ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Ghost Cage,’ Issue #1

Ghost Cage #1 is published by Image Comics, written by Nick Dragotta and Caleb Goellner, with art by Dragotta and letters by Rus Wooton. To the world at large, the OHM Tower is a technological marvel that provides the world with power. But what the world doesn’t realize is that there is something malevolent, manipulative, and controlling at OHM’s core. And it’s time for an upgrade. But to accomplish this, one unwitting tech support worker will have to go far beyond his job description.

Art is and always has been the expression of emotion and opinion. We give life to our thoughts and feelings in often abstract or figurative ways through it. I love a wonderfully crafted tale that also has something deep, profound, or meaningful to say. However, when a story beats me over the head with its theme as hard and as often as Ghost Cage #1 does, my overriding feeling isn’t one of enjoyment or even appreciation for the story I’ve just read, but rather exhaustion.

Ghost Cage #1 delivers its sci-fi-infused tale about the corrupt nature of corporate life with all the subtly that superheroes generally use pummeling villains. From the company CEO’s opening rant onward, not a page goes by that doesn’t highlight the greed, abusiveness, and corrupt mindset that we find prevalent throughout corporate culture. And while I agree with the point of what the story is trying to say, anyone you have to push the concept this hard to get through to just isn’t going to listen anyway. Instead, the extra layer of theme serves only to drown out what character the story could have.

That character is represented through the tale’s primary protagonist Doyle. A lowly tech support worker, Doyle is rangled into helping the company’s latest project get off the ground. But when this shift in job duties finds Doyle face to face with kaiju-sized monsters, he quickly begins wondering if advancement in the company is worth his life.

Despite Doyle’s beginning this tale as a walking slogan for OHM, the character is instantly likable from the get-go. Hard-working and honest, Doyle seems like a friendly guy who has unfortunately fallen under the sway of corporate propaganda. His character transformation through Ghost Cage #1‘s narrative is fast but well handled. The events that the story forces him to endure would profoundly affect anyone.

The art in this book does a great job of augmenting its story. The designs fit great as they deliver everything from the monsters to OHM’s CEO with all the scale and energy they need to land perfectly on the page.

Wrapping up the book’s presentation is the lettering. Again, the letters are placed excellently to tell the tale and the design of the dialogue boxes does a great job of keeping who is talking clear. This is more important than usual as much of the dialogue comes from off-panel.

When all is said and done, Ghost Cage #1 delivers a strong core story, likable lead, and excellent art style that is weighed down by its overbearing theme of corporate greed.

Ghost Cage #1 is available on March 23rd wherever comics are sold.