Ghost Strands - A Comic series worth checking

I know I mostly write about video games and life as a gamer, but sometimes I like to dwell in other venues of related entertainment like anime and comics because sometimes they just go together in the mind of any gamer. Now because of that, today I'm going to talk about a comic book series that really got my attention. It was brought to me by a friend and it seems like it will be a very interesting series once it gets officially published. Wanna know what I'm talking about? Keep reading my friend.

Ghost Strands (website)
Presented by: Monkey Man Labs
Published by: Rotten Apple Comics
Written by: Allyn Jensrud
Art by:  Erik Lervold
Genres and themes: Noir, Mystery, Paranormal, Crime, Action

Ghost Strands story goes around a seemingly normal guy called Jack (who has a very big problem paying his debts and avoiding getting into new ones) that is suddenly stalked by a long haired mysterious man in a trench coat (Hellsing style). This man seems to know everything about Jack and he gives him the obligation of successfully completing certain "missions" or else his life will be taken. The first mission that is assigned to Jack by the mysterious man seems like a simple one, but the circumstances could not be worse as it is a matter of life and death and Jack is just stuck at a bar while the clock is ticking.

If you want to know what happens next I suggest you get the first comic book issue when it goes on sale, but if you need to have a tip about it, let's say that the line between failure and success gets really thin, as Jack has certain mix ups that put him in quite a tough spot. Will he complete his mission in time or will he fail and die as a result? That is for you to discover.

The first impression you will probably get when reading this comic series is that of a simple noir story, but once the mysterious man appears it goes the way of mystery as lots of questions will begin flooding your mind while you continue reading. Those could be questions like:

Who is the man with the coat? Why does he forces Jack to do stuff for him?
Why is that man so certain that he can just kill Jack that easily?
How will Jack deal with this sort of ordeal?

I have my own theories about it, but I will let you make your own after you read it. This is the kind of comic book story that has a really big potential of growing and expanding into its own little universe as it has all the needed elements like a big enough setting and a strong argument that has a lot of unknown details that can be uncovered little by little.

The art in Ghost Strands is another thing that I found to be pretty cool. The colors used and the style implemented in the drawings give it a noir feeling from the get go and even on scenes that happen outdoors, it manages to keep the gloomy and mysterious mood going. Some of the expressions they gave to the characters are like a tell tale sign about the world surrounding Jack been one full of people with strange agendas and even stranger happenings. In summary, the art direction taken by Erik Lervold gives the correct look and sets the best mood for the story, which is one of the most important things in any story driven work of art.

Could Ghost Strands be a video game?
Yeah I know, I'm always putting video games on everything, but hey I can't help but think about how a series like this would look with the art and gameplay style of Telltale games. It does have the mystery and the action, so yeah my gamer sense is tingling with mental pictures of how could this be and I am really liking what my mind is seeing. We should see more of these kind of stories in the gaming scene, as they are interesting and engaging, Well... I guess I just love these kind of plots and I know many of you do so too.

Wrapping it up
There you have it folks. It has been a long time since I last started reading a comic book series, but this one has sparked my interest again so I recommend it to you people. If you are a fan of comic books, you should check this one out as it has the makings of a cool and mystery filled story, sort of like a noir story that feels like manga, but reads like an American comic book which is quite a nice mix. I currently don't have the final publishing date for this comic book series, but I will be sure to share it with you people as soon as I get it, so stay tuned.

Bonus Stage!
As an extra I would like to mention another on going comic series. This one is called The Red Calaveras (also drawn by Erik Lervold) and very much like Ghost Strands, it seems to be quite cool. The series already has a lot of scenes posted on it's website, so once I get to read them all I will make a review about it, be sure of it.

If you want to go to the Red Calaveras site, click HERE.