A review by mistled
Ghost Projekt, Vol. 1 by Joe Harris, Steve Rolston
3.0
More of SPCtYPDKED!*
Small press comics have some things going for them. They aren't bound to decades of title history. They don't have exact schedules that they absolutely have to keep. And they can attempt storylines that won't make it into Spider-Man any time ever. Most importantly in my view, if they have a small story to tell, they can just tell it and be done. There are lots of 4-comic series out there because that's what the story was, so they told it and stopped. That's when things go well.
Other times a series just dies without being completed due to those same freedoms. The reason they can do much of the above is because they don't have a zillion people expecting the next issue of Iron Man from them. So my latest foray into the world of small press comics is, as always, fraught with uncertainty. If you see an interesting work from ten years ago, you can't just start reading it. You either need to go lookup if this run actually finished or just prep yourself for a story stopping in the middle.
Anyway, Ghost Projekt falls into the first camp, where the writer had a five-issue story to tell and told it. Done.
This story follows an American chemical weapons inspector working with some Russians to track down something stolen from the long defunct Dosvedanya Project. Of course, that was decades ago and no one actually knows what they were creating, so no one knows what they're looking for. The art is fine, not great. The writing is pretty good, though the random sprinkling in Russian words was odd, and the overall story was interesting. Anything earth-shattering here? No. But it's a good time. Unlike a lot of small press comics, it actually wraps up well. And there is at least one ghost. Perhaps not something you should specifically hunt down, but if you see it at your library (I'd be stunned, first of all), give it a read.
3.5 stars
*edit* - Here on GR, this says "Vol. 1". As far as I can tell, there is no Vol 2. There were five issues, one story arc, and they are all in this HC. Just FYI.
* Small Press Comics that You Probably Didn't Know Existed Day
Small press comics have some things going for them. They aren't bound to decades of title history. They don't have exact schedules that they absolutely have to keep. And they can attempt storylines that won't make it into Spider-Man any time ever. Most importantly in my view, if they have a small story to tell, they can just tell it and be done. There are lots of 4-comic series out there because that's what the story was, so they told it and stopped. That's when things go well.
Other times a series just dies without being completed due to those same freedoms. The reason they can do much of the above is because they don't have a zillion people expecting the next issue of Iron Man from them. So my latest foray into the world of small press comics is, as always, fraught with uncertainty. If you see an interesting work from ten years ago, you can't just start reading it. You either need to go lookup if this run actually finished or just prep yourself for a story stopping in the middle.
Anyway, Ghost Projekt falls into the first camp, where the writer had a five-issue story to tell and told it. Done.
This story follows an American chemical weapons inspector working with some Russians to track down something stolen from the long defunct Dosvedanya Project. Of course, that was decades ago and no one actually knows what they were creating, so no one knows what they're looking for. The art is fine, not great. The writing is pretty good, though the random sprinkling in Russian words was odd, and the overall story was interesting. Anything earth-shattering here? No. But it's a good time. Unlike a lot of small press comics, it actually wraps up well. And there is at least one ghost. Perhaps not something you should specifically hunt down, but if you see it at your library (I'd be stunned, first of all), give it a read.
3.5 stars
*edit* - Here on GR, this says "Vol. 1". As far as I can tell, there is no Vol 2. There were five issues, one story arc, and they are all in this HC. Just FYI.
* Small Press Comics that You Probably Didn't Know Existed Day