Black Mask Studios 2017
Created & Written by Patrick Kindlon
Created & Illustrated by Maria Llovet
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Reno puts ghosts on the back burner to walk the red carpet. But hauntings aren't scheduled things, and she soon finds herself visited by another restless spirit. Meanwhile, more corporeal threats begin to form around her as a stalker and an angry sex cult jockey for position. It's beginning to feel like nowhere is safe.
I like this book and i’m not sure exactly what it is about it that has me so enamoured, maybe it’s a combination of things but overall there’s this excellent depiction of these characters and how the story flows through it’s pages. Maybe it’s just because the premise feels like a show on Freeform, hey Pretty Little Liars, Stitchers or Shadowhunters anyone? It’s has this whole current tone, feel and mood to it that you can’t help but identify with. Regardless I find myself just enjoying this immensely.
Reno is like any young so-called celebrity today in that she’s famous for god only knows why, think the dreaded K’s but actually likable. So after the shocking events of last issue where she encounters her first ghost she doesn’t have time to figure things out instead life is moving full steam ahead whether she likes it or not! It’s kind of fun really I mean her manager is pushing her forward trying to do what a lot of folks do after encountering the unexplainable, deny and keep moving which we all know doesn’t help and only delays the inevitable but hey it’s realistic!
I like Maria’s interiors here too. Not only does she have to have an eye for storytelling by using page layouts through angles, perspective and backgrounds but she’s putting these folks in fashion. So yeah she has to have a different kind of designer eye as well. All of it comes across amazingly well and the fact that the ghosts all have that opaque quality to them is exceedingly well done.
There’s also something to be said for the fact that Reno is on a red carpet and having an episode then after waking up from fainting she has another all the while she’s surrounded by people who aren’t there for her best interests. Plus the use of social media, phones and instant blogging well that adds another aspect to the way things are going to be seen. For instance let’s take that party she was at which started all this, yeah they will have no trouble finding her after all this should they want and/or need to.
Let’s not forget there was a reason for that part of the story aside from having Reno gain the ability to see dead people. What that is, is sinister there’s no doubt about that, remains unclear as of yet. So waiting for them to reveal what they are all about is like waiting for the other shoe to drop, after someone threw it up on a power line and you want it back. Slow and excruciating but necessary.
Fun, sassy and full of good solid storytelling this is one you’ll want to read.