The opening of this book lets us know exactly what happened to Becky With The Good Hair. I crack myself up sometimes.
Ahem…Spirit Hunters is about exactly what the title implies, and trails a group of diverse paranormal investigators as they hunt goblins and ghosties. Well, maybe not hunt them, but when people are being killed at a carnival that“s come to town, the group is quick to investigate.
I“ve always thought that paranormal investigation books can be slow and pretty monotonous, and it takes an inventive mind to keep the reader“s attention through a subject that a lot of people take interest in. Even though this is the second installment of this series, it is wrapped up in its own neat little package, and reading the first issue is not a necessity to understand what is happening. Pat Shand and Dave Franchini are fantastic at fleshing out each of the characters without throwing tons of information at us that will soon be forgotten due to sheer overload on our fragile brain squish. The farther you read into the story, the more interesting the team becomes, and each of them hints at their own little quirks and bits of backstory. This world feels very realistic without losing the paranormal aspect of it, and I will have to say that I quite enjoy the perfect balance of having a foot in two worlds, yet feeling perfectly stable.
The character of Ellen quickly became my favorite, and she has the power to see to the “other side”“ without overdoing it. She“s not over sexed, idiotic, or any other stereotypical things that are just played out. Ellen is smart and in touch with her gift without it consuming her and directing the entire book“s attention towards her character alone.
Allan Otero does some pretty bad ass art, I“m going to just say it. I was extremely pleased with how hyper-realistic these characters looked, all while making them very divergent in their appearance. Age, race, and implied gender are so easy to distinguish, and you can tell that Allan is a master of his craft. Oh, and Jorge Cortes; those colors are some grade A stunning pieces of work. Everything transitions smoothly without bleeding together and looking messy, and damn does he know how to color a monster. The two working together tie this book up with a neat little bow, extra sprinkles on top.
The covers are ideal for someone who is interested in old school paranormal illustrations with a modern twist, and there isn“t a bad one in the bunch. My personal favorite is by Noah Salonga because it almost has a humorous feel, and just incredible composition all around. Plus I have a fondness for carousels and pretty ladies, I“ll admit it.
Basically, I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would, but I“m quite the pessimistic optimist, or something like that. Point being, it was great and I needs me some mores.
Story: 5 Stars
Artwork: 5 Stars
Colors: 5 Stars
Covers: 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
This issue is written by Pat Shand & Dave Franchini, drawn by Allan Otero, colored by Jorge Cortes, and lettered by Taylor Esposito.
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