Ghost Town, Volume 1
Created by Rob Ruddell and Dave Dwonch
Written by Dave Dwonch and Ryan K. Lindsay
Illustrated by Justin Greenwood and Daniel Logan
Colored by Brian Dyck
Lettered by Dave Dwonch
Covers by Justin Greenwood and Jordie Bellaire
Action Lab Entertainment
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Cover Price: $11.99

What happens when a time machine device becomes weaponized? In Action Lab’s Ghost Town, Volume One, this concept is tackled with full force. Destruction, mayhem, survival, and a whole lot of shocking moments await!

After a terrorist organization known as The American Reclamation Front steals a time travel device, the group uses the machine to place bombs days ahead in the future. When the president refuses to meet their demands, the bombs detonate in Las Vegas and Washington D.C., killing 1.5 million people and thrusting the United States into a post-apocalyptic landscape.

With the government elsewhere, Washington, now known as “The Rad,” is sectioned off into various boroughs, run by local survivors. Nate Lawson doesn’t run a borough; in fact, within the microcosm of “The Rad,” Nate is somewhat of a ghost, drifting unnoticed from area to area, reclaiming possessions for those who’ll pay a worthy sum. When Nate is tasked to extract Hannah – a girl now owned by Tyrell, the king of the borough called Hades – things don’t go as smoothly as he would have hoped.

Ghost Town is a very intriguing story. Volume one of the series starts off on a large-scale, pitting CIA agents against terrorists in a battle for the future. While I didn’t mind this issue – as it was a good set-up for the next stage of the comic – the fallout is what truly caught my interest. Bringing the issues down to a much smaller scope, the writers, Dave Dwonch and Ryan K. Lindsay, present a character driven story in the heart of the city’s destruction. Ghost Town becomes much more personal, engaging, and heartbreaking.

Justin Greenwood and Daniel Logan excel on art duties. While each adheres to a different style of drawing, both capture the essence of the story through close-up interactions within panels and body language of the characters.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with Ghost Town, but I think the solid set-up and shift early on worked well to make this series an enticing thriller. There is a whole new post-apocalyptic world to explore and I will eagerly await the next installment to see just what time period Ghost Town will bring us to next.