Specter Inspectors #1

Specter Inspectors #1

Boom! Box 2021

Created & Written by Bowen McCurdy & Kaitlyn Musto

Illustrated by Bowen McCurdy

Lettered by Jim Campbell

Meet the Spector Inspectors, who live that Scooby Doo life chasin' ghosts! True believer Noa, her cynical little sibling Gus, credulous camera man Ko, and skeptical Astrid head to one of the most haunted towns in America to prove that ghosts exist, for all the social media likes! The investigations of hauntings uncover something more devilish than just a couple of ghosts, something that will put Noa and Astrid's relationship to the test... and reveal the centuries-old sinister secrets of the town itself.

This is one of those all-ages titles that will have a very different viewpoint for different folks. When I was reading this I kind of got excited because I love watching paranormal reality shows, it is a guilty pleasure. So imagine my surprise when we get to a certain point and they decide to flip the script on us and do something completely and utterly unexpected. I was over the moon with joy! Well it would seem that Noa and Astrid are a couple so I am still holding out for Gus and Ko becoming a couple as well, this would make the whole foursome have a different dynamic and well it’s just I miss seeing a gay male couple in comics.

I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely. The moment that the foursome enter the Town Hall and their reactions and how we see that is incredibly infectious. I felt their excitement and the buzz surrounding it and that really is impressive. The character development that we see is amazing and I like how we see them interact with one another and how their dialogue continues to flesh them out as people. The pacing that we see is superb and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the story, the characters and what may possibly be it takes us on this unexpected journey.

The way that this is structured and how we see the layers within the story beginning to emerge is beautifully rendered. It’s crazy how good the dynamic we already see as being established is so accessible to the reader. The way we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is incredibly well done.

The interiors here are really rather great. Yes it has that all-ages feel to it but that doesn’t mean that what we see doesn’t have this wondrous depth and complexity to it. The linework is amazing and how we see the varying weights being utilised to create the detail work is sublime. That Town Hall and how we see it explored is like a dream come true in how incredibly creepy and fascinating it is. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a stellar eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is sensational. The creativity and imagination that we see is gloriously represented within these pages.

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Now this is an extra page count series, there’s about 30 pages of story per issue, which still seems to go by in a flash as it is so easy to find yourself drawn into the story. This is completely and utterly modern in how we see the story unfold with the subject matter at hand. The surprises that we get through all the twists & turns make this something you are going to love reading time and time again. This is what we need right now, it’s fun, funny and intelligently written with some gorgeous interiors that make you happy. It has been way too long since we’ve had a book that makes us genuinely happy to read it and this is going to do just that.