Review: ‘Adventureman: Ghost Lights’ #2 Rushes Through To A Cliffhanger

Writer Matt Fraction creates a script that is a bit slapdash. This is due to how there are jumps in the narrative. To put it more directly characters move from one setting to another without any explanation in a way where it seems pages are missing. While this is jarring the text portion of Fraction’s script mostly works well with the visual pacing by artist/colorist Terry Dodson and artist Rachel Dodson. Fraction also includes a moment of dialogue that is racially insensitive, and at odds with the character’s background. Overall this script is entertaining, but very confusing.

The Dodsons do well with the visuals for both Cover A and the interiors. Arguably, the cover is higher quality. This difference in quality comes from the inks and colors looking more solid. Nevertheless, and despite the apparently missing pages, the visuals are high quality. Two particular highlights of the interior visuals are the facial expressions and suggestions of movement.

Letterer Clayton Cowles does a fine job at spacing out the dialogue to suggest the time frame for each bit. Cowles also does a good job at fitting the text in some panels that are rather small.

Designer Leonardo Olea does not seem to do much new in this comic versus the last issue (Adventureman: Ghost Lights #1 [2024]). Yet, Olea may be giving input into things such as the character designs one sees in the first page of back matter.

Cover B is the creation of artist Mindy Lee. Like the Dodsons’ cover A it has an original feeling design. There is a nice amount of shading to help enhance the texture of the ghostly villains. The shading also helps keep it from being just an image featuring hues that are just a single type of green and black. Finally the line work is thin and seemingly confident.

Adventureman: Ghost Lights #2 is out now from Image.