I’ve come to have certain expectations when reading a Joshua Williamson comic, and that is to expect the reversal. Whenever everything is going great, we’re on panel away from absolute dread, and when we expect dread we’re offered something a little more hopeful. “Ghosted” #15 slides into the latter category, offering a sliver of hope going forward that Jackson Winters may not be as doomed as he likes to think.
WRITTEN BY: Joshua Williamson
ART BY: Davide Gianfelice
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: November 12, 2014
He also might not be as comfortable with death as he’s previously alluded. This issue picks up immediately where last month left off, having Charon left our heroes in the belly of his beast, a theater of his grand design of insanity made to offer tribute to his blood candles in an effort to finally appease a more evil force with Jackson’s death wish.
Did anyone really expect Jackson to be the type of guy to off himself? No fucking way. He is cunning, ruthless, and a dickhead, but he’s not a coward. He uses his wit to weasle out of the given situation and his odd relationship with Anderson takes center stage at the climax of the issue. It’s a strange and intoxicating relationship they share, bred out of hatred, nurtured in the afterlife into a bond of almost camaraderie and love, Anderson does something here that isn’t really out of character, but still proves remarkably surprising. I only hope we touch on the ramifications of her choice soon.
David Gianfelice has really come into his own on this series. I started unsure if he was the right fit for the series, but his tight paneling and dark style have only evolved since signing up to take on the series, and he’s really showing a familiarity with the world now. The way he depicts the ghosts are alarming and overwhelming, but kinetic in their displays of power. It proves rather intoxicating and provocative, especially when he really gives us a display of his power, like he does this month with Anderson’s excellent “die” line.
The end of the issue pushes us in a new direction that can’t help but tie itself to the past of the series. It proves very interesting as it seems Williamson has a carefully constructed story that has been heading to a definitive payoff for a while now. I can’t wait to see where things go next.
