In writing about the Dresden Files comics, I’ve devoted a good portion of my critiques to the books’ habits of talking too much, whether in dialogue or in internal narration. The current Ghoul Goblin has fallen victim to the problem to a lesser extent than the previous series, Fool Moon, presumably because it was created directly for the comic format and never had to be adapted from a prose novel. Still, one of the books major faults is its overabundance of text. Here’s the official solicit of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin #2 (although it’s really about the whole series) from Dynamite:

An original comic series set in the official Dresden Files continuity! Still reeling from the events of Fool Moon, Harry’s been hired by a small-town Deputy Sheriff to look into a series of bizarre deaths linked to a singularly unfortunate family named the Talbots. Far from his usual Windy City stomping grounds, Mr. Dresden has nevertheless found some very familiar obstacles — hostile law enforcement officials, reluctant civilians, and people protecting secrets. Oh, and at least one supernatural threat that isn’t about to go down without a fight — or at all.

Issue two begins with a goblin encounter and ends with Harry meeting a ghoul (a slightly on-the-nose fulfillment of the series’ title). Bookended as it is with action scenes, the most delicious part of the sandwich is the political scheming and maneuvering in the middle (which is just reminiscent enough of Game of Thrones to remind you that March 31st can’t get here soon enough). Jim Butcher and Mark Powers nicely capture the surprisingly extensive intrigues of small town life, even if they have to do it with a lot of talking. The fight scenes remind me of those action movies where everyone shoots what feels like hundreds of rounds from tiny handguns, but no one ever reloads. The Harry Dresden variation is that he constantly seems to be out of energy for spells, and yet always manages to cast one more.

I really like Joseph Cooper‘s pencils on this book. The character designs are simple, but convey a wide range of emotions. I particularly liked the tiny glimpse of the way Harry sees the goblin. It’s much more sinister (very Gollum-like) than the human glamour that Harry’s friend Pres and the other mortals see, and yet the two also look very similar, as if the glamour were molding itself around the goblin’s actual face. Another cool element is the protective fence around one of the Talbot’s homes. The actual metal fence has every protective symbol, magical and otherwise, that you can imagine. Cooper makes seem both  cool and whoever came up with it -writer or artists- had a great idea.

In it’s second issue, Ghoul Goblin still has some problems but is improving steadily. Cooper’s art, with colors by Mohan, is a highlight, and if writers Butcher and Powers can break loose of the pattern they’re in, they’ll have a great series on their hands.

3.5/5