Well Worth The Price Of Admission

El Diablo 1-16 (1989-90)
DC Comics
Gerard Jones, writer
Mike Parobeck, John Nyberg and Paul Fricke, artists

I completely missed this series when it was new on the stands. I don't remember seeing it on the shelves, although I was buying similar "new format" DC books at the time and was also buying the 1990 relaunch of Green Lantern — also written by Gerard Jones — that debuted a few months into El Diablo's run. In fact, I didn't even know anything about the original El Diablo character whose adventures were serialized in All-Star Western beginning in the 1970s, or the modern New 52 version of the character from Suicide Squad.

But more than once I've heard Michael Bailey on one of the many podcasts he appears on praise this short-lived series. If memory serves, Bailey touted the strong characterization and writing Jones brought to the Rafael Sandoval version of El Diablo. I've also heard Bailey praise Mike Parobeck's clean, dynamic art style from this series as well as his short run on the phenomenal 1992 Justice Society of America (sadly, only 10 issues). So, I decided to seek out the back issues and give the series a try. I was not disappointed!

Readers never learn much about Rafael Sandoval's back story or his ties to the previous version of El Diablo, if any. In the first issue of the series, Sandoval has recently been elected to the city council of his home, Dos Rios, Texas, with the backing of the town's amiable mayor. Sandoval has accepted the position because he hopes to improve things for the Hispanic population of Dos Rios, a border town seemingly made up of mostly whites, a generous number of Hispanics and also some black residents. When issues come up that can't be handled in council chambers, Sandoval adopts the El Diablo identity for a more hands-on approach to problem solving.

There are familiar elements of superhero fare in the pages of El Diablo, but most issues of the series tackle much more "real-world" social ills, from drug peddlers to child abductions, political backstabbing to racial tensions. There wasn't a super villain in any of the issues. But there was plenty of peril, excitement and drama.

The title avoids the "preachy" problem so many relevant comics can fall into, too. Jones does an excellent job of presenting both sides of some tough issues without making either side wholly evil or genuinely pure. All of that careful scripting gives El Diablo and the members of his supporting cast multiple dimensions, fleshing them out like real people, not one-dimensional caricatures. The entire creative team makes this book a joy to read. So much so, I wish the title had been able to sustain itself for a longer run.

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Obviously, I'm back trying to post on the blog. I greatly appreciate those of you who have continued to check in here even though there haven't been new posts in quite a while. I can't promise even a weekly schedule yet, but I'm going to try to post here when I can. I never did do regular reviews on the Facebook page either, but I did recently post a little something about Dark Horse's Ghost Vol. 1. If you want to check it or any of my other non-review posts out, you can visit the page here.

She's Haunting Comic Shelves Again

Ghost: Resurrection Mary (Dark Horse Comics Presents Vol. 3, 13-15)
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.