Indie Comic Review: Doctor Rigby

Pulp heroes rose in popularity and continue to be popular for a reason. There's something about a strong, serialized hero, dealing with the supernatural of or otherwise, that resonates with genre readers. Doctor Rigby feels like it falls into this category. He's a character with a hardened personality and a drive to battle malevolent forces. But he's also not vanilla. There's an edge there that makes his exploits fairly interesting. 

The 100 page issue I dove into was broken up into a series of short stories. My favorite was actually three parts, so it kind of cheated as it was more of a full length standalone comic. It featured Doctor Rigby going on an amusement ride very similar to Disney World's Haunted Mansion, except for the fact that it really was haunted. A girl with psychic powers was stuck inside the ride, and it was up to Rigby to go in and get her out while dispelling the malevolent force within. Of course, things weren't exactly as they appeared, and the story had plenty of twists to keep things interesting.

I was already intrigued by this tale given that The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides at Disney. It served as a worthy backdrop to this tale that allowed Rigby to put his skills to use. Production wise, the art complimented the book's overall tone. It wasn't the cleanest, but it didn't necessarily have to be. I also approve of the serialized format as characters like this generally work better in small doses, similar to the pulp heroes of old. Fans of the era should definitely check it out.