Review – Tokyo Ghost #7 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Story: Rick Remender
Art: Sean Gordon Murphy
Release Date: 25th May, 2016

“Capital Butthole, Mr Flak”

With dialogue like that, how could you hate this book? Remender, Murphy and Hollingsworth are on to another winner with the second issue of this arc, taking us deeper into Debbie’s crusade to destroy Flak, Davey Trauma and all they stand for. We get a glimpse into what New Tokyo could look like with Flak’s ship (the Hentai ride is terrifying in all its glory), and we get another look at the horror that is Flak.

Remender has once again created a monster and ran with it. During the opening pages you get a faint glimmer of hope, only to have it quickly flipped on its head. The similarities between Tokyo Ghost and real life are getting a little too close for comfort, with Remender managing to capture all that is wrong with our social media and gossip-centric society. Why think when TV does it for you?

That being said, our new protagonist (I say new, and I mean it, this is a side of Debbie we’ve never seen before) is not without her flaws. It’s things like this that make Tokyo Ghost something great; there are no clear lines of who is the “goodie” and who is the “baddie”. Debbie is a cold blooded Killer, so can she truly be called good? The IQ machine is a nice touch as well, whether it was actually a joke or a nice satire of how incompetent our own leaders are I can’t say, but still…

Hats off to the art team once again as well, working perfectly together. Hollingsworth’s colouring blends seamlessly with Murphy’s art, resulting in every page being absolutely stunning. There’s a futuristic feel to Murphy’s work, teamed with the splashes of neon from Hollingsworth. This even carries through to the panel layout, which is mismatched and seems to follow a strange structure, yet somehow it just seems to work? It’s visceral, it’s kinetic, it’s brutal and it’s beautiful.

Oh, and It also wouldn’t be a Murphy book without some sort of beautiful car in the background, right?

If you’re not picking this book up already, then it’s time to put down the phone, close the laptop, go outside and buy it! Tokyo Ghost is presenting a message we can all take to heart; less tech, more time for people. Don’t be like Lem. Hey, wait… is Lem short for Lemming?

Rating: 5/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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