Digital-CAPtionS – “Riftor: The True Warrior”

December 9, 2008 by Jaymes Reed
Filed under Columns

An epic drama awaits within the pages of Phil Hardy’s “Riftor: The True Warrior,” published by Outerverse Productions.

Kidnapped at birth by an alien warrior race called the Repticans, Riftor is brought to their planet and raised by their people to become a warrior. Believing himself to be the last human being left from an Earth that was destroyed, Riftor soon discovers his captors are lying. His planet not only still exists, but the human race is still intact. He escapes to return to Earth and fulfill his destiny by defeating his enemies and taking the reigns of a king… all this according to the Arclusyon Prophecies.

A warrior named Dstrukt is sent from Rapticus to bring Riftor back, but a team of warriors known as “The Cloth” come to Earth to prevent this and to reveal the prophecies.

Twists, turns and surprises unfold along the way leading us through a pretty tight script and some nicely written dialogue. The story is good, but it really isn’t my cup of tea. It seems I’ve read a lot of tales like this one. First and foremost in my memory? The story of Jesus! There are several elements that reminded me of our good Lord’s own origin story (prophesy of his coming, those who would plot against him, he would become king in the end, yada yada). Even Superman somewhat comes to mind. Somewhat, that is. Again, not my cup, but that’s not to say you won’t enjoy it. The story is all right.

The art was praiseworthy, but inconsistent at first. I had the first three issues in hand and Xerox copies of the upcoming fourth issue. Issue #1 was created by two pencilers and inkers respectively. It only suffers slightly from this. There are a few issues with anatomy, too, but everything mostly looks fantastic. The scenes with Doc Ziemer were the best!

The letters came out good, too. Issue #1 was lettered by one guy a majority of the way through, but the flow was interrupted a few times by pages that were obviously done by someone else who made no effort to match the style the other letterer employed for this story; from something nice and comfortable to suddenly being broken up by something clunky that made you have to readjust your senses to continue. In the subsequent issues, the “replacement” letterer took over all the digital chores and did an ok job, barring a small number of typos that should have been spotted right away.

I’d certainly like to see Outerverse’s other two titles, “Renaissance” and “O-Zone.” While perusing their website, I enjoyed what I saw of the few posted samples of those books more than I did of “Riftor.” But that’s just me. I give “Riftor” a B. Far from perfect, but not a bad read at all.

“Riftor: The True Warrior” can be purchased at http://www.outerverse.com

Keep The Vision,
Jaymes Reed

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