Dark Horse Comics
Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer
Phil Noto, artist
Or is she? Because this reimagining doesn't seem to be the same Ghost character as in the last go-round.
Ghost was one of several "superhero" characters created by Dark Horse Comics in the mid-1990s. That series, by writer Eric Luke, centered around Elisa Cameron, a former reporter apparently killed while working on an investigative piece in the fictional city of Arcadia. At first, Cameron does not recall who she is or how she came to be this ghostly apparition. Through several specials, one-shots and finally a 36-issue ongoing series, she battled the mystical villains and underworld types who populated the very dark Arcadia. I enjoyed that first run of Ghost because the character was smart and used her brain, unlike many other female comic leads at the time, but I dropped the book once Ghost learned the truth about her death.
Apparently, there was a relaunch that ran for another couple years shortly after the initial run, still focusing on Elisa Cameron as Ghost but changing some of the details of her back story along the way.
Now this three-part serial in Dark Horse Comics Presents is reintroducing Ghost, and I am definitely signed up for the ongoing that is following. This Ghost may or may not be Elisa Cameron. Not even she knows who she is after she is forced to materialize by two television "Phantom Finders" using a strange device while taping an episode of their program. The pair are trying to summon a spirit named Mary Bregovy, after all, and since this serial is subtitled Resurrection Mary, I'm not assuming this is the same Ghost we've seen before.
"Phantom Finders" host Tommy Byers seems to be a smooth-talking young con man who doesn't really believe in the phantoms he "finds." The character puts me in mind of the host on a real ghost adventures show I've seen. His "partner" and video man is Vaughn Barnes, a former newspaperman who isn't "former" by choice. Vaughn may not be any nicer a person than Tommy, but at least he's honest about it, which gives him an endearing quality.
We don't have much information on the device they have except that Tommy acquired it through mysterious means. After using the device to make Ghost materialize and capturing the event on film, Tommy tries to cash in on their video proof of an afterlife, a move which Vaughn sabotages. While the two argue about that incident, the former owners of the device show up wanting it back. Ghost also reappears and saves Tommy and Vaughn by killing one of their assailants. Vaughn decides that they now owe it to Ghost to help her figure out who she is/was and drags Tommy, reluctantly, along. And that is where this setup ends.
The writing on these three short installments is good, and the art is terrific, so hopefully DeConnick and Noto will continue into the new ongoing. The action is fast paced, and I'm definitely along for the ride to see where this is headed. If you happened to miss these three issues of Dark Horse Comics Presents, you can pick up all three chapters collected in Ghost No. 0, released the month before No. 1.
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