Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel

"Garth Hale is as good as dead . . . The only problem is he's still alive.  When Garth Hale is accidentally zapped into the ghost world by Frank Gallows, a washed-up ghost wrangler, he discovers that he has special powers.  Soon he finds himself on the run from the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who wants to use Garth's newfound abilities to tighten his grip on the spirit world.  After Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, nearly losing hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake."  (from Google Books)
Ghostopolis may seem like a sweet, simple story on the outset, but TenNapel's piece is much more complicated than originally meets the eye.  The young, dying main character, Garth Hale seems weak, on his death bed, but truly is an empowering character who is willing to take on the ultimate evil, a character by the name of Vaugner.  Then, you have the supporting characters . . . Skinny, Cecil, and Frank Gallows to name a few . . . who the reader cannot help but love because of their quirks.  With this combo, Ghostopolis brings you more than just a battle between good and evil.  It addresses the difficult subject of death.  It brings a sweet inner love story and a story about family.  In fact, it has so many little story lines that the book needs to be read more than once to pick up on all of them.  And, this is just what I ingested after one read!

I cannot wrap up this review of a graphic novel without also commenting on the illustrations.  The story is filled with a combination of full color and black and white graphics.  I truly loved them all, but the ones I found to be the most powerful were the black and white illustrations strategically placed throughout those in color.

To sum it up in one sentence . . . Ghostopolis is more than just a fun read and one that I would recommend to young and old alike!

Have you experienced life in Ghostopolis?  How would you sum it up in one sentence?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you in advance for your comments! I love to hear reader's thoughts and respond to each one within the comment section. Please feel free to subscribe to the comment feed to ensure you can fully participate in the conversations.

Comments on posts older than 14 days are first approved through comment moderation. Word verification should not be turned on, so please notify me if it randomly appears.