Rating: 4/5 – What happens when Oceans 11 meets Ghost Hunters
The first thing that attracts your attention to Ghosted #1 is the cover by Sean Phillips. There are several characters present, one of whom is holding a machine gun and has a knife holstered. There are ghosts and a large house in the background all done in Phillips’ style (for those familiar with his work on Criminal and Incognito). This cover does everything a comic book cover should do, aside from looking great it piques your interest as to the characters inside and the story about to unfold.
The issue starts off with a bang…literally, as you are dropped into a prison following an inmate, Jackson T. Winters, our protagonist. The story picks up quickly as Winters is sprung from prison by the mysterious weapon-clad female on the cover. She is breaking Winters out for her employer, so he can discuss a business proposition with Winters. During their meeting we learn Jackson Winters has a certain set of skills that many others do not.
Ghosted #1 is a “getting the band together” type of book as Winters is given a very interesting job to do by affluent collector of the occult and supernatural, Markus Schrecken. In order to pull it off Winters needs his guys and that is one of the strengths of the book – it’s characters. Each character seems quirky and interesting and the pages given to introduce each one is just not enough when you consider the potential each has to offer. I hope that Ghosted explores these team members more in depth in future issues.
The creative team behind Ghosted is Joshua Williamson (writer), Goran Sudzuka (artist), Miroslav Mrva on colors and Rus Wooton handling the lettering. I really like Sudzuka’s art style, and Mrva’s colors mesh well with it. His style is what I would describe as having a rough, pencil feel to it with tight lines and a liberal use of blacks and shadows in the panels. The two page splash of the Trask Mansion (the large house seen on the cover) is a nice example of how well their styles work in this book and the mansion and it’s gnarly tree-dotted landscape looks like it would be right at home in an issue of Hellboy.
Ghosted #1 puts a fun twist on a story we have seen before. The reveal on the last page pushes the reader to ask even more questions about these characters and their motivations. The creative team has built the groundwork for a story I am looking forward to following and I recommend picking it up and giving it a try.
Reviewed by: Jeff Bouchard – jeff@comicspectrum.com
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