The Good
Jackson and his team investigate the Trask house and look for anything suspicious, but they have to leave before nightfall. Along the way, a local officer gets a bit suspicious of the activity within the Trask mansion.
There's this idea, in the back of the reader's mind, that says to them "I know how this issue is going to work out, but I'm along for the ride." What GHOSTED #2 does is gives the reader something completely different. Sure, these characters have the task of capturing a ghost, but writer Joshua Williamson paces it out a lot differently. These characters are taking their time to set up, carefully, this plan. They don't jump right into it, head first. It's pleasing to see this book take its time to get into the story. The reader knows what is going to happen, but the fun is getting there.
This issue spends most the time setting up these characters, but in a way that doesn't feel like set-up. The reader gets to learn a bit more of each character on an individual level, but at the same time, it progresses the overall story as we learn their strengths and weaknesses in this overall plan. I found myself really drawn to Oliver King, the professional skeptic. Maybe it's because we're both skeptical people, but his scenes came off as the most interesting because you have a larger group of people who, for the most part, already buy in to the idea of ghosts and an afterlife, but you have this one character trying to debunk everything as the issue goes on.
Artist Goran Sudzuka does some fantastic work on this issue. Goran's establishing shots really make each scene stand out. Each scene becomes incredibly memorable, even hours after reading this book. Williamson and Sudzuka compliment each other's styles very well, and they let the reader, a couple times here, just sit in the moment.
The Bad
One of the things that was most interesting about the first issue is that the Trask mansion they're going to investigate has this horrible history to it, and it was something that many people were looking forward to in upcoming issues. The opening page of this particular issue gives the reader insight to three of the evil beings that once lived in the house. The problem with that is that after that single, 3 panel page, the book goes right into the story. That first page just ends abruptly and it's a pretty jarring transition into the first scene.
The Verdict
GHOSTED #2 delivers an extremely strong issue that delves into the main cast of characters and the roles they'll play in the upcoming series, without bogging down or slowing down the main story. Sudzuka and Williamson are putting together a very interesting story, with an out there concept, that really works as a series. This was very close to 5/5, and if only reviewers were allowed to give half stars. As far as GHOSTED goes, I'd put this up there with CLONE. Image is bringing the heat with these fantastic titles.
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