"Goodyng: The Polymath" (2024) Review
I have been mildly interested in Eric July’s Rippaverse since the release of Isom #1 all the way back in the ancient year of 2022. Indie publications attempting the monumental task of taking on mainstream entertainment companies have always been a source of fascination for me. I need to get around to doing a ranking of the Rippaverse comic books one of these days. For now, it shall suffice to say that my opinion on the products has been rather mixed. I quite enjoyed Yaira #1 and Alphacore #1, but I must confess I was not as enthused about Isom #1 or Isom #2. Which leaves me with the newest addition to the Rippaverse library: Goodyng: The Polymath, written by Mike Baron. I have thoughts.
Goodyng: The Polymath expands upon the origin of the titular Cato Goodyng, who was first introduced in Isom #2. Goodyng takes place before the events of that comic book, serving as an origin story for the character. We follow his growth from high school into college and into business as he develops his technologies—some of which are more plausible than others—which he will later use as part of his further career in super-heroism. He also enters into conflict with and defeats a supervillain who he knew in his past.
The three characters of central importance to Goodyng: The Polymath are Goodyng himself, his love interest Gina, and the villain Ron Hodges, who goes by the unfortunate name of Splatterpuss. I am partially convinced the name is supposed to be a joke, but Goodyng never brings it up, so I am at a loss about how to feel about this naming choice. Goodyng is suitably intelligent and charming, and Hodges is suitably bloodthirsty and violent, but the characters do not have much to them besides those qualities. Gina doesn’t even have that.
The pace of Goodyng: The Polymath is very fast. We move quickly through his life from high school to adulthood. The advantage of this pace is that it allows for a full summary of who this character is prior to his arrival in Isom #2. However, a significant flaw of this choice is that it also means that we do not get a full dive into any of his characteristics besides their most superficial elements.
Furthermore, the plot of Goodyng ends at an unusual place. The comic book is not advertised as anything but a stand-alone piece (it is not described as Goodyng #1 but as Goodyng: The Polymath). However, it ends on something of a cliff-hanger after the main conflict of the comic book has been resolved, which is perplexing.
Then there are some unfortunate technical errors within the comic itself, such as a poster being flipped the wrong way in some early scenes. It is not the most sinful of possible mishaps I know, but it is still annoying to notice.
While Goodyng: The Polymath has a strong concept and characters with great potential, the execution of the story does suffer from both technical and story flaws. In conclusion, Goodyng is a perfectly passable comic book that could have been more.
Numeric Rating: 6/10: Fun But Flawed [FBF]
Goodyng: The Polymath is available for sale on the Rippaverse website.
Writer’s Note: Starting next week I will begin doing a review-marathon of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books in preparation for the upcoming release of the fifth Stormlight Archive book, Wind and Truth. If that sounds like it would be interesting to you, please subscribe to my Substack.