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The Paybacks (2016) #1-4
The Paybacks Collection
From the team that delivered the smash-hit God Country and critically acclaimed Buzzkill, comes a repo squad composed of bankrupt former heroes here to foreclose on everybody's secret lairs!
This superhero parody explores the idea that heroism doesn't come cheap, so when superheroes borrow money to finance their genetic enhancements or crime-fighting supercomputers, their debts make student loans look like I.O.U.'s!
This superhero parody explores the idea that heroism doesn't come cheap, so when superheroes borrow money to finance their genetic enhancements or crime-fighting supercomputers, their debts make student loans look like I.O.U.'s!
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
224 pages, Paperback
Published August 14, 2018
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 11, 2018
It’s very easy to see why Donny Cates and Geof Shaw have been snatched up to work at Marvel.
Although Paybacks does have some superhero tropes, there is a lot of energy and vibrant ideas that are quite superior to a lot of currently produced books.
Although Paybacks does have some superhero tropes, there is a lot of energy and vibrant ideas that are quite superior to a lot of currently produced books.
July 24, 2020
(3,8 of 5 for comedy take on superheroes & supervillains)
I believe Donny wanted to mock the superhero genre and its mechanics which is mirrored in The Paybacks.
The art is fitting to the action and very dynamic tempo, looks good, but there is nothing special to it. I like the idea of the story, how Donny is not pushing hard on jokes and comedy so he can maintain some seriousness and drama to it.
For me, The Paybacks is a good comic which I enjoyed it even if there were parts which bored me. But it's nothing I would rush to recommend to my friends.
I believe Donny wanted to mock the superhero genre and its mechanics which is mirrored in The Paybacks.
The art is fitting to the action and very dynamic tempo, looks good, but there is nothing special to it. I like the idea of the story, how Donny is not pushing hard on jokes and comedy so he can maintain some seriousness and drama to it.
For me, The Paybacks is a good comic which I enjoyed it even if there were parts which bored me. But it's nothing I would rush to recommend to my friends.
May 7, 2020
Volume 2 reveals characters' full names. It's always something uselful to have. I just noticed that the inner working of the Van, with its changing layout, is a rip-off of Harry Potter's Hogwarts. Also they used Bender from Futurama? At least this version doesn't talk. Then the X-Men's Danger Room, AT-AT's from Star Wars, a surprise character that rips off over a dozen heroes for the design of his suit and equipment. And these are only the things I recognized. I usually like Donny Cates's stuff. Is this failure to entertain me due to Eliot Rahal's contribution? This comic is a borefest. At least it's short.
Veronica posts on the Web the secret identities of every superhero on the planet. HighGuard, the leader of superhero team calling itself the Command, blames the Paybacks, so he wants... payback. Mr. Pierce readies his people and even offers to erase their debt if they kill any of the Command.
Veronica posts on the Web the secret identities of every superhero on the planet. HighGuard, the leader of superhero team calling itself the Command, blames the Paybacks, so he wants... payback. Mr. Pierce readies his people and even offers to erase their debt if they kill any of the Command.
November 28, 2018
This is probably the prime example that I'd use off the top of my head if someone asked me about a comic book that's good but really could have been great.
A change of publisher, two runs cut short, and a messy conclusion couldn't really tank the kooky charm of The Paybacks in the end but they did spoil the fun a bit. Although all of the above opened the story up to some real weirdness and a further smattering of jokes at the expense of more well-known characters, it's still jarring to see Cates develop a storyline gently and with a clear future in mind, only for it to be snatched away by commercial troubles.
Honestly, knowing that Cates went on to become a hit-maker for Marvel with a series of off-beat comical works is all you need to get the meat of this comic. It's insanity, it's a parody, it's a non-stop reference-fest and though I usually adamantly despise the latter part, it works here. Cates just puts so much demented heart into the misadventures of the team that it's hard not to root for them and laugh at the ridiculous twists and homages. I firmly believe that this had a whole lot of potential but even as is, it's still a quip-filled sight to behold and a great example of how an earlier work, even if not 100% successful, can lead to a bright future. All I can say is - hell yeah for Donny Cates and hell yeah for Geoff Shaw, whose art is half the reason most of the sight gags work.
A change of publisher, two runs cut short, and a messy conclusion couldn't really tank the kooky charm of The Paybacks in the end but they did spoil the fun a bit. Although all of the above opened the story up to some real weirdness and a further smattering of jokes at the expense of more well-known characters, it's still jarring to see Cates develop a storyline gently and with a clear future in mind, only for it to be snatched away by commercial troubles.
Honestly, knowing that Cates went on to become a hit-maker for Marvel with a series of off-beat comical works is all you need to get the meat of this comic. It's insanity, it's a parody, it's a non-stop reference-fest and though I usually adamantly despise the latter part, it works here. Cates just puts so much demented heart into the misadventures of the team that it's hard not to root for them and laugh at the ridiculous twists and homages. I firmly believe that this had a whole lot of potential but even as is, it's still a quip-filled sight to behold and a great example of how an earlier work, even if not 100% successful, can lead to a bright future. All I can say is - hell yeah for Donny Cates and hell yeah for Geoff Shaw, whose art is half the reason most of the sight gags work.
January 23, 2024
This has been on my to-read shelf for some time and having just taken advantage of a rare full weekend off, I had done a sort and purge of our bookshelves at home and put everything in nice and neat - including literally seperating the read from the to-be-read so now there's a literall "reading pile" section. From that, this has been my first withdrawal.
Our story follows a group of "super-heroes" who have become repossession agents (a.k.a Repo-Men) for a mysterious figure named Mr. Pierce and their job is to Repo from heroes and villains who have taken huge loans from their shadowy boss to finance their super-powered endeavours (seems to be mainly heroes) and if they cannot repay their debt, well... then like our main team of Paybacks, they get all their stuff repo'd, a shiny bracelet that will kill them slapped onto their wrist and now have to work off what they owe. But now something is going wrong and their repo targets are being killed before they can get to them. So now what?
Expectations were on the higher side as this was a limited run (first by Dark Horse and then by Heavy Metal) by Cates who has been a big favourite of mine in recent years and I've enjoyed pretty much all the books I've read by him - his recent run on Hulk being a bit the first of his offerings I felt let-down by - and this series was an earlier one during his rise to prominence.
Suffice it to say that this series is definitely Cates at his best. It has a few moments that are less than stellar but for the most part it is good solid story-telling. There is a solid amount of tongue-in-cheekness and parody as well as some nicely creative fun with reference to genre tropes and cliches; added to by solid character design work and amazingly dynamic work by Rahal and Shaw. It's clever and well paced and a nicely balanced combination of action, mystery, drama, comedy and even a little bombast here and there. The principle cast is engaging and it is Bloodpouch, Skisquatch and the annoying Night Knight who really stand out - but the rest are no slouches either!
The artwork really does wonders for the story. The design work is very nice as I mentioned above, but the overall flow from page to page is great. There is a real energetic vibe to the layouts and the action scenes pop off the page well - in fact it reminds me at moments of the frenetic action of the Luthor Strode comics.
If you want some off-the-wall action with a simmering mystery underneath with a healthy dose of ensemble banter and chaos, then this is definitely a book to check out and I am stunned as I reach the end of this book that Dark Horse didn't want to do more of it. I would definitely buy more Paybacks issues if Donny ever decided to write what happens after the insane finale.
Add-on: The collected edition also includes a mini-comic from a Dark Horse Presents issue that shows how Skisquatch was recruited to the team and some other nice bonus material and artwork.
Our story follows a group of "super-heroes" who have become repossession agents (a.k.a Repo-Men) for a mysterious figure named Mr. Pierce and their job is to Repo from heroes and villains who have taken huge loans from their shadowy boss to finance their super-powered endeavours (seems to be mainly heroes) and if they cannot repay their debt, well... then like our main team of Paybacks, they get all their stuff repo'd, a shiny bracelet that will kill them slapped onto their wrist and now have to work off what they owe. But now something is going wrong and their repo targets are being killed before they can get to them. So now what?
Expectations were on the higher side as this was a limited run (first by Dark Horse and then by Heavy Metal) by Cates who has been a big favourite of mine in recent years and I've enjoyed pretty much all the books I've read by him - his recent run on Hulk being a bit the first of his offerings I felt let-down by - and this series was an earlier one during his rise to prominence.
Suffice it to say that this series is definitely Cates at his best. It has a few moments that are less than stellar but for the most part it is good solid story-telling. There is a solid amount of tongue-in-cheekness and parody as well as some nicely creative fun with reference to genre tropes and cliches; added to by solid character design work and amazingly dynamic work by Rahal and Shaw. It's clever and well paced and a nicely balanced combination of action, mystery, drama, comedy and even a little bombast here and there. The principle cast is engaging and it is Bloodpouch, Skisquatch and the annoying Night Knight who really stand out - but the rest are no slouches either!
The artwork really does wonders for the story. The design work is very nice as I mentioned above, but the overall flow from page to page is great. There is a real energetic vibe to the layouts and the action scenes pop off the page well - in fact it reminds me at moments of the frenetic action of the Luthor Strode comics.
If you want some off-the-wall action with a simmering mystery underneath with a healthy dose of ensemble banter and chaos, then this is definitely a book to check out and I am stunned as I reach the end of this book that Dark Horse didn't want to do more of it. I would definitely buy more Paybacks issues if Donny ever decided to write what happens after the insane finale.
Add-on: The collected edition also includes a mini-comic from a Dark Horse Presents issue that shows how Skisquatch was recruited to the team and some other nice bonus material and artwork.
February 4, 2023
What it's about: How do superheroes and supervillains fund their elaborate lairs, gizmos, and lifestyles? The borrow money from the mysterious Mr. Pierce. And if they're not able to pay back their loans on time, Mr. Pierce forces them into servitude, where they use their abilities to repo the results of other super-beings' overspending, and occasionally doing some other job that Mr. Pierce sends them on.
They all live together in the Van, a possibly sentient vehicle whose interior is an ever-changing pocket dimension that resembles a luxury hotel.
For one group of indentured super-servants, serving together has helped them form some bonds. This can be difficult, as more often than not, these "Paybacks" end up dying on missions.
What they don't know is that there is another organization rising up to stop Mr. Pierce's ongoing indenture service.
But will the Paybacks want to be free?
What I thought: The story is a melange of The Suicide Squad, takes on various famous superheroes, the really out-there stories of the Doom Patrol series, and bonkers action, with funny, weird little details like the robot preacher from Futurama appearing as a character. It's satire and humor and violence. One of the MCs of the team is a satire of the 90s style pouch-covered character (named Bloodpouch). That's what we're looking at, here. This is a story long time comic book fans will get a lot more out of than casual readers will. There are also lots of references to Donny Cates' other books liberally splashed throughout. The backgrounds feature characters from tons of comic books and video games - it's almost like playing "Where's Waldo," but for pop culture references from the 90s and 00s.
Why my chosen shelves: adult, dark, death-dying, violence: This story is DARK and has more than its fair share of violence; mystery: Who is Mr. Pierce? What is his ultimate goal?; humor: Each installment of the series starts with a "Who's Who" cast list, with some goofy descriptors for the main cast; economics: It's a good point - where DO the masks get their money? Also offers a lesson on buying on credit!; magic, urban fantasy, science fiction: There are some magical heroes, there are some science heroes; Latina: The team's filed leader is Latina; diverse: There are all different kinds of folks in the Paybacks (though the main cast is predominantly white); political: The central plot ends up revolving around the idea of what constitute "good" or "evil" leadership - and when one has a lot of power, is there a difference; satire: This story plays up Cates' penchant for mocking well-known superheroes and superhero comics tropes; humor: There are some ridiculous and goofy parts throughout the story;
Why I rated it like I did: 3.5 stars - This isn't a classic of Western literature, but it's pretty fun.
They all live together in the Van, a possibly sentient vehicle whose interior is an ever-changing pocket dimension that resembles a luxury hotel.
For one group of indentured super-servants, serving together has helped them form some bonds. This can be difficult, as more often than not, these "Paybacks" end up dying on missions.
What they don't know is that there is another organization rising up to stop Mr. Pierce's ongoing indenture service.
But will the Paybacks want to be free?
What I thought: The story is a melange of The Suicide Squad, takes on various famous superheroes, the really out-there stories of the Doom Patrol series, and bonkers action, with funny, weird little details like the robot preacher from Futurama appearing as a character. It's satire and humor and violence. One of the MCs of the team is a satire of the 90s style pouch-covered character (named Bloodpouch). That's what we're looking at, here. This is a story long time comic book fans will get a lot more out of than casual readers will. There are also lots of references to Donny Cates' other books liberally splashed throughout. The backgrounds feature characters from tons of comic books and video games - it's almost like playing "Where's Waldo," but for pop culture references from the 90s and 00s.
Why my chosen shelves: adult, dark, death-dying, violence: This story is DARK and has more than its fair share of violence; mystery: Who is Mr. Pierce? What is his ultimate goal?; humor: Each installment of the series starts with a "Who's Who" cast list, with some goofy descriptors for the main cast; economics: It's a good point - where DO the masks get their money? Also offers a lesson on buying on credit!; magic, urban fantasy, science fiction: There are some magical heroes, there are some science heroes; Latina: The team's filed leader is Latina; diverse: There are all different kinds of folks in the Paybacks (though the main cast is predominantly white); political: The central plot ends up revolving around the idea of what constitute "good" or "evil" leadership - and when one has a lot of power, is there a difference; satire: This story plays up Cates' penchant for mocking well-known superheroes and superhero comics tropes; humor: There are some ridiculous and goofy parts throughout the story;
Why I rated it like I did: 3.5 stars - This isn't a classic of Western literature, but it's pretty fun.
September 21, 2020
This is the second part of paybacks, we check in with Paybacks after Zoe who works for Veronica (whose alive) and they have released the hero dex (superhero secret identity) and like the Command is after them. Mr Pierce says all paybacks are to defend the van and whoever kills a superhero can gain freedom and so we join in on the battle. More secrets about the driver and him vs High Guard is epic and like then we have the intro of Mr Pierce who is the Antiquarian and like the battle is fun but the ending is so worth it. Probably makes it more epic tbh and like the way they say they are a team now is ugh so good. The art just gets better and this explains some themes that Donny would carry in over his other books that he does.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2021
Collects The Paybacks issues #1-4, The Paybacks Vol. 2 issues #1-4, and The Paybacks: Downhill Ski from Dark Horse Presents Vol. 3 issue #11
As far as I can tell, there was never a collected edition of just "The Paybacks Vol. 2," so this oversized collection is the only place to get the full Paybacks story. I liked the start of this story more than I liked the end, although there is an epic battle to wrap things up.
Here is my review of only Volume 1:
The characters and conceit of the story draw you in right away, and I continued to be interested from start to finish.
SPOILERS:
I started reading this series because of its connections to Donny Cate's new series, "Crossover."
Final rating of this full collection = somewhere between 3 stars and 3.5 stars
As far as I can tell, there was never a collected edition of just "The Paybacks Vol. 2," so this oversized collection is the only place to get the full Paybacks story. I liked the start of this story more than I liked the end, although there is an epic battle to wrap things up.
Here is my review of only Volume 1:
The characters and conceit of the story draw you in right away, and I continued to be interested from start to finish.
SPOILERS:
I started reading this series because of its connections to Donny Cate's new series, "Crossover."
Final rating of this full collection = somewhere between 3 stars and 3.5 stars
October 23, 2025
The Paybacks - 5/5 Stars
Dark Horse’s answer to the Suicide Squad is great! Which is as expected with Donny Cates writing it and some great Geoff Shaw art.
I got this book a long time ago when the Paybacks appeared in Crossover. I wanted to learn their backstory. Glad to have made the decision to get this book because I was hooked! I had a great time. And for a bunch of characters I didn’t know about before… I fell in love with them quick. They’re all very neat.
Also, the character descriptions at the start of every issue were lovely and hilarious! A very welcome addition indeed.
Onto the next book!
Dark Horse’s answer to the Suicide Squad is great! Which is as expected with Donny Cates writing it and some great Geoff Shaw art.
I got this book a long time ago when the Paybacks appeared in Crossover. I wanted to learn their backstory. Glad to have made the decision to get this book because I was hooked! I had a great time. And for a bunch of characters I didn’t know about before… I fell in love with them quick. They’re all very neat.
Also, the character descriptions at the start of every issue were lovely and hilarious! A very welcome addition indeed.
Onto the next book!
September 1, 2021
I like Cate's originality. A team of superheroes contractually obligated (backed up by explosive charges wired to them) to collect on the debts owed by other superheroes. It had some truly funny moments to it. I wish there were more.
August 28, 2018
Insane comics fun.
general-fiction
September 3, 2019FIC
CAT
CAT
December 13, 2022
I NEED MORE
January 1, 2022
Fun book
January 21, 2024
It's sort of like "what if the Suicide Squad were used as violent debt collectors?" Kind of a bloody subversive superhero action comedy, not that we're short on that, but is rare that I can put one on my "LGBT major character and no romance"* shelf. This combines both collected runs, I liked the first half more than the second.
*No romance (level 2 severity) if you ignore the Space Step-Dad comics I missed at the end.
*No romance (level 2 severity) if you ignore the Space Step-Dad comics I missed at the end.
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