[Graphic Novel Review] Five Ghosts Vol. 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray by Frank J. Barbiere, Chris Mooneyham

Five Ghosts Vol. 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray by Frank J. Barbiere, Chris Mooneyham is a brutal and beautiful graphic novel!

This graphic novel was recently suggested to me, and I am SO glad that I was able to get my hands on it so quickly! What a read!

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on Five Ghosts Vol. 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray by Frank J. Barbiere, Chris Mooneyham

I’ll admit, I was a little confused when I started reading this. I actually jumped on Goodreads to see if I had missed a series before this one. But soon, we started getting a little backstory here and there. Then things really started to fall into place. When I finished reading, I decided that I like that we were thrown into the action right away and that we very slowly learned why Fabian has his “condition.” Though I certainly would have appreciated just a little more background earlier on.

I see a lot of people ragging on this collection because of it’s unoriginal features, but I personally really loved it. It’s like they writer took aspects of all of my favorite comics and novels and merged them into one!

I really enjoyed the idea itself behind the comic. I thought it was so interesting that Fabian, a looting adventurer, had a bad encounter with a dreamstone, which allowed him to access the powers of five ghosts; the wizard, the archer, the detective, the samurai, and the vampire. It has been suggested each of these ghosts correspond to Merlin, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Miyamoto Musashi, and Count Dracula.

I thought it was a great touch that when he called upon his other powers, that the specific ghost who held that power would also appear in the frame.

I really enjoyed the two main characters; Fabian and Sebastian. They’re a great MC and sidekick duo! Sebastian is definitely my favorite. I love his sarcastic and dry one liners.

The pacing was very quick! The storyline was guided by the action, which was present on almost every page.

And then there’s the artwork…

I LOVED the pulp-esque style! And the color palette was absolutely incredible! If I had to pick just one favorite feature of this collection, I would definitely go with the coloring. I mean…just LOOK at these examples:

I also loved that the artwork really carried the storyline. Of course the dialogue was added frequently but some action sequences flowed very well without a ton text. Just one example:

My Final Thoughts on Five Ghosts Vol. 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray

Though confusing to start, I really enjoyed reading this and I adored the artwork. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this series develops!

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Thanks for reading!