F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack Scar-Lip Redux

Repairman Jack #16.5

by F. Paul Wilson, Antonio Fuso (Illustrator), Pippa Bowland (Color Artist)

An original graphic novel starring Repairman Jack - written by series Creator F. Paul Wilson and illustrated by Antonio (James Bond) Fuso.

Got a problem? He can fix it. He thought he'd seen the last of the Rakoshi, but one has survived. A particularly cunning and deadly Rakosh known to Jack as Scar-Lip. Now, Jack faces the fights of his life as he seeks to end the creature once and for all, before it ends him!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror

120 pages, Hardcover

First published April 14, 2020

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of F. Paul Wilson and his creation, Repairman Jack, but this was just a hideous mess. The art was an atrocious heap of chickenscratch, and I don't see how anyone who wasn't intimately acquainted with Jack and his exploits could possibly follow the story. I hope the next graphic novel can escape the Dynamite Comics curse of bad artists.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this series has been around for decades, this was my introduction to Repairman Jack. It's that type of Urban Fantasy where a private eye type takes care of monsters and that's all I really need. I'll definitely seek out some more Repairman Jack at some point.

[Práxedes Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable and unimaginative. The few moments devoted to introspection were simply not enough to make this work. The art and coloring are quite good, but not enough to save this graphic novel.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5
I really didn't like the artwork and I was disappointed with how they wrapped up the Scar-Lip story arc after the great ending from The Last Rakosh.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff, but I do agree with others who say you'd really have to know Repairman Jack to get the most out of this. The art isn't as terrible as some Dynamite series. I wouldn't mind reading more Jack graphic novels (or even watching a television series at some point).

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the problem of long running series is where do you start? Several years ago I read one of the earlier Repairman Jack novels. I liked the premise, but I wasn't so found of Jack himself. Knowing this was part of a long series, I elected to spend my time elsewhere not being convinced that I wanted to stay around.

So I tried this to decide is I wanted to give the series another try. The answer is a definite...maybe. Wilson himself wrote this graphic novella, so the small exposition dumps, Jack and Abe's characters are consistent, and the little hints as to larger story are well placed, and useful.

The larger story leaves me a little meh. Part of this is my current state of mind. I want to like my characters as people and feel like there is at least a little hope (some might say that The Expanse does not fit that categorization but I like Bobbi, Jim, Amos, Naomi, etc).

Definitely for Jack completists, but maybe not for a newbie.

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites. I got it on my birthday and when I got it I thought cool it's another graphic novel. But I was wrong the art was perfect it had a very good amount of action and the story was great.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first exposure to Repairman Jack. From what I'd read about the series, Jack was an Equalizer type character, but with more of a supernatural slant. That seemed about right from this graphic novel, which I enjoyed. There is almost a Lovecraftian vibe in this graphic novel, but I'm not sure if that extends to the novels.

This was actually more supernatural than I expected, as the basis of the graphic novel is Jack hunting a monster which he'd clashed with before in the novels.

Overall a good read and I may pick up some of the novels now as well.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying end to the saga of scar lip & Repairman Jack.

Finally a graphic representation of Jack. Some of the characters are not how I'd envisioned them all these years, but yhe story is a good one.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic novel, wraps up a loose end from The Tomb.

[ALLAN AIELLO · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rip-off

Total misrepresentation this is not what I thought I was getting I have been reading repairman jack books for years and this is nothing like them

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on a long Repairman Jack binge a few years ago, yet life interrupted my readthrough and I have left it pending for a while. When I saw this was released, I had to purchase it.

I was not disappointed.

The art projected the tone of the Repairman Jack novels very well, and it was a joy to see Jack, Scar-lip, Abe, and other characters from the series. Nothing beats imagination, but seeing the characters brought to life in a graphic novel format was very welcome.

For those that read at least most of the series, you might remember how the last Rakosh was spared by Jack, and they lived under a type of truce... until Jack finds out Scar-Lip is responsible for disappearances and murder.

Apart from setting things right with whoever is behind it all, Jack also settles his score with Scar-Lip, something we had been waiting years to see.

It was a fun way to come back to the Repairman Jack universe, and it has remained in my head for weeks after finishing it.

So, apart from filling in that section of the timeline, it is also pushing me not very gently in the direction of reading the remaining books in the series, and the entire Adversary Cycle.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first (and maybe only) Repairman Jack book in comic book form. It's not a bad idea for a series that features gun battles, monsters and giant astral beings. I'm not sure that F. Paul Wilson quite has the knack for the format though, as although the pacing was quite good the amount of information conveyed to keep the reader aware of what was going on wasn't quite what (this reader) needed.

Here, Jack is matching up against scar-lip, the Rakosh that got away (I believe from the first book, but 15 books in I'm not entirely sure. He gets hired by a police man, and Jack seems pretty cavalier about telling the officer he's completely off the grid with no fingerprints on file. We get to see all of the usual characters, including Abe, Vicky, Julio, and a repeat visit to a local freak show.

It's a very short and simple story, without many of the twists one associates with these books. Still, I appreciate that they are bringing the character over to this format and hope that more of them are on the way.

[Michael P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm through the first four books of the Repairman Jack series and got this for Christmas. I was interested in seeing Jack and the other characters, and especially the rakosh, being visualized beyond my mental pictures.

This is a pretty quick read, and apparently it seems to pick up where "All the Rage" (which happens to be the last one I've read so far in the series) left off and we see Jack trying to tie up a loose end from the end of that story.

This is a pretty quick read; it seems like a couple new chapters to tack on to the end of "ATR." The artwork is nothing special, but then again the only other graphic novel series I've read is "The Boys," so it probably suffers in comparison.

As noted by other reviewers, this is probably just for readers who are fans of the Repairman Jack series and know the stories from the previous books. If you go into this cold, then you'll be wondering what the heck is going on. But for fans, this is a decent companion piece.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, F. Paul Wilson tries his hand at graphic novels. Thankfully he was the writer so the story stayed in line with Repairman Jack universe. The artwork was OK but could have been better. And I'm guessing Wilson had a lot of input on the art, but the Rikosh and Abe looked nothing whatsoever as I always pictured them from the books, in which they had been described pretty thoroughly. Maybe it was just the limitations on the artist who was a little too abstract and lacked finer details. Not bad for Wilson's first foray into comics, and a decent entry in the RJ and Scar-Lip saga.

[Leann Kirwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge F. Paul Wilson fan and love the Adversary and Repairman Jack series. I enjoyed the story and continuation of Scar-Lip’s saga but agree with many of the other comments that the art was terrible. Julio looked nothing like he’s described in the book, the action scenes were difficult to follow and the art seemed hurried and sloppy. I’m hoping for more Repairman Jack graphic novels in future but also hoping their art will do the author, characters and series justice.

[Blaze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun refresher for the Repairman Jack series. I burned my way through a bunch of these novels a few years ago but never finished the series (the last one I have gives a warning about needing to read the Adversary Cycle for it all to make sense--still haven't done that).

Time to find my copy of The Keep so I can finish up Jack's story.

[Guina Guina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun refresher for the Repairman Jack series. I burned my way through a bunch of these novels a few years ago but never finished the series (the last one I have gives a warning about needing to read the Adversary Cycle for it all to make sense--still haven't done that).

Time to find my copy of The Keep so I can finish up Jack's story.

[Ian Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it 3 stars because I love the character, but the story felt rushed. I like the fact FPW wants to make Repairman Jack Graphic Novels, but he should make it more like the novels with the family subplots and company. It felt this was missing that side of Jack.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thought of reading this author’s Repairman Jack series I find quite daunting so I thought I’d dip my toe in the pool so to speak.

Fantastic artwork, great script and dialogue, I’m hooked!

Highly recommended.

[LAURI WECH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novels are better

The comic just doesn't hold a candle to the novels. Novels are amazing. I recommend it to anyone. The Repairman Jack series are a genX staple of fuck around and find out mentality. Love it.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cool story, writing was pretty good, art wasn’t amazing. It was a reasonable goodread. I have never read any of this writers other work so it was kinda like walking into a middle of a story, however not a complex one.

3.5⭐️

[Eddy Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have to say I love all repairman jack stories. And this graphic novel is the same. I hope we can see more tales on the future.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good Repairman Jack story slightly let down by sub-par artwork. It moves at a fair clip but the design of the Rakosh is a bit disappointing. Still worth reading for Jack fans.

[David Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh yeah! A Repairman Jack thriller in graphic novel format? Count me in.
Been a fan since the Tomb first came out.

[Nari Goebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

I love Repairman Jack, in all his books. And it’s great fun to see a graphic novel with him! Love it!

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last rakosh?

[Steve Boose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading The Tomb for the first time in a long time, and stumbled across this GN looking for an image of someone’s visual interpretation of a rakosh. Not bad, but not great.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

It truly pains me to give a such a low rating to a Repairman Jack tale, but this was just awful. The story is bland and the art dreadful--the people looked like blobs and the monster like a giant newt!