The Underdog is the fifth story in the Rippaverse anthology Saints and Sinners. It is written by The Soska Sisters, who have written a few other entries into the comic universe.

The authors, they talk about about in their introduction, are huge fans of professional wrestling. The good kind, with chairs under every ring, ladder matches, and referees that are as easily distracted as any antagonist in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Admittedly, I am not very familiar with a lot of the classic storylines or characters. Most of my interaction with the WWF (I know it’s WWE now, but that still seems weird to me so I’m just going with WWF from here on out) comes from when I was very young. My dad would chase my siblings and I around playfully threatening The Claw™ from Baron von Raschke or telling us the tales of Dr. X that he remembered from his youth. Nonetheless, I have always respected the absolutely over-the-top storylines in the various wrestling leagues and their consistent drive to deliver what exactly what their fans want. Seeing a wrestling storyline in comic form immediately made me realize that the plots were made for this medium.

The art in this issue takes the wrestling theme and really runs with it. The action shots made me feel like I was actually watching a fight scene. The moonsault panel was drawn at a perfect angle to let the imagination fill in the actual motion. There are exaggerated movements, expressions, and somehow even overacting that are hallmarks of WWF style wrestling. The character design of Big Tuna, especially, was entertaining. He’s massive, beer bellied, slob wearing a pink singlet and sporting a mullet. And he’s loved by the fans of the league. His arrogance in every scene would be evident without any words spoken. That’s what I appreciated the most about the artwork in this story. Even without any words at all, it would be easy to understand the storyline.

The authors of The Underdog expressed their love for wrestling and the dialogue clearly shows that. Even though I don’t watch wrestling, I do appreciate the sensationalized style that permeates everything. It’s like a soap opera, except someone might be suplexed at any moment. On top of my appreciation for the style being done right, I love seeing someone create a work like this with passion for the genre. The Soska sisters clearly know what makes wrestling entertaining, inside and out. The story revolves around a Wrestlemania type event and the promoters/owners needing some new faces to throw down with the current champ. Shungite, a confident, upstanding brawler is brought into the ring by a talent recruiter who exclusively wears a wrestling bikini. The path to the Season of Slam gives us a solid introduction to Shungite’s principles, we are given a good sense of who he is.  But only a climactic showdown with the reigning champ will show us if he has the raw power needed to wrestle with the big boys. Just writing this out makes me want to go back and read the story again. 

The area of this story that stood out to me was that the characters walk the line of real and acting. They’re constantly delivering speeches as if they know they have an audience and never take off their costumes. Even when not wrestling. “He’s an uncontrollable loose cannon with more guts than brains!!” Is an actual piece of dialogue in the narrative outside the ring. It’s fantastic. But at the same time, these events are treated seriously, as if they are real matches that could be won or lost by either competitor. I want more wild antics and bombastic speeches in the tale of Shungite.

The Underdog is a real change-up from the previous stories. The over-the-top dialogue combined with crazy action makes for a real spectacle and the Soska Sisters are great choices for this style of storytelling. As a long time nerd, I know I like a character when I start contemplating what their power level is. Could Shungite beat this character or that character? Hopefully we find out in the future and see what he’s really capable of.

-Patrick Jones