The Image Comics property “Adventureman” is a confident love letter to comic books. Claire is an unlikely hero to spotlight in her own book, especially with a title called “Adventureman”. However, author Matt Fraction and artists Terry and Rachel Dodson did the unthinkable and fleshed out a fascinating leading hero with their core series. Will Image be able to keep the momentum going in a special two-issue volume of “Adventureman” titled “Ghost Lights”?
Cover by Terry and Rachel DodsonWritten by Matt Fraction
Illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson
Colored by Terry Dodson
Lettered by Clayton CowlesWhen the Good Guys of the Golden Age come back, all their ghosts follow—now Claire, the new Adventureman, and her maybe-beau Chris, the new Crossdraw Kid, defend peace on earth from a phantom empire of crime!
By MATT FRACTION (SEX CRIMINALS, Hawkeye) and TERRY & RACHEL DODSON (RED ONE, Harley Quinn).
Fraction and the Dodson’s open the special story with Claire suspended in air, seemingly kidnapped by the villainous Caspar. Caspar breaks down his violent tendencies and bleak outlook with a fascinating set of narration and imagery from Terry and Rachel Dodson. While it is interesting to hear Caspar narrate his feelings, Fraction spends too much time in the first script focused on the antagonist. In the debut issue of “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1, Claire is given little agency to rise up and stop the impending crime.
The visual fidelity of “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1 is impressive. Terry and Rachel Dodson illustrate incredibly expressive figures with intricate page designs. The first page of the series opens with a mysterious background and close-up of Caspar’s face that permeates with a sinister mood. Each of the four panels in the foreground of the page show characters hanging from the ceiling or standing upside-down while the speech balloons are the right-side up. Also, the diverse hallways and visuals lend a grandiose, epic nature to the script.
Overall, “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1 exceeds in the visuals but there is one place artistically where the series falls short. Terry Dodson lends a visual consistency toward the colors that gets boring by the time the issue ends. A more detailed palette would have made this series feel even more unique and special. The green hues from Caspar become visually dull as you start to approach the end of the issue. While I can appreciate how Terry Dodson appears to be saving regular hues for certain scenes, this choice effects some of the quality within the issue itself.
The introduction of The Crossdraw Kid refocuses the art and script of “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1. The Dodson’s portray artwork melding elements of science-fiction with a Western-based aesthetic. Also, the introduction of the curious visual location of the Kid matches up nicely with Claire suspended upside-down in the air throughout the issue. Matt Fraction introduces intriguing haunted visual elements recalling history that Terry and Rachel execute with precision across the massive, 32-page script in “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1.
“Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1 also opens a curious plot thread with Tommy and the aunties helping her out. Watching these characters show up a in slightly different role from the main series marked a sense of progression that readers can see from the core “Adventureman” series to the “Ghost Light” story. I also found the reintroduction of this plot thread towards the end of the issue to also payoff an important piece of this narrative as well.
Matt Fraction also falls in the trap of applying too much narration to the debut issue of “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1. Readers aren’t incredibly familiar with these characters yet and instead of taking on cool or interesting actions on-panel, Fraction spends of lots of time reminiscing over the past with Caspar or describing too much of what The Crossdraw Kid did in the past as opposed to showing interesting things he has yet to do in the present.
Towards the beginning of the issue, Caspar opens with dialogue that is silly and does not move the plot forward in a notable way. Fraction’s theatrical nature he applies to villains helps make them more interesting but it comes at the expense of crafting a more interesting character. I can’t help but feel that the series as whole could massively benefit if “Adventureman” could be more focused on a grounded approach to the narrative. There are fascinating characters throughout the script like The Crossdraw Kid, Caspar and Tommy who could benefit from writing that could come off as a little less cerebral. Also, it would be a good idea at this stage for Fraction to introduce a couple more characters or plot dynamics to ensure this new title doesn’t feel quite so similar to the main series.
“Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1 carries strong visuals and a smart tone but fails to deliver a strong plot. Moving forward I’m interested to see if this creative team can separate this special book from the main series. I’m also curious to see if the second issue can improve on any of the shortcomings from the debut. It would be great to get less visual consistency from the colors to ensure the visuals of “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” do not feel repetitious. If the creative team can improve on a couple of aspects from the first issue and make the plot more interesting, “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” might be able to improve in the future.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – “Adventureman: Ghost Lights” #1 melds strong visuals and characters with a forgettable plot.
