This is a continuation of the previous reviews of Saints and Sinners by Rippaver comics. I’ll be covering the third entry in the book titled The Weight of Restraint by Eric July. 

The Weight of Restraint follows a lawyer named Jackson Kanehheart in Florespark (the main city in the Rippaverse comic world, currently) as he reviews cases for the judicial system. If I was told this as the description of a comic, I would pass without hesitation. Which is why I found it very funny that by the end of the comic I thought “I would absolutely read a comic starring Jackson Kaneheart.” Immediately, we are shown that this is a superficial job and the boss makes it clear that they are not to look too much into cases, but rather just rubber stamp it forward. As the plot moves forward, we find judicial corruption. That’s where the story hooked me. It quickly becomes a tale of conspiracy and fighting against corrupt systems. This is another story that’s left on a cliffhanger. But the difference to me from other stories in Saints and Sinner is that this is written by the owner of the company, so I have a strong feeling that he has a path forward for this plot that will be realized.

The art in this story oozes personality. The very first few panels have a crazed old man that let me know right away that I was going to enjoy the visuals. And I was not wrong. This is my favorite art in the entire issue. The character models throughout are fantastic. The other one that I have to mention is Jackson’s boss. It feels like the author told the artists “make the sleeziest guy you can and then turn it up a few notches from there.” The shading, angles, and motion lines all came straight out of 80s comics. Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about the artwork. Please bring back the crazy old man in future Rippaverse issues.

The story is short and really follows one single clue throughout the 15 pages. There is probably the same amount of dialogue as A Cross to Bear (the preceding story in Saints and Sinners) and even less action. But the scenes feel like a conspiracy thriller and there’s an underlying intensity that the writing and art work together to create. Most of the dialogue and captions are just Jackson’s thoughts, there isn’t a whole lot of speaking between two or more characters. This does give a good insight into Jackson’s character without awkwardly having other characters just describe Jackson’s character perfectly. This style felt like a natural introduction to Jackon by just having an inner dialogue and letting us get to know him through his own thoughts. 

The Weight of Restraint is a great story hook that introduces a new character and storyline. I hope this leads into a conspiracy thriller arc because it has the right beginnings of one. This is a type of story I really haven’t seen in comics so it was compelling to read Eric July’s take on it. I’m eager to see what he can do with the rest of it and how good he is at writing multiple genres. Especially coming from reading his previous ISOM issues that are much more action focused. This is, yet another, Rippaverse storyline I’ll be looking forward to in the future.

-Patrick Jones