I should probably be reviewing Antony Johnston's other graphic novel, Julius, since that actually came out this week.  But I haven't actually read it yet, which is a bit of an obstacle to reviewing it.  However, I've read Spooked, his collaboration with Ross Campbell, which came out a few weeks back.  So let's have a look at that one instead.

Goth painter Emily Spook has spent her life being visited by ghosts who hang around inside her head.  It seems she's a route which they can use to get out of their afterlife and move on to... well, oblivion, really.  Spooked goes for an unusually atheist version of the afterlife - the ghosts don't want to move on to the afterlife, they just want to cease to exist.  Anyway, Emily finds herself visited by ghosts who find her and use her as a route to freedom.  While they're around, she hears them as voices in her head.

Which, of course, means that everyone thinks she's mad when she tries to explain this.  (Fortunately, she's a goth painter, and perceived mental illness is a positive boon in that career.)

Anyway.  Emily's latest visitor is the recently-murdered Simon.  Simon tries to enlist Emily to find out what happened and warn his friends, and in the manner of such things, Emily gets drawn into the whole mess.

It's a nicely plotted story, which neatly avoids obviousness and goes off into somewhat unexpected territory instead.  The premise works because the story adheres strictly to the golden rule - one unlikely premise per story, and then just let everything else flow from that.  Despite the story involving ghosts and covens, everything is kept at a thoroughly recognisable level.  Ross Campbell's art hits the right tone, keeping Emily's word normal and avoiding mystical cliches.  It's also a wise move to keep Simon as a disembodied voice in Emily's head rather than showing him on panel - alright, it does leave Campbell to draw numerous pages of Emily doing nothing in particular while the dialogue, but it stops the story from ending up as Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

The ending reads a little strangely at first, since it seems to be as much a set-up for the future as a resolution to Spooked itself.  However, even though this has been promoted as a graphic novel, it's notable that the spine is numbered "volume 1."  I've no idea whether there are actually any more stories planned, but there's plenty of potential in the concept.

Rating: A-

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