Revelations And Retribution: Reviewing ‘Rumpus Room’ #5

The game is up and in Mark Russell and Ramon Rosanas’ Rumpus Room #5 sees billionaire Bob Schrunk finally gets his comeuppance, but his dramatic fall from grace is not the end of this particular story. There’s Detective Hernandez’s own sister’s part too, having been unmasked as one of Schrunk’s goons last issue. And an even more sinister plan that would suggest we may not have seen the last of this particular set of characters.

It’s very much like a game of two halves with the first portion of this finale dealing with the great escape, which is cleverly used as a backdrop to which some difficult universal truths are presented. As we have learn in recent years, and particularly since Covid-19, the rich get richer and are far too powerful to fail. No matter how many mistakes they make. And as noted, Schrunk makes many, “Not because he’s a genius, but because he’s a player in a game for him to win,” as we are informed by the mysterious fellow inmate, Woodrow. Someone who even in this final issue remains something of a mystery, all shrouded in shadows to better cover his facial features. Russell has never shied away from incorporating into his writing sharp, well-aimed social commentary that is a big part of his M.O. And always welcome in a world that does seem stacked against all but the very wealthy. But, in the grand tradition of satire, it is done with subtle humour. Schrunk, standing alongside his pricey modern art sculpture of a penis claims he “doesn’t really subscribe to the whole billionaire lifestyle.” It’s almost as if the sculpture is clear evidence, much like his house, of the very billionaire lifestyle he claims to shun. It could also be a very literal visual symbol for the complete bollocks he is talking. It’s this clever, cerebral and comical scripting that has made Russell one of the most talented writers in comics today. 

Ramon Rosanas continues to hit it out of the park with his crisp, clean artwork, with an economy of line that needs very little additional detail and crosshatching. It’s a realistic approach that makes this whole series feel almost cinematic. That and a good deal of widescreen panels with a cool, sterile colour palette courtesy of colourist Ive Svorcina. A palette that intimates a lifestyle of contemporary, fashionable modernism that may cost a fortune but doesn’t feel like a home. 

Like the two Billionaire Island comic book series before this, Rumpus Room delightfully plays with the tropes of billionaires we can all relate to. A class of people who, in the case of some of the most famous, really do seem to have a hidden agenda and consider themselves masters of the universe. Luckily it’s satire, because if I wasn’t smiling, I’d be angry.

Rumpus Room #5 is out now from AWA Studios