Frank J. BarbiereCritiques

Not bad. I didn't find Noah himself interesting or compelling, but his narrative voice was excellent. The complexity of heroes isn't black or white. A fairly quick read.

3.5

Poor man's Moore

Interesting introduction. I wasn’t blown away but I am curious to know what happens. Artwork was good as well.

Predictable with bad art. I won't be continuing.

Hot garbage story with some good artwork!

It doesn't make the most of its unique premise and instead it settles for a standard adventure serial homage with little extra added.

I adore the premise, that treasure hunter Fabian Gray was taken over by "The Dreamstone" and possessed by ghosts of five literary characters, whose powers he can use. I also like that his control over this power isn't complete and that he puts himself in danger every time he uses it.

I don't love the pulp aspects of this book. I could do without the stereotypical Nazi villains and the racist caricatures of African spider-god worshippers. I could also do without the only women in the book being sex partners or injured plot devices. (Thus I explain the 2 stars, because this book was just not for me.)

There was a fantastic twist at the end, one that I thought I'd caught on to earlier in the book but the scope of which I hadn't fathomed.

The art was not to my taste, but it went very well with the pulp style.

(Provided by publisher)

A young girl named Penny visits a neighbor, a friend of her mother's, who we gradually learn is a retired federal marshal. Back in the 1960s, he was involved in investigating a pair of violent killers, Daisy Jane and Rock Bradley. Penny sees some newspaper clippings he's kept, and he tells her the rest of the story.

That story is most of this book, with Penny and the marshal as a frame story.

Daisy Jane enters the story as a young girl as innocent as Penny, but her life is about to hit some very rough waters.

Her father, who loves her and supports all her ambitions of going to college and making something of herself, runs an auto repair garage now--but he used to be a gangster. A fortuitous car accident puts him back in tough with old associates, and he sees an easy way to make the money Daisy Jane needs to go to college. She goes happily off to UCLA, having no idea what her father is doing.

When she comes home unexpectedly for a visit, she discovers her beloved dad is letting his garage be used at night to punish those who have angered the local mob boss. From there, things can only go downhill. When her own father is killed, angry with him or not, she's determined to have revenge.

The story that follows is violent and fairly graphic, but also attentive to the human reality of what Daisy and those around her are experiencing, as she is transformed from an innocent girl with high ideals, into a violent killer. This is volume one, from her eager determination to go to college, through learning how to kill and being willing to. I expected not to like this because of the graphic violence, but found it surprisingly good.

Recommended, with content warning for violence.

I received a free electronic galley of this book, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

Ugly art, lousy dialogue, stupid story. Immediate regret for reading.

I received this from Edelweiss and Image Comics in exchange for an honest review.

Very good story in 70s pulp type, and that includes the art. Lots of fun, even thought it is a pretty typical convoluted story of revenge.

I'll definitely keep reading this series.

I found Frank Barbiere's Violent Love, Vol. 1 to be a fun and visually enjoyable throwback to pulp fiction without being too over-the-top with cliches and stereotypes. There are cliches and stereotypes but that is what makes it a throwback, it is not having too many that makes it fun.

Like any good story this gives the reader a chance to feel some empathy for the characters even if they live and act outside of accepted norms. This first volume absolutely makes me want to read more. The artwork is probably not the most innovative (I am no expert by any means) but since books are meant for readers I am qualified to talk about whether the artwork helped or hurt the story, and it definitely helped the story. Let those more schooled in the techniques critique whether they think a different style would have been better, and they may be right. But this style works very well from the perspective of a general reader.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Netgalley.

This graphic novel series was a bit confusing at first which meant I never felt a firm footing with the story. Add to that a somehow-cheesier-than-Indiana-Jones vibe and I ended up feeling underwhelmed. The basic idea is apparently that Fabian is trying to cure his sister of... something. At some point he has managed to get the ghosts of fire archetypes lodged within himself and he uses their abilities in his adventures. Except when he can't. Overall, it just read like an Indian Jones style story, with a lot of camp. If that's your thing, I will admit that they do it really well. I am just not the audience for this particular story type.

Copy courtesy of Diamond Book Distributors, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fun quick read with great art.

Downloaded from Netgalley.

I like the idea of possession as used in this graphic novel, which combines adventure, suspense, and fictional characters such as Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. Five of these characters - amongst them Dracula and Sherlock Holmes - belong to Fabian Gray in a bizarre possession.

It's not all sunshine and roses, however. When he does use the characters he carries within him, he gets strained, so much so that he's begun to pass out recently. He's starting to lose control. And worse, he's responsible for his sister's condition. Silvia is quite unwell, and all Fabian wants is to cure her; he's convinced that these characters, and the dreamstones that allow them to cross over, are the key to bringing Silvia back to full health. Otherwise, I suppose, he could give away the dreamstone, or simply stop using the characters.

Not only is the premise rather unique in the way this is done, but it has an old school adventure feel to it. For some reason, that struck me is particularly charming, and the artwork added to the old-timey adventurer sense. (Also, the artwork is a genuinely surprising mix of American style and European style graphic novel work. Even more surprising is how well Chris Mooneyham blends the styles together along with the pang of nostalgia that he adds to each page. It comes off looking effortless, and again, the combination is rather unique. I was shocked at how much I liked the art, and how quickly I came to love the style.)

While I find Fabian compelling, I'm taking a half star off for his companion Sebastian. Fabian is fully formed; we come to see that he's not the hero we might have believed him to be in the beginning when we get a glimpse of his life prior to his possessions. He
genuinely grieves over the harm he's caused to Silvia, and he wants to make things right so desperately. I think this is very relatable, as we've all done things we regret, things we want to make right.

Sebastian came off as comic relief, but without the fullness of Fabian's character. We see none of his backstory, and he feels like he's there merely to act as a foil to Fabian, or to offset the seriousness of situations with his inability to fight. (It's not funny when Sebastian seems to be in fairly constant danger, and unable to take care of himself. At all.) See Sebastian cower when Fabian fights huge spiders - shudder, because I have arachnaphobia. See Sebastian cower while people threaten Fabian, and make jokes about how he should have run. Yawn.

It's a shame. I believe that if Sebastian had more quirks - nerdy intellectual with no fighting skills is just cliche - or were more quirky with his jokes, or had a fully developed backstory, he'd make a much better foil to Fabian. If he were an interesting character in his own right, this would have been a five star read for me.

I'll definitely read the second volume, though.½

I bought this blind, without having read any of the singles or trades, purely on the strength of the recent collections image have been putting out in hardcover, almost all of which I have liked. I found Five Ghosts to be... mediocre. Don't get me wrong, it has excellent artwork and if you are looking for derring-do adventure than there is plenty of it here with lots of varied exotic scenery thrown in to the background. However what it lacks is compelling characters, an intricate or surprising plot or narrative, or convincing world-building. The world-building in particular is weak as all the foreign locales are basically stereotypical background scenery for the protagonist's adventures. I hope the creators work on these elements as the series goes forward.½

Interesting idea, nice art. I'm finding the story too sketchily presented to be intriguing or suspenseful. Might continue with the next trade volume.

2 1/2 Stars.

Part Indiana Jones, part Gambit, part James Bond, and all pulp, Five Ghosts: The Haunting of Fabian Gray starts off as a fun throwback to the classic adventure narrative of the 30's and 40's. And then it does a cannonball into an empty pool, which is to say the creators really should have paid more attention as to where this thing was going.

Fabian Gray is a charming and handsome master thief who has spent his life acquiring some of the world's finest antiquities, with the help of his twin sister. However, when he and his sister attempt to steal The Dreamstone, things go cockeyed. Now his sister is in a coma and Fabian has five shards of The Dreamstone lodged in his chest--and within each stone is the essence of an archetypal figure: the detective, the samurai, the wizard, the archer and the vampire. Trapped within Gray's body, Gray can draw upon the powers of these "ghosts" to aid him in his newest quest--to find the artifact that will cure his sister.

Set in the 1930's, Mooneyham evokes the look and feel of the pulp comics from that time period adding to the overall narrative. Things won't be easy for Fabian--supernatural forces are working against him, exotic locales must be visited, beautiful women need ravishing, and the "ghosts" are becoming increasingly unhappy over their imprisonment within Gray. And this is where the narrative lost me. Fabian must pass a test created by each of his ghosts, from which he will gain profound insight. These "tests" are anticlimactic, confusing, and miss the opportunity for some creative integration of the literary world inhabited by each of these ghosts. Each test could have been an issue in and of itself.

While Barbiere squanders this opportunity, I'm hoping it's simply because Five Ghosts started as a limited 5 issue story arc. Since it has been granted ongoing series status, I will cautiously read the next few issues and remain optimistic that Five Ghosts will deliver on the initial promise I saw in the first two issues.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder½

"Five Ghosts" is a new comic from Image written by Frank Barbiere and starring Fabian Gray, an adventurer with a "unique" gift. He has the power to call upon five literary ghosts who grant him their abilities to help him out of whatever sticky situation he finds himself in. Of course, most every great power comes with a price and Fabian's is no exception.

Right from the start, it's clear where "Five Ghosts" finds its inspiration. The characters and action all hearken back to the golden age of pulp adventure stories like Doc Savage, with a little Indiana Jones thrown in for good measure (who, himself, is an homage to pulp adventurers). The literary ghosts add a unique dimension to the story that separates it from many other would be neo-pulp comics. Chris Mooneyham's art is also fantastic and spot on for this type of story.

Overall, the first couple issues lay quite an exciting framework to what could be a very fascinating and fun ride. There's a good mix of action and mystery to the story that keeps things interesting and also paced well. It will be interesting to see what adventures are in store for Fabian in the future as it's clear Barbiere and Mooneyham have a clear idea of what they want to do and execute quite well so far. I received a free copy through NetGalley.½

The ‘five ghosts’ refers to five literary entities that have possessed Fabian Gray. He can draw upon them when he needs them to help solve one of his cases, but sometimes they try to take over his body causing uncontrolled bursts of power and requiring him to knock himself out to stop them. A lot of the first part of this book feels very contrived. I remember reading very early Fantastic Four comics where at the beginning of each issue they would find a reason to use their powers to remind the reader what they were all about, often for no reason other than to get somewhere faster. The intro to this story feels just like that, a setup event, tailor made just so he can show off each of the five entities abilities. The problem is, most of the time you wonder if the powers of one would not be better used than the other, but they had to show them all off. It just does not work for me.

Part of the problem for me with this book is that it is not actually one book. Each issue is effectively a ‘done in one’ story that is very loosely tied to the next until the last two issues. Many trades read like one continuous story as they take out the ‘next issue’ boxes and all you are left with is a flashy splash page which was the end of the previous issue, but other than that it feels like one long story. This one rushes to conclude the issue, throwing in the tenuous connection to the next issue, before a complete change of pace as the new issue starts. By the end it all starts to come together, but a good ending does not make up for three issues I really contemplated not reading.

The art in this series gets one thing right and quite a few things wrong. I actually had to break my own rules when reviewing this series. I decided that I did not want to research any of the books I was being given so that they could sink or swim on their own merits, rather than feeling swayed by other peoples’ opinions. The reason I had to look this up was I wanted to know if it was a much older comic reprinted or a translation, or both. This reminds me of reading Tintin, obviously not in the subject matter, but in the printing, the art and the fact that the text in the speech bubbles is always too small for the white space.

This book finishes far stronger than it starts, even the art is more settled at the end. There is a half decent story here, but so much of it feels rehashed from other sources that it struggles to keep my interest. There is an entire issue dedicated to him passing tests to prove himself to this ghosts and this gets so repetitious and stale, especially when you consider how little text there is and how ill defined the art is at this point. This is not a title I can recommend unless you are a big fan of the golden age comics and the pulp heroes that preceded them. In which case this is probably exactly what you were looking for, but for anyone who likes comics from the digital age, it is a definite pass.