Old style adventurer Fabian Gray has been possessed by five Literary Ghosts — or put more accurately, five stock characters ripped from the pages of dusty books you’ve probably never read: The Wizard, The Archer, The Detective, The Samurai and The Vampire. After an uneven and ultimately unsatisfying five-part premier, Fabian Gray is back with issue #6. And so far, so good.

Here’s the official word from Image:

NOW AN ONGOING SERIES! Fabian travels to Japan to aid an old ally in the search for a mythical weapon: the legendary sword known as MASAMUNE! A special stand-alone tale featuring artist GARRY BROWN (The Massive, Mass Effect)!

I had high hopes for this title when it first came out, but ultimately felt let down by the first story arc that writer Frank Barbiere put together. In it, Fabian Gray is supposedly trying to save his sister’s soul, but this plot point continuously and unceremoniously got delayed (or was left undercooked) for cool fight scenes and other fancy trickery. I’ll admit that it might have been my fault; I should have just sat back and enjoyed the show, but like the nerd at a Globetrotter’s game I kept on wondering why the players weren’t following the rules.

Luckily, issue #6 feels like a breath of fresh air. Sure, Fabian makes a cryptic reference to his sister, but for the most part his misplaced sibling is nowhere in the book. And Fabian doesn’t seem to be looking for her anymore. This leaves room for him to start a new adventure — one which highlights the Samurai spirit that possesses him — and issue #6 has the wonderful feeling of a one-shot, but with hints at a bigger arc yet to come.

Artist Garry Brown adds a delightful element to issue #6. He captures Fabian’s old-school style brilliantly and offers some stunning full-page panels where swordplay and strange-ass demons steal the show.

It’s nice to have Fabian back, especially without the emotional baggage that weighed down some last season’s arc. And so far, this new arc has a lot of promise.

4/5