Five Ghosts is a throw back to the pulp-style comics that were churned out in the 1920’s & 1930’s with a vibe similar to Doc Savage, The Spirit or The Phantom. The premise is that treasure hunter Fabian Gray has been possessed by five ghosts/spirits whose abilities he can tap into during his adventures.
Indiana Jones is the obvious comparison to Fabian, as he adventures around the world, seducing many women and stealing historical artifacts. He harnesses the skills of an archer, a wizard, a detective, a samurai and a vampire to help him on his quests although it exhausts him afterwards. We learn some back story of Fabian, and meet his best friend and fellow adventurer Sebastian. Sebastian was romantically involved with Fabian’s sister Silvia, who is now mysteriously in a coma, due to the connection to the Dreamstone that gives Fabian his powers. The two men search for the key to save her, and have to fight evil Nazis, Occultists and other worldly creatures as Fabian learns to properly be the vessel of the five ghosts.
The illustrations by Chris Mooneyham are excellent, with a a dark sepia colored palette to match the nostalgic adventure themed narrative. The lettering, especially on opening chapters, is evocative of the pulp fiction comics that Five Ghosts is paying homage to. The layout of the story was appealing, with some full page spreads and some interestingly varied panel configurations.
However, I was uncomfortable with the way different cultures were portrayed in this novel, and that would be a collaboration between author and artist. When Fabian crash lands in Africa (with no more designation that that) he and Sebastian are captured by primitive loin cloth wearing natives who worship a spider god, and they are tied up as a sacrifice to the spiders. The only reason why the men escape, is due to a mystical Asian man who helps fight off the spear-wielding tribe members, and then whisks them off to Shangri-La. This exoticism of the Orient and showing African natives as savage are crude stereotypes that I believe are wrong. I find it ironic that a book that is paying tribute to five literary figures would repeat damaging literary tropes elsewhere.
While the story line is set up for many more adventures, I will pass. I flipped through volume two, but did not take the time for a thorough reading, for it seemed to repeat many of the same issues I found in volume one. This throwback story had some intriguing ideas, but I felt the negatives out weighed the positives.
-Nancy
Graphic Novelty² 
March 20, 2017 at 1:39 pm
I agree; the idea of Africa (or Asia or South America or wherever) being one big, monolithic culture as envisioned by some European explorer in the 1700s is a disturbing (and lazy) trope. There’s so much more richness that can be depicted, let alone the social justice reasons for doing so.
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March 20, 2017 at 6:32 pm
It just so happens I am taking a class about Issues in Diversity in Youth Literature, so it is a happy coincidence that I will be able to talk about this book and others in regards to stereotypical tropes in literature.
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March 20, 2017 at 6:43 pm
That sounds excellent! It’s such an important issue – especially, I’d bet, in regard to youth literature. When it comes to the classics, they are what they are and we must interpret them through the lens of the time. But with youth literature – especially the explosion and continued interest in YA novels over the past decade – the diversity issue has to be as important as ever. I’m really looking forward to seeing how that course influences the analysis you do.
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April 30, 2017 at 6:05 am
Solid review, although I have to say I disagree. I really enjoyed this book, and for me, reading it was a refreshingly new experience. Anyone interested can check my review out here: https://criticoptimist.com/2017/04/30/five-ghosts-the-haunting-of-fabian-gray/
the portrayal of other cultures didn’t bother me too much as I read it, because I realized it was sort of a tongue and cheek visualization of conventional European perspectives at that time, but I also see the validity of this issue. My hope is that the problem will be somewhat remedied in the coming volumes. Perhaps by showing a completely different culture, and maybe differntiating between the countless differnt states and territories located on a vast continent.
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April 30, 2017 at 2:55 pm
There was a lot going for this series, and the art work was top notch, but the way other cultures were depicted made me shy away from continuing. You are right that European perspectives when these stories were first published would have portrayed the cultures as such, but in modern days, it just made me feel dirty.
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