Ghostbox Vol 1 by Mike Carey, Pablo Raimondi and José Villarrubia

Blurb:

Two sisters, Chloe and Jan Peace, come into possession of a carved wooden box and discover that it has magical properties. Anyone who dies in the vicinity of the box goes
neither to Heaven nor Hell but into the box itself. This makes the box a priceless treasure to the soul-devouring monsters known as the Estival, who will stop at nothing to get it. All
the sisters want to do is get rid of the thing, but when Jan dies and the ghostbox takes her soul Chloe faces a stark choice. The Estival will keep coming for her so long as the
box is in her possession. But if she gives it up, the monsters will devour her sister’s soul…

Review:

Once in a while, I judge a book by its cover and nothing else. Okay, maybe the title too. Ghostbox was one such book. It was about 150 pages long, a quick enough read, and the illustrations looked pretty dope. Taking a risk, I picked it up.

And what a rollercoaster ride it was!

Spoilers Ahead! 

What I liked: 

The very first thing that stood out to me was the artwork. The illustrations did a fantastic job of 1) grounding the real world in reality, and 2) going crazy with color and framing for the fantastical elements. Suitably balanced and stretching imagination, the illustrations further elevated an already fast paced, gripping plot. I’m saying all this because I legit read the whole volume in a single sitting. 

The plot jumps straight into action with our protagonists Chloe and Jan. The Peace sisters come into possession of a dilapidated house, which kickstarts a series of bizarre events the machinations of which have been in motion since the dawn of time. An eternal war with immortals, monsters, and more. Honestly, there wasn’t a dull moment in this entire volume. Right from Chloe’s relatively slack handling of her job, to Jan’s careful navigation of the new possessions, to their dealing with the ‘Ghostbox’, both within and without, every single plot point continued to keep me at the edge of my seat. 

The real-world portions played out like a gripping crime thriller. The involvement of the cops who are hunting for Chloe while she deals with literal immortal monsters called Estival made for an interesting and relentless conflict. At the same time, Jan—SPOILERS: after dying—is transported to the Ghostbox, where she meets a motley group of magicians, mystics, and more, whose souls have been transported to the Ghostbox over the centuries. The oldest, and first of whom is the Angel Auriel, Lion of God. 

The C plot of the novel followed Officer Warren who is in pursuit of Chloe, believing her to be the murderer. This was my least favorite of the lot, but I did appreciate how it tied in with the rest of the plot in a way that not only made sense, but pushed the plot into its final act. Also, Warren’s motivations were justified and believable enough for me to enjoy this arc. 

While I wasn’t a big fan of any character in particular, the story and illustrations kept me hooked. The plot’s rapid pacing, coupled with the expert world-building, makes Ghostbox a very entertaining experience. A short, quick read with ample action, bizarre and thrilling conflicts, and a satisfying conclusion, Ghostbox was a delight to read.

What I didn’t like: 

While I loved the graphic novel for the most part, there were a few minor complaints I had with it. Particularly the characters. None of them really stood out to me. Design wise, great. Personality wise, however, not the most profound. I’ll admit, trading off character development for strong plot, pacing, world building and more seems fair, but pretty much all the characters felt two-dimensional to me. I wasn’t able to connect with either, and they seemed to serve the plot more than driving it forward. 

Secondly—SPOILERS—the twist in the end with the Lion of God having planned this for millennia… didn’t work for me like it should have. It was a good twist, objectively speaking. But, I guess I was expecting something else. Something more exciting.

Lastly—and this is my personal bias—I didn’t like the tease in the epilogue. However, it did get me curious about what’s next in this story. So, it did its job for sure. 

In Conclusion:

Fantastic, imaginative, & creepy in all the right ways, Ghostbox was a fun, thrilling read with interesting characters & some seriously stellar illustrations.

TL;DR: 

What I liked: Illustrations, imaginative settings, creature designs, horror elements

What I didn’t like: The twist didn’t move me like it should, the characters felt a little two-dimensional