Written by Cavan Scott and featuring art by Nick Brokenshire, Dead Seas is a unique new series that feels like one-part Ghostbusters, one-part The Poseidon Adventure, and one-part The Dirty Dozen. In a world where the dead have returned to life and ghosts are a pest that must be dealt with, naturally someone’s hands have to get dirty handling it. There’s a lot to like about Dead Seas, especially in Brokenshire’s artwork, and after getting over the initial humps that arise with some clumsy first-issue exposition it proves to be a clever read.
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Following lead character Gus Ortiz, Dead Seas drops readers into a world where, as one might expect, the brand new problem of ghosts (who are wildly frightening to behold, not just sheets with eye holes) has given way to a new profit generating machine. In exchange for commuting part of his prison sentence, Ortiz is shipped off to the middle of the ocean and a giant carrier ship floating on the water. There, Barrico Industries, a company that has managed to figure out ghost capturing technology, is exploiting the powers water has over ghosts and using it to harvest their ectoplasm, using prison labor to collect it and turn it into life-saving medicines.
Scott’s script is dripping with contempt for late-stage capitalism, quickly aligning its police characters and business manager types as major foils for not only the progress of the story, but the character’s ability to even live his life. That’s not to say they’re cookie cutter characters, but their status as roadblocks, in more ways than one, for Gus and the mysterious new person that arrives at the conclusion of the issue couldn’t be clearer. As noted, once Scott can get past the introductory “here’s the world, here’s the people” style dialogue, the story really moves and it proves getting that stuff out early is beneficial.
Brokenshire’s artwork is good from the start, but his ability as an illustrator really sings when he’s able to show us the ghosts central to the comic’s narrative. Though strategically employed a handful of times, these unholy specters are horrifying, harkening to the likes of James Stokoe’s deeply detailed artwork to really hammer home how unpleasant these entities are in this world. Caspar couldn’t be further from reality here; we’re talking the stuff of nightmares.
With a minimal number of ghosts present, Brokenshire is also given the task of making sure the series remains visually interesting during the exposition waterfall and when introducing these characters. He’s able to make it work by not only employing unique panel layouts throughout the issue but in loading each of them with enough imagery that readers always have something to look at. Got a character that’s just unloading details? No problem; Brokenshire enhances the environment around them, gives them a dramatic shadow, and makes it all pop with unique colors. The economics of the visual storytelling on display couldn’t be better.
It’s sometimes an uphill battle for original, high-concept comics to get a foot in the door, especially with the small percentage of horror comics being dominated by major creators’ original titles (not to mention your handful of franchises). Even with all of that in mind Dead Seas should be on your radar if you’re looking for a spooky time. Creators Nick Brokenshire and Cavan Scott seem poised to bring something very unique to the world, the kind of story that could very well get snatched up for an adaptation at some point, but don’t let that be why you read it, let the ghosts that will keep you up at night be your main reason.
Published by IDW Publishing
On December 21, 2022
Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Nick Brokenshire
Colors byย Nick Brokenshire
Letters by Shawn Lee
Cover byย Nick Brokenshire
