Ghost #6

By Chris Sebela, Jan Duursema, Dan Parsons & Dan Jackson

Ghost #6 releases just one week after its predecessor, creating little wait for the conclusions to the cliffhangers we were left with. Von Ghastly has captured Ghost, looking to build his cult of minions to do his bidding. Ghastly was an interesting villain introduced last issue as his character details are minimally explored in this installment. Elisa continues her struggles of finding a new life beyond being a superhero, although the thrill of the chase may be too much. With even more mysteries and development created in this issue, Ghost continues to thrive and succeed in being an exciting series.

As expected, the art continues to embody the classic comic look. Duursema’s art is realistic in aesthetic and exciting in animation. The action scenes are drawn dynamically and the character shots, like close-ups, provide some fantastic moments and draws the reader in. Parsons’ inks and Jackson’s colors combine to create great shadowed effects, especially in any image with the menacing Von Ghastly. The colors are always bright and beautiful and Jackson’s use of lighting and shadows completely brings the book to life. It’s always nice to accompany a good story with fantastic artwork like this.

Chris Sebela expands on the foundations created last issue, both in action and in story. Von Ghastly’s brief origins are explored here, although it does seem a bit uninteresting as it doesn’t quite justify why he has become the person he is. However, his character is meant to be an enigma so this may benefit the story in the future. Elisa’s backstory is also explained as we get a first hand look at the glimpses of her old life, before her death, before Ghost. Her problems created last week are further developed here as she struggles with her heroic duties and her new, normal life. Elisa would rather spend all of her time as Ghost than try to live a normal life with a normal career. It’s a classic superhero problem, trying to juggle multiple lives and identities, that Sebela explores fantastically.

Ghost #6 succeeds in many aspects, like its continuing balance between action and plot/character development, as well as being visually appealing. The creators certainly continued their successful trend with issue #6 as more mysteries are created. Who is the Hunter and who does he work for? And if Ghost isn’t his main target, then who is? So many questions with so few answers, but that’s what makes it so intriguing and what keeps us coming back issue-to-issue.