“Ghosted” takes a slight detour this month as Joshua Williamson lays out Anderson’s backstory. Making the undead femme fatale the most complex and compelling supporting character of the series, and firmly cemented her as the secondary protagonist in a thrilling chapter that seamless brings us to the beginning of the third arc.

WRITTEN BY: Joshua Williamson

ART BY: Goran Sudzuka

PUBLISHER: Image Comics

PRICE: $2.99

RELEASE: July 9, 2014

It’s been a cold two months without “Ghosted.” I feel warmer already after reading Williamson’s detailed account of Anderson’s past. For a while I wasn’t sure about her deal, I knew she was important, but I didn’t really know why and certainly didn’t know what she wanted. This month Williamson shows us exactly who she is, and why she became the killing machine we met in issue one.

I still take some issue with some of her motivations being a little base level, but the story proved interesting enough to stay compelling. She’s a killing machine, and she’s good at it. She followed the money, and for more reasons than one she should be alive instead of Jackson. Yet, she’s too cocksure. A fault that Williamson hammers home here with her pride getting the best of her in the past, she’s good but she’s not the best.

Goran Sudzuka was sorely missed. His return to the series in this issue is worth the cover price alone. His dark style just pops off the page, and he revels in these unsavory characters. His action is clean and the supernatural elements in his work are simply stunning. The final pages of the issue are absolutely chilling as we see Anderson interacting with a broken and beaten Jackson. Sudzuka’s framing and the way he sets up the shots creates such an uncanny sense of dread, hell the dude could give Argento a run for his money.

Williamson has taken the time to ground his characters in a certain blend of fearlessness and desperation that is unique to his genre blend. The result is a irresistible crime caper that channels a unique type of terror. There is something devilishly charming about virgin blood candles, and something equally unsettling. I’m excited to see how deep the darkness of the series goes now that “Nailbiter” is in full swing.

Truly Williamson has proven himself to be a master of horror, and this issue serves as a reminder that he hasn’t forgotten his compelling characters along the way. It’s a breath of fresh air in horror that never seems to run out of steam.  The only thing that saddens me this month is that we didn’t go deeper. I wanted to learn more and really get into the core of what drives Anderson. The answer we got here was that she’s driven by her drive, but I think there is still so much more to the character. In any event, her drive has now made her resolve to haunt Jackson for the rest of his miserable life.

We’ll see how that goes in thirty.