Ghosted (Vol. 3): Death Wish: Another Great Tale of the Occult

Ghosted (Vol. 3): Death Wish by Joshua Williamson (writer), Goran Sudzuka (artist), and Miroslav Mrva (colorist)

In Ghosted (vol. 3): Death Wish, Jackson Winters, our master thief, is in prison yet again (And if you haven’t read volume 1 yet, start there and read my review of Ghosted (vol. 1): Haunted House). When we last saw Jackson, he had just escaped a haunted temple only to be greeted by his old friend King. King was a member of his gang of thieves who, in volume 1, tried to steal a ghost from a haunted mansion. But at the end of volume 2, it seemed that King had switched sides because he shows up with the Feds to arrest Jackson for escaping prison (back in the first issue of the series when Anderson broke him out to work for her boss). Anderson, who died the first story arc, is still haunting Jackson, our mastermind thief, but it seems as if he’s being haunted by something even worse, but he doesn’t know what it is (and neither do we).

This time it’s the feds who make an offer he can’t refuse — a recurring situation for Jackson in this series. The level of supernatural activity has increased significantly, and they need his help to figure out why. They have a spiritualist who makes voodoo dolls that can hurt others, or at least anyone but Jackson, so again, we see that Jackson is marked by some occult phenomenon about which we are still left in suspense.

Much of the hauntings seem to lead back to Charon, a stage magician who is the son of Trick, another previous member of Jackson’s band of thieves. How deeply involved is Charon? How dangerous is he? And what does he have to do with the hauntings taking place in the city in which he lives? And finally, what do candles made of the blood of Virgins have to do with the plot?

The candles have a history of their own, and we are given that history in a separate issue about Anderson when we get her backstory from before she met Jackson. This issue tells how she originally met the man who saved her, her future boss in volume 1 of the series. It’s a fun issue and features some bikers who dabble in mysticism. Or as Jackson refers to them at one point, they are wannabe Sons of Anarchy.

Ghosted (vol. 3): Death Wish is another satisfying tale of the occult. Our anti-hero, Jackson, seems able to annoy everyone with whom he comes in contact. He’s a smartass and difficult to like, but he’s also an irresistible charmer. It’s enjoyable to watch him get into trouble and then try to escape the messes he gets himself into. This volume is self-contained, another complete story in the continuing adventures of Jackson T. Winters, but it ends on a cliffhanger related to a few characters we first met in the first story arc. If you enjoyed the first ten issues of this series, you won’t want to miss issues 11-15 in Ghosted (vol. 3): Death Wish.