Geis: A Matter of Life & Death by Alexis Deacon Review

The ruler of a kingdom dies leaving the courtiers squabbling over who should take over. Then a sorceress appears, scattering everyone, and whoever makes it back to the castle… becomes ruler, or something? 

The New Ghost by Rob Hunter Review

A ghost on his first day as a ghost gets separated from the other ghosts floating across the sky. On Earth, he befriends an astronomer before witnessing what looks like an abduction by the other ghosts - and now they’re after him and his astronomer friend! 

Robert Hunter’s sweetly surreal comic is an inventive, fable-like story that continuously usurps the readers’ expectations on where it’s headed, managing to keep the reader engaged the whole way through. The book also makes ghosts seem more interesting as a result - rather than wandering aimlessly through castles or manor houses forever, Hunter gives them a far better purpose and a more exciting afterlife. 

Though brief at 24 pages - and really more of a single issue comic than a trade paperback/graphic novel - it’s a satisfying read with Hunter displaying a strong understanding of how to tell a story as a comic. Using different sized panels, the story flows very naturally with the text and pictures complementing each other nicely. 

I’m not sure I would say the story leaves much of an impression, especially due to its brevity, but if nothing else The New Ghost shows the potential of this writer/artist who could well go on to create something more substantial and powerful in the future. For now though, The New Ghost is a promising beginning and a decent comic.

The New Ghost

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man by Jose Domingo Review

A Japanese businessman leaves work for the day and on his way home encounters a series of bizarre people and situations, and goes on a comical life-changing journey beyond the boundaries of reality. 

Jose Domingo’s comic is completely silent (no words), told in a four panel grid on oversized paper. It’s an interestingly presented book with the perspective in each panel slightly slanted and coupled with the cartoonish way Domingo draws the figures, makes it look like I’m reading an early 90s SNES game – not a bad thing in itself.

But as well drawn as it is, it gets a bit tedious to “read” after a while. There’s no real story - the Japanese businessman continues on his way no matter what crazy thing happens until the end. Some sequences are clever like when he dies halfway through, leading to Domingo appearing in the comic, pleading with Satan to bring his character back as he foolishly killed him off too early, which the Devil does (apparently all cartoonists work in hell!). Plus I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main character becomes chewing gum by the end. 

I really wanted to like this as these kind of quirky, indie comics are right up my alley but I kept putting this one down as it just didn’t hold my attention for long. Imaginative and dream-like in approach but without any real narrative to involve the reader, Adventures of a Japanese Business Man somehow makes the surreal and zany boring to read.

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man