Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, entertainment, Golem, ragman, Rory Reagan, Shadowpact

The Comic Book History Of Ragman

Last week on Arrow we saw the introduction of a new vigilante to the Arrowverse, that would be Rory Reagan / Ragman. Since we're getting a slew of new characters on the CW this season, I'm going to try and do some comic history primers for as many as I can. Here's what has happened to Ragman in the comics.

Ragman appeared in his own comic in 1976 by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. His pre-crisis origin is a bit convoluted. His father owned a pawnshop called Rags N Tatters and took in a mattress that he discovered had two million dollars in it. He and his friends decide to give the money to Rory since they were old… except the money was from an armored car heist and the thugs came looking for it. They used electrical wire to torture the old men to try and find where they stashed the money. Rory came home while this was happening and tried to save his father. A charge of electricity ran through them all, knocking Rory unconscious. He awoke to find the old men dead, the thugs gone and he now had the power of all the old men combined. His father had put a costume together for him our of rags for him to wear at a costume party. He used the costume to go after his father's killers, calling himself: Ragman The Tatterdemalion of Justice.

Post-crisis things changed up quite a bit. Ragman was created by a 16th century Jewish community to replace the Golem that was protecting them. The last European Ragman, Jerzy Reganiewicz, fled to the United States after failing to protect his people from the Nazis. He changed his name to Gerry Reagan and passed the mantle of Ragman on to his son Rory.

Ragman absorbs the souls of his victims, each creating a new patch in his costume. The souls caused Rory to lose control at one point, but he was saved by Batman and through the sacrifice of his old friend Rabbi Luria.

Ragman is part of Shadowpact, a group brought together to confront the Specter. He lost a year of his life while trapped with his teammate in the town of Riverrock, WY. During that time he confronted a villain called Bagman that appeared to be an almost mirror image of himself. He also learned that he is among a line of Ragmen that have been active since 1812 BCE. Also he learned that his cloak is an ancient Jewish artifact called the Great Collector Artifact and has been around since the time of Abraham.

Power wise, it all comes from the suit. Ragman can tap into any of the souls trapped in his suit to enhance his strength, speed and stamina. He can also shift any damage he takes to the souls, keeping him in peak physical condition. He can add evil souls to his suit, and those that serve him over time become redeemed and can pass on to a higher plane. The suit also him to control it kinetically, it will materialize around him when he is in danger and will teleport him to where he needs to go.

How the character has been introduced on Arrow is that he's wearing some ancient rags that his father wrapped him in to protect him from a nuclear bomb. He survived and now possess all the souls of Havrenrock. How his powers will differ over the season remains to be seen.

** It was pointed out to me by Chad Bokelman that it has not been made clear on the show if he possess the souls from Havenrock.

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