Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Heroes Are Hard to Find, or 'Help! My Daughter Wants Capes Comics'

      Zack Davisson
      July 11, 2013
      Columns, Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Exclusive Marvel Preview: "Weirdworld" #5

      Zack Davisson
      April 7, 2016
      Marvel Comics, Previews
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Have yourself a Free Comics Halloween!

      Zack Davisson
      October 31, 2015
      Big Two, Indie, News
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 5.0

      Vampirella Annual #1

      Zack Davisson
      December 10, 2011
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Interview: Frank Barbiere and the Importance of Character

      Zack Davisson
      July 23, 2015
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Don McGregor on "Killraven,” Part Four: How Much of Yourself to Put Into A Book

      Zack Davisson
      February 21, 2013
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • This Week in Boom for 3/04/15

      Zack Davisson
      March 4, 2015
      This Week in BOOM!
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • You Gotta Read This: 'Her Eternal Moonlight Sailor Moon's Female Fans In North America'

      Zack Davisson
      October 5, 2016
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Advance Review: Ghost # 0

Zack Davisson
September 18, 2012
Reviews

ADVANCE REVIEW! Ghost #0 will go on sale Wednesday, September 19, 2012.

 

Dark Horse Comics' attempt to create a superhero universe — known as Comics' Greatest World — was pretty much a failed experiment. Appearing during the Dark Ages of Image-spawned '90s excess, the superhero line featured bad girl atrocities like Barb Wire and dark avengers like X. But the one bit of cream that rose up from the mix was Ghost. 

Ghost really shouldn't have been that cool. Like too many characters of the era, Elisa Cameron was designed costume first, story second. Granted, it was a pretty cool costume; a dual-gun wielding woman in white who wore a flowing white hood over a white corset. But Ghost also had a solid story to go along with her looks, some brains behind the beauty. I didn't follow Ghost for all 36 issues of her original series — the ever-rotating teams of writers and artists meant the story lacked cohesiveness and quality could swing wildly — but as a character, I knew she had potential.

 

 

So I was pretty excited to see Ghost "resurrected" in the pages of Dark Horse Presents. If there was any character worthy of being revived from Comics' Greatest World, it was Ghost.

Like they have done with The Massive and a few other titles, Ghost #0 collects the Dark Horse Presents storyline that re-introduced Elisa Cameron into the comics world. The storyline revolves around one of those ghost-hunter type reality TV shows, where a producer /talent and a cameraman accidently summon up a real-live ghost, and find they got more than they were expecting. Because this isn't just a ghost, it is Ghost. The TV crew find themselves in some trouble with the mob, and Ghost reaches right into on of the mob enforcers and pulls out his heart. Now they are in even further over their heads, and the game is afoot.

 

 

It looks like I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up about the reappearance of Ghost — her potential is going to go unfulfilled again. I wasn't impressed with this storyline when it first appeared in DHP, and I am even less impressed reading them all together. Everything about this comics — the art, the story, the coloring — is just pedestrian. Plain. This is about as average as a comic gets. It isn't bad, and maybe back in the days of 50-cent comics it might have made it onto the pile, but at three bucks an issue a comic book had better be pretty damn impressive if it wants to come home with me. Ghost just doesn't clear the bar.

The main problem with Ghost is the writing. The story has an interesting hook but no follow through, and the dialogue is clunky to the point of being unreadable. One of the two TV types talks like a stereotype of a stupid frat boy. "Get in Bro. I'm not messin' around" and "I will end you bro. I will end you." I am tempted to do a "bro count" to see how often it pops up, but I don't think my brain could take it. Writer Kelly Sue Deconnick tries to make a joke out of her characters way of speaking, but it doesn't help. This isn't ironic hipster lingo — it is just painful to read. 

 

 

Phil Noto's art doesn't really work with the story either. I know Ghost has gone through a cavalcade of artists, but she started with people like Matt Haley and Adam Hughes who gave her a light, ethereal quality that set the book apart. Noto's art is good, but too solid. When telling a ghost story, you need some mystery and something of the sublime to pull it off. Noto's art is too light-of-day realistic, and Elisa Cameron just looks like a girl in a costume instead of a ghost you can believe in.

This zero issue is being followed by a four-part mini-series, In the Smoke and Din. I will pick it up to see if the team improves at all over this first try, but I don't have high hopes. At least I hope Deconnick will tone down the "bro" talk, as that would make the story immeasurably more enjoyable to read.

 


 

Zack Davisson is a freelance writer and life-long comics fan. He owned a comic shop in Seattle during the '90s, during which time he had the glorious (and unpaid) gig as pop-culture expert for NPR. He has lived in three countries, has degrees in Fine Art and Japanese Studies, and has been a contributing writer to magazines like Japanzine and Kansai Time-Out. He currently lives in Seattle, WA with his wife Miyuki. You can catch more of Zack’s reviews on his blog Japan Reviewed or read his translations of Japanese ghost stories on Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.

Dark HorseGhostKelly Sue DeConnickRichard StarkingsZack Davisson

Share On:
Tweet
Advance Review: Lobster Johnson: Caput Mortuum
Review: Harker: The Book of Solomon

About The Author

Zack Davisson

Related Posts

  • Dark Horse Presents: THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA

    Ashley Hurst
    May 30, 2020
  • Top 10 Comic Universes Outside the Big Two

    Daniel Gehen
    May 1, 2020

Latest Reviews

  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
  • 4.5

    Micro Review: Commanders in Crisis #1

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 12, 2020
  • 3.0

    Review: GHOST WRITER Fights the Spectre of Unevenness

    Daniel Gehen
    September 3, 2020
  • 3.5

    Review: Strange Skies Over East Berlin

    Yavi Mohan
    August 11, 2020
  • DRAWING BLOOD: A Hyper-Stylized, Fictional Autobiography

    Ben Bishop, Brittany Peer, David Avallone, Drawing Blood, Kevin Eastman, Tomi Varga
    August 9, 2020
  • 3.0

    Alien: The Original Script #1 – This One’s For The Fans

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 7, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady: Why? Lettering!

    Daniel Gehen
    July 28, 2020
  • 4.5

    X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR #4 is a Finale of Moral Questions

    Daniel Gehen
    July 22, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders