Tokyo Ghost #1 Review

 

 
 
Ah, Tokyo Ghost is one of those rare books that every once in a while come along with what seems a monster mash, yet it works. On a first pass of the book we have a post apocalyptic vibe, mixed with Tank Girl meets Dredd sensibilities. The story is nicely visual, the violence is effective without being too over the top. We have a nice energy to the story, which is a basic cops and robbers affair in the main but opens up into something more as the story progresses.
The art for the book is striking. Sean Gordon Murphy manages to capture the splendor of a chaotic society, the future sprawl, violence, and even a worthy example of a road race – nicely capturing the feel of each aspect. There are a few pages in the later half of the book that are just awesome in terms of the lighting – there are really strong elements of Noir lighting at play and they are delicious.

In terms of story development, over the course of the book, it holds up pretty well. The only downsides for me was that more wasn’t made of the chief villain of the piece, however, there is mitigation in the fact that this first issue is a set up in terms of the story and so there was a limit to laying out the story, developing the characters and getting to the pay off. All things considered this is a pretty solid start for Tokyo Ghost, the visual is impressive, the action brutal and the heroic duo come across well.
The social commentary that litters the book adds a nice dimension to the story – it is also very apt in terms of where society is presently and where it will possibly be in the future. Hopefully, as the issues progress, this narrative will expand – along with the plot for Led Dent and Debbie Decay. As the book comes to a close we know much of Debbie while Led is far more enigmatic a character. There is ample room for growth in terms of both – the future is wide open!