One must choose their destiny, not have it thrust upon them.
Creative Staff:
Story: Monica Gallagher, Alex Segura
Art: George Kambadais
Colors: Ellie Wright
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Lara, still reeling from the conclusion of last issue, falls into bad habits – drinking and avoiding what’s happening around her. But there are forces in Creighton that won’t rest until Lara faces her destiny, whether she wants to or not, leaving the journalist’s professional life in disarray.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of The Black Ghost was certainly fun as it hit a lot of familiar themes and exposition to set up the story. Our main character of Lana with her background is similar to a lot of superhero stories so there was a familiarity and comfort with it that worked well with how Gallagher and Segura presented it. I really liked what George Kambadais brought to the page with the artwork as it didn’t fall into the traditional superhero style storytelling and had a lighter design that was well-contrasted by the seriousness of the story. I’m not saying it’s cartoony but itself well to something that can be a bit more expressive without losing what defines it.
With Lara having seen the death of the Black Ghost and now being a part of the story on some level, her life is a whirlwind. She has to deal with criminals that just engaged in this act as she’s made herself quite visible by checking the body. Having her camera out makes her even more of a target now. That at least lets us see some of her skills as she deflects and fights back before being able to make her own escape, one that works well. At least until she makes her second escape into song and dance, heading to her favorite bar to get loaded up a bit with that and the jukebox. It’s understandable but at the same time it puts her in a very difficult position, one where it does look like she might have been taken advantage of a little bit (but not by her friendly bar manager).
All of that leads her to finally checking out the files she got her hands on only to discover that they’re about her and the semi-crime fighting she’s been doing. That’s got her in a panic and into full research mode, which naturally has her tuning out the rest of her life and work. It’s only Ernesto that gets her back into the present when he shows up but it just complicates things. Lara’s life wasn’t easy before but she makes things worse for herself here and watching her get fired with the accusations of drinking, which are warranted, and then having Lone trying to get her to do what’s needed, has her retreating into herself. To make matters worse, someone is sneaking the Black Ghost costume into her place to try and convince her to take up the mantle. It’s pretty much a given that it’ll happen eventually but her reactions are spot on and felt surprisingly real.
In Summary:
The first two issues of The Black Ghost are familiar origin story pieces but the execution has been really enjoyable both in script and artwork. It’s a bit more packed than I think it needs to be, a little room to breathe and get to know more of Lara’s life would have been good, but it hits all the right points as it moves along. I like the general setup and part of it even reminds me of the original Dark Horse superhero universe with X and the like with the whole docks things and those that populated the area, just in a lighter way. The artwork is great and I’m curious to see where the remaining three issues will go, something that I’ll be able to check out on ComiXology Unlimited it looks like. Definitely a fun read that holds up on multiple passes.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: New Wave Comics / ComiXology Originals
Release Date: October 16th, 2019
MSRP: $2.99
