that way
Gorgeous art work by Anand RK, as per usual. Some very cool cameos from Human Target and Phantom Stranger who actually play major roles in the narrative
Highly recommend if you're into time travel stories
I can certainly understand why some folks find this confusing. It's because Ram V is trying to wrap almost 30 years worth of Resurrection Man comics into a single möbius loop of a story. We're walking in and out of classic Resurrection Man tales, in a fractured narrative set simultaneously in the future and the past. So, yeah, that could be confusing.
But for someone who's read the previous 40+ issues of Resurrection Man, I think this is a great finale for the series (though I'm bugged that I don't think it allow the one million DC issue to be in continuity). And it doesn't just wrap up the old stories, it also offers new and intriguing tales in a variety of timeframes.
Overall, a great read. I've run hot and cold on Ram V, but I think his cosmic stuff (here and in the New Gods) is what he turns out to be best at.
Living. Dying. Loving. Hating. Genesis. Entropy. Memories. Regret. New beginnings. Never ending.
Wow. Ram V has crafted an incredible tale that is both human and godly, fragile and unbreakable — the juxtapositions of life encapsulated within six issues of a terrific timeline of events drafted as a singular story through one man’s lives: The Resurrection Man.
I’ve been a HUGE Resurrection Man fan since his very first introduction by Abnett, Lanning, and Guice nearly three decades ago. And yet, perhaps, this is my absolute favorite collection featuring the titular character. No cap. This book is DEEP and SO GOOD.
I’m f*cking enthralled with the concepts and layers threaded throughout this book. So. So. Good.
Bravo! This is a gorgeous work of comic book artistry, truly outstanding. Writer and artist, Ram V. and Anand Radhakrishnan, are both at the top of their game here. If you twist my arm for criticism, it’s the cover(s). They’re fine, but the airbrushed, contemporary style is a contrast to the organic, more free flowing style of the interior art. It’s a strange choice, IMO. This series stands out with Ram’s other breakout series, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr and Rare Flavours. Sharp, thoughtful, wildly fun, and so freakin’ pretty.
Another outstanding comic from Ram V. If you read this because you like DC, I would urge you to give his indie comics a try. I think about The Many Deaths of Laila Starr and Rare Flavours frequently even years after reading them. Ram V has a lot to say about life, love, and death, and he keeps finding new, beautiful ways to explore them.
Ales Kot walked so Ram V (and Deniz Camp) could run... Authors that were born outside the Anglosphere that are able to find a way to mix high-concept sci-fi/spiritual ideas with an above-average super hero plot.
Es excelente la escritura de Ram V. me sumergí en esta novela atraída por su trabajo en New Gods. Ram juega con la parte humana de resucitar una y otra vez, y el dolor de lo que deja atrás. Es precioso ese juego entre humanidad y el no poder morir nunca.
The writing was amazing as usual. The story was only semi interesting and hard to follow. But Ram V could rewrite children’s stories and still keep the attention of the reader.