
Valiant Entertainment 2015
Written by Jen Van Meter
Illustrated by Roberto De La Torre
Coloured by David Baron
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
Shan was alone for years, until she ventured beyond the veil of death and brought back Hwen’s spirit. Now Shan has a ghost husband who she can’t even touch, and who only she can see… Sums up the story so far.
I’m completely enthralled by the interior artwork here. Roberto and David have found the perfect way to bring this to life. The attention to detail and the way the colours work here really just grab the reader’s attention and imagination so that we are drawn into the story. The use of pages and panels keep the flow of the story pacing flowing beautifully.
I like the opening here. Seeing the pair alive and well right before going off on that fateful excursion and Shan locking up that scroll Hwen was working on sets up the story nicely. Then moving to last week where Shan is called to a wedding that’s gone out of control well that’s even better. I think the fact that the chapel is haunted and they specialize in haunted weddings well it just adds another dimension to what we think of ghosts and what they desire. Huge bonus to see the ghosts like this instead of just things that need to be banished and the possibilties here excite me.
One of the things I really liked about this issue is that it felt so much longer than usual. With so much going on here Jen manages to write it in such a way that it just felt like an oversized issue. It’s action packed and full of so much information and the introduction of new characters and fleshing out Shan’s world. Finally we’re getting more of the people in her life and it only goes to really give her some much needed new characterization so she’s less the hardened woman and more a complete person.
Shan’s friends and extended family in Barcelona are fabulous! Oh please tell me that’s a naked ghost relative just sitting on the sofa because that would be way too awesome. Seline’s family is full of magically inclined people who have various talents and almost immediately we get a sense of what this story is going to entail. Inez’s casting said that something big was going to happen and then at the table that vision yeah it all conspires to say that perhaps Shan’s desire to use that scroll isn’t as wise a course of action as she’d like it to be.
That events at home and then at Seline’s have really upped the ante for what Shan has to do and go through now. Suddenly there’s this whole new thing that is extremely exciting to see. A new threat of unknown power and origin that can possibly destroy reality as they know it yeah i’m totally in here.
With some absolutely incredible characterization and an exciting new story arc surrounded in some gorgeous interior artwork make this an offering not to miss.