Comic Review: Ghosted in LA #1

Ghosted in LA #1

BOOM! Studios

Writer: Sina Grace

Artists: Siobhan Keenan & Cathy Le

I’m a sucker for fun slice-of-life comics. With Giant Days coming to an end soon, I am hoping for some new series to fall in love with. Sina Grace and Siobhan Keenan are bringing Ghosted in LA to me just in time, making me realize that I’ve been needing a bit of a supernatural presence in my stories. 

Ghosted in LA follows young Daphne Walters to LA to move in with her boyfriend. After an awful week, she finds herself in an empty mansion with ghostly landowners. Sina Grace takes the cute concept and rolls with it, but makes sure that readers get to know Daphne well before throwing in the supernatural. Daphne is a character that most young people will find instantly relatable. She is spontaneous, highly impressionable, and doesn’t always make the best decisions. She is dependent on others and only wants to find her place in the world.

The narrative allows readers to get to know Daphne naturally through wonderful dialogue and exposition. Nothing feels too wordy, and the pacing is as real as one can ask for. Daphne is fun to follow, and I found myself falling in love with down on her luck character pretty quickly. She’s the kind of character you cheer for, and Grace deserves credit for making a character so easy to connect within just a single issue. 

The supernatural aspect of the story spices things up, but Grace doesn’t rely on this make everything interesting. I would be perfectly content with just reading about Daphne figuring LA out, but the eccentric ghosts absolutely add a bit of life to the story. Each ghost is full of personality and will make readers look forward to getting to know them.

Siobhan Keenan injects plenty of youth into this issue, with bold lines and expressive faces. BOOM! has a bit of a house-style with its slice of life stories, and  Keenan has a firm grasp on it. Fans of the Snotgirl, Giant Days, and Fence will find a lot to love in Ghosted in LA’s art.

Cathy Le’s colors bring everything together, defining the tone of the story. The first few pages of the issue feel kind of dreary, but the moment the setting changes, everything is bright and sunny. I instantly felt happier when the setting changed to LA thanks to Le’s colors. Regardless of the colors used, everything feels so bright and cheery. 

Ghosted in LA #1 is a refreshing start to the series, and I find myself loving just about everything this creative team is doing. The cast is both eccentric and dynamic, and the art is simply perfect for the tone of this series. Slice of Life fans will love getting to know Daphne and her new friends.