Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chris Sebela
Art by Ryan Sook
A brand new title from Kelly Su DeConnick and Chris Sebela has a ghostly vigilante tackling Chicago’s increasingly corrupt and demonic political scene. What’s the difference between that and regular politics?
The Story
After an extended stay in Hell, reporter Elisa Cameron has returned to the mean streets of Chicago to exact vengeance on the demon-possessed political machine that cast her away in the first place. Armed with new intangibility powers to make up for her missing memories, she’s teamed up with a couple of paranormal investigators to save the city. Can this new “Ghost” and her friends stop a demonic invasion?
Thankfully this first issue doesn’t waste any time with an origin story, instead getting right to kicking some demon behind. Elisa has been operating for a couple of months now at Ghost in town, tracking down people possessed by the demons who sent her to Hell in the first place. Her fights haven’t gone unnoticed, as the police are calling her a murderer for the deaths of the innocent people whose bodies she must fight.
I’m finding the main character Elisa easy to follow. With her disjointed memory, she’s learning aspects of herself along with the reader. I found myself caught up in her detached opinion of her former self’s family and public blog. I’m interested in seeing her learn more about herself and learn if that’s a person she still wants to be. More than that though, I’m intrigued by what she went through in Hell. There’s a lot in this one character to keep readers going.
The weak part of this issue is fleshing out the supporting cast. Elisa’s paranormal investigator friends Vaughn and Tommy merely follow her around with a video camera and argue with each other in their apartment as Elisa runs off on her own leads. They, with the girlfriend of one of them, feel like tag-along sidekicks. Sure, it’s the first issue, and we may get more of them later, but for now they’re page filler.
We also don’t get much motivation or character time with the villains. We know from the short description at the beginning of the book that there’s an attempted demon invasion, and that demons have taken over the political structure in town, but we don’t actually see any of this.
The concepts and main character are a good starting point to hook readers. If the weaker points get better developed as the series goes, this would definitely be one to keep an eye on.
7/10
The Art
All of the art in general is crisp and clear. The character designs are easily distinguishable from one another. The backgrounds are clean. The colors and inking are especially vibrant, adding a nice pop to the artwork.
I like the ghostly drapes design of Elisa’s Ghost persona, almost as if Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger had a daughter, or if DC’s Raven bleached her cloak. The softness and curves of the character are also very appealing without being overly gratuitous.
The two demons featured in this issue are great mutations of familiar creatures, from a humanoid wasp with tentacle-like fingers to a ghastly many-faced werewolf. They’re interesting designs, and so far they’re each different from one another. I can only hope the rest of the demonic creatures maintain similarly unique and creative designs.
8/10
Overall (Not an Average)
This is a good start to a supernatural and criminal mystery. It needs a little more development, but nothing that can’t be fixed over time. It’s only the first issue after all.
7/10