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kaylecorey's review against another edition
2.0
The pencil, inking, coloring, and lettering are all incredibly lovely. A+ artwork. But the story is relentlessly man-hating to the point where it made me roll my eyes more than once. I appreciate the effort here to outline women's oppression, but this was just tiresome.
wyrmdog's review against another edition
3.0
So I'm very torn on this book (and this review applies to all of the Omnibuses, 1-5). I remember picking up the very first issues of this back in the early 90s and this was the one character book that really jumped out at me, and not just for the obvious aesthetic reasons. She was the most compelling and felt the most original, particularly when placed alongside those released around her: Barb Wire and X.
The book itself has a laudable goal (or so it seems without actually knowing Luke's intentions): to open the eyes of its readers to the treatment of women in the real world as well as on the page, tackling their objectification, the violence perpetrated against them, the way men don't see it and often end up contributing to it without realizing that they are. All while also being a superhero book.
For many readers, though, these stories could be betrayed by the fact that the main character is herself objectified by the writer and artist, though I got the distinct impression that was on purpose, as part of the message. And it worked. You could look past the message if you wanted and just enjoy the stories if you wanted, but there were broader, deeper messages there if you decided to pay attention (arguably some couldn't be missed). It could be a bit preachy, ham-fisted, and at times it seemed to betray its own message. I don't think that detracts from what I see as the ambitious goal of the series, however.
Most of it is very much early to mid 90s art, and it's not quite up to modern standards (to the point where a lot of what is intended to be sexy is laughably stupid-looking or just plain uncomfortable), but for a young comic company branching out into superheroes, it was a good start, even if upstaged by Image at the time.
Ghost is adventurous and fun, but seems like it remains a love-or-hate proposition for most readers. There is no guarantee how you'll react either as a feminist or an MRA or anything in between. But make no mistake, this book is trying to be more than just a superhero book laced with no small amounts of T&A: it's trying to say something important. Whether it succeeds probably depends largely on the reader.
The book itself has a laudable goal (or so it seems without actually knowing Luke's intentions): to open the eyes of its readers to the treatment of women in the real world as well as on the page, tackling their objectification, the violence perpetrated against them, the way men don't see it and often end up contributing to it without realizing that they are. All while also being a superhero book.
For many readers, though, these stories could be betrayed by the fact that the main character is herself objectified by the writer and artist, though I got the distinct impression that was on purpose, as part of the message. And it worked. You could look past the message if you wanted and just enjoy the stories if you wanted, but there were broader, deeper messages there if you decided to pay attention (arguably some couldn't be missed). It could be a bit preachy, ham-fisted, and at times it seemed to betray its own message. I don't think that detracts from what I see as the ambitious goal of the series, however.
Most of it is very much early to mid 90s art, and it's not quite up to modern standards (to the point where a lot of what is intended to be sexy is laughably stupid-looking or just plain uncomfortable), but for a young comic company branching out into superheroes, it was a good start, even if upstaged by Image at the time.
Ghost is adventurous and fun, but seems like it remains a love-or-hate proposition for most readers. There is no guarantee how you'll react either as a feminist or an MRA or anything in between. But make no mistake, this book is trying to be more than just a superhero book laced with no small amounts of T&A: it's trying to say something important. Whether it succeeds probably depends largely on the reader.
nooker's review against another edition
5.0
This is definitely of the '90s, but I still love it and she's my favorite superhero.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up when Dark Horse offered it for free during the lockdown. So thank you Dark Horse.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this, but to my surprise, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story is told from the viewpoint of Elsa who does not know how she can do the things she can do; she does know that she is dead, but she does not remember how or even who she was in great detail. Part of the story. In this volume is her discovery of her past.
The other part is her taking revenge on men for how they treat women. I suppose it would be too easy to dismiss this as a typical female revenge storyline, but the book is a little deeper. Even the costume that Ghost wears ties into this idea of what men see woman as contrasting with what women see themselves as.
In fact, this book features several strong women, and while Ghost and Margo are with sexualized or sexual, it is displayed and shown as a choice. Either as something they chose because it is what they wanted or something they chose to trick men. Importantly there is a section where the choice of how they dress and they sexuality is controlled against their way, and the illustration and feeling is far, far different. And the view isn’t the POV of the attacker, but of the women.
There is a more recent relaunch of this series and I read issue #0 and part of issue #1 of that. I prefer this one because it is a story about a woman, told by the woman’ where the redo, at least in the issues I read, is a story about mysterious woman that centers the story more on the men who found her. I prefer this one.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this, but to my surprise, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story is told from the viewpoint of Elsa who does not know how she can do the things she can do; she does know that she is dead, but she does not remember how or even who she was in great detail. Part of the story. In this volume is her discovery of her past.
The other part is her taking revenge on men for how they treat women. I suppose it would be too easy to dismiss this as a typical female revenge storyline, but the book is a little deeper. Even the costume that Ghost wears ties into this idea of what men see woman as contrasting with what women see themselves as.
In fact, this book features several strong women, and while Ghost and Margo are with sexualized or sexual, it is displayed and shown as a choice. Either as something they chose because it is what they wanted or something they chose to trick men. Importantly there is a section where the choice of how they dress and they sexuality is controlled against their way, and the illustration and feeling is far, far different. And the view isn’t the POV of the attacker, but of the women.
There is a more recent relaunch of this series and I read issue #0 and part of issue #1 of that. I prefer this one because it is a story about a woman, told by the woman’ where the redo, at least in the issues I read, is a story about mysterious woman that centers the story more on the men who found her. I prefer this one.
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