Ghosted #9

By Joshua Williamson, Davide Gianfelice and Miroslav Mrva

Jackson Winters wants to take it easy and leave the paranormal crime scene to someone else. A casino owner from Jackson’s past has different plans. This time Jackson has been persuaded to volunteer to rescue a special package for the Blood Crow family, the owners of the haunted casino that changed Jackson’s life.

In the second story arch of Ghosted, main character Jackson finds himself a pawn yet again in a scheme involving spiritual possession as a means in pursuit of profit and power. Wenona Blood Crow hopes to use spiritual possession to achieve new levels of power and she needs Jackson’s skill to reach this goal. Jackson’s task is to rescue recently kidnapped and currently possessed Nina from the Brotherhood of the Closed Book.

Ghosted has some unique elements that sets it apart from heist / crime books or ghost / horror books. Joshua Williamson has a fresh and at times comedic approach to both, not only does he combine the two genres, he gets creative with both genres. Williams gives the reader some interesting relatable characters in unique situations not typically found in either genre.

This issue is a good example of Williamson’s creativity that has made Ghosted so much fun. Williams comes up with some fun twists and builds on the continuity he established in the first story arc. This issue, along with the two previous issues, is extremely fast paced; there is a small recap and flashback which keeps the main plot theme together. Williamson’s dialogue is natural and at times light where it needs to be. Ghosted is not a slow burn comic, it’s a let’s stay alive in ever present and changing danger, and this issue has present danger in abundance.

Davide Gianfelice makes wonderful use of shadow and hues to enhance the murky, spooky feel of the jungle and the Brotherhood temple. The art intensifies the action and drama of the story. Gainfelice’s pencils and inks compliment the different scenes nicely; it’s simple and clean where needed. The art then shifts to gritty and busy in order to emphasis action and horror.  The same goes for Miroslav Mrva’s colors. The use of yellow, grey and blue color is very pleasing and matches the tone perfectly. Each color is a careful sensual visualization cue to the reader. The warmth of blue tones, the murkiness of grey tones and danger of yellow and red tones accentuate the storytelling.

There is some pulp genre meshing goodness going on in Ghosted. There is a complimentary blend of horror and crime in this story arc, especially in this issue. This makes for an entertaining and easy read that, hopefully, will pay off at the end of the arc. However, this is no easy gig for  Jackson, Williamson and Gianfelice are putting the con man up against some ghoulish and entertaining odds.