The Black Ghost - di Alex Segura & Monica Gallagher

Aperto da Azrael, 24 Settembre 2019, 01:11:51

Discussione precedente - Discussione successiva

0 Utenti e 1 Visitatore stanno visualizzando questa discussione.

Azrael



The Black Ghost #1
Written by Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher
Art by George Kambadais and Ellie Wright
Lettering by Taylor Esposito
Published by New Wave Comics (as a comiXology Original)
Review by C.K. Stewart
'Rama Rating: 8 out of 10


The Black Ghost #1 is full of surprises. A modern pulp thriller in the spirit of The Shadow, The Black Ghost follows hard-nosed reporter Lara Dominguez in her quest to uncover the truth about the titular local masked vigilante. Lara faces down deadlines and deadly thugs with a quick wit and a stiff upper lip, only to find herself falling deep into a dangerous conspiracy that puts not just Lara, but the entire city of Creighton at risk.

Writers Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher pack a lot into this week's debut issue, modernizing the traditional elements of classic pulp stories with mixed success. Equal parts Lois Lane and Jessica Jones, Lara is a journalist assigned to cover the city's police force whose view of her beat often conflicts with her editor's - and her coworkers', given that nobody else seems to believe the Black Ghost exists. She moonlights as a GED prep coach, tying her to the family of a local politician facing danger from the criminals she encounters in the opening scene, and on top of that, sometimes gets intel from a secretive tech genius named LONE.

The pace of the script doesn't quite keep up with all the moving parts introduced; the opening and the startling final page pack a massive punch, but the story lags every time it leans into expository scenes, as Segura and Gallagher work overtime to seed in elements that will likely have callbacks in future issues. A little jarring at times too is the script waffling between being fixated on Lara being a woman - yeah, criminals aren't very nice, but it's a writer's choice to dive in with dialogue like "crazy whore" and "uppity slut" - and otherwise almost exclusively surrounded by men. There seems to be only one other woman in the issue, Lara's editor Mags, and there's LONE, who Lara refers to with "they" pronouns, though it's unclear if that's their actual pronouns or if we'll get a more definitive reveal later. With luck, this improves in future issues, but leading with extremely gendered language in the early pages makes it hard not to notice the gender disparity of the characters through the rest of the issue.

While at times the script oscillates at times between being a modern-day Shadow and something more along the lines of Person of Interest, artist George Kambadais and colorist Ellie Wright perfectly nail a fresh take on older pulp comics. There's something timeless about Kambadais' linework, while Wright's lively colors give the issue a distinctly modern feel. Wright's work with the scenes set at Creighton's shady docks are particularly impressive, helping capture the moody uneasiness of Lara's investigations into dangerous places and people. Lara is such an expressive protagonist; Kambadais and Wright have made her a charismatic and relatable hero who's earnest visual reactions to the events of the issue give the final panels the punch they need to keep readers coming back for more.

Despite some hiccups, The Black Ghost #1 revitalizes the pulp crime genre for a brand-new audience. It crams a lot of plot into a single debut issue - sometimes to its detriment, particularly with LONE, who seems strangely out of place for now as a secretive high-tech tipline for a reporter as resourceful and dogged as Lara. But even if the introduction of these various elements don't always work in this first issue, the implications of the story's final moments are so unexpected and intriguing that you'll absolutely want to stick around to see how they play out through the rest of the series.
INSTAGRAM: AZRAEL'S CAVE

The Batman (2022) - Batcycle 🦇 REEL

The Batman (2022) McFarlane by Jim Lee 🦇 REEL 🦇



Fedele all'Ordine di Saint Dumas e al Pipistrello
Combatteremo le idee con idee migliori

eddiekrueger

Per un attimo ho letto "Monica Geller" :lolle:
Spiacente, ma non sei autorizzato a visualizzare il contenuto degli spoiler.

Arkin Torsen

La miglior vendetta è vivere bene, e stronzate del genere (John Constantine)

Azrael

INSTAGRAM: AZRAEL'S CAVE

The Batman (2022) - Batcycle 🦇 REEL

The Batman (2022) McFarlane by Jim Lee 🦇 REEL 🦇



Fedele all'Ordine di Saint Dumas e al Pipistrello
Combatteremo le idee con idee migliori

Azrael

The Black Ghost TPB
Written by Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher
Art by George Kambadais, Ellie Wright Lettering by Taylor Esposito
Published by ComiXology
Review by C.K. Stewart
'Rama Rating: 8 out of 10

If for some reason you've recently developed a particularly strong taste for tales of underdogs taking on white-collar profiteers, The Black Ghost TPB is here to deliver for you. When a developer swoops into long-forgotten Creighton to "revitalize" the city, a masked vigilante turns up in hot pursuit. Reporter Lara Dominguez makes the notorious Black Ghost her top priority... and shortly after, finds herself forced to don his cape and mask to defend the working-class men and women Creighton's new big money boom threatens to leave behind.

Co-written by Alex Segura and Monica Gallagher, The Black Ghost delivers a solid modern take on classic noir tales like The Shadow and Dick Tracy, and only gets stronger with later issues in the series. The series leans heavily on traditional noir tropes (a troubled anti-hero, heavy monologuing, shadow-heavy art) in a way that doesn't quite work in its opening issue — at first, Segura and Gallagher introduce an abundance of plotlines but a world that falls flat outside of Lara — but by the end of the trade paperback, they have created a much more vibrant Creighton, populated by a cast of characters that will leave you curious for more. They do an excellent job tying up the myriad threads they introduced early in the series, tightening up the world of The Black Ghost in a way that still offers a number of compelling tales to explore in potential future volumes.

Meanwhile, artist George Kambadais and colorist Ellie Wright knock their work in The Black Ghost out of the park from the get-go. Kambadais has a distinctive, timeless style, and his heavy lines are perfectly suited to Segura and Gallagher's punchy script. His work is clean and straightforward; pages aren't necessarily simple, but keep your attention focused on the expressive faces he draws while leaving plenty of room for Taylor Esposito's excellent lettering of some of the more dialogue and monologue heavy scenes (a particularly vital skill, in such a narration-heavy genre). The use of panel layouts are clever as well, from a wobbly sequence during a night out at a bar and Lara springing from off-panel to land a punch.

Ellie Wright does truly stellar work on colors, working within the shadowy confine of the genre to find exactly the right time to deliver a vibrant pop. The consistent use of yield-sign yellow, both in the color work and the sound effects, delivers an eye-popping contrast to the heavy and often severe black inks. Wright and Kambadais deliver a world that's moody and atmospheric without ever getting muddy or visually dull to look at, never falling into the trap that noir as a genre requires a limited color palette that can often wind up murky and bland on the page. The bright solid backgrounds are an excellent choice as well, framing Kambadais' expressive characters perfectly throughout the book.

The Black Ghost is a great read; it's an engaging mystery with enough action to keep you pumped up throughout, leaning heavily into the tropes of the genre without ever tipping too far into some of noir's more maudlin or grim elements. In spite of everything, Lara manages to find herself on somewhat sure footing with hopefulness in her heart at the end of this introductory adventure — it's this sense of optimism and camaraderie in the face of what might otherwise feel like unstoppable that really makes The Black Ghost feel special. You want to see Lara succeed, and it's exciting to reach a point with her where she truly feels like she does as well. Who couldn't use a little of that feeling right now?
INSTAGRAM: AZRAEL'S CAVE

The Batman (2022) - Batcycle 🦇 REEL

The Batman (2022) McFarlane by Jim Lee 🦇 REEL 🦇



Fedele all'Ordine di Saint Dumas e al Pipistrello
Combatteremo le idee con idee migliori