Book Review: Ghostopolis

Title: Ghostopolis
Author: Doug Tennapel
Pages: 272
Graphic Novel
Author Website: http://tennapel.com/

From the author website

Ghostopolis


Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake.

My Thoughts

After reading a few graphic novels that just did not do it for me, I finally have read two really good solid ones in a row. Ghostopolis is one that I will recomend to many of my students. I loved the imagination of this story. I loved teh idea of Garth being stuck in this world of ghosts who are the spirits of the dead. It is not a creepy atmosphere, but an atmosphere that I really liked. The Ghostopolis world has been overrun by an evil leader and has spawned the skeletons and other creatures to fight one another. All Garth wants to do is get back home to reality.

I loved his pet horse. I thought it was quite clever. The artwork on each page was beautiful. I don't say that very often about graphic novels, but I did spend time actually viewing each panel. Many times when I read graphic novels, I skim through everything because it does not hold my interest.

There are some good humor scenes, some great battle scenes, and a good message to be conveyed as well.

Even more important I had no idea the author/illustrator created the Earthworm Jim video game from back in the day on SNES. I loved that game. This makes me an even more devote fan. I also did not realize all his other works that I have just put on hold to read and view.

I know this is a pretty popular book, but now I can say that I am one in the crowd who loves this story and artwork. This graphic novel is also in the early stages of being adapted to the bigscreen. I hope it is done right and turns out awesome.