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Five Ghosts #1-2
Five Ghosts Deluxe Edition Volume 1 by Frank J. Barbiere
The critically-acclaimed series is collected in hardcover for the first time with tons of extras! After a tragic encounter with an artifact known as “The Dreamstone,” infamous treasure hunter Fabian Gray is possessed by five literary ghosts and granted access to their unique abilities. Join Fabian and his allies as they travel across the world in a pulp-inspired literary action/adventure from writer FRANK J. BARBIERE (Avengers World, Man of the Atom) and artist CHRIS MOONEYHAM (Predator)! Collects FIVE GHOSTS #1-12 plus exciting bonus features!
- GenresGraphic NovelsComics
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Frank J. Barbiere
174 books42 followersFrank J. Barbiere is a #1 Amazon.com best-selling writer from New Jersey.
Frank is a former English teacher with degrees from Rutgers University and the Graduate School for Education.
After breaking into the comics industry with the creator-owned hit Five Ghosts (Image Comics), Frank has since worked for every major publisher in the U.S., as well as having a global presence in France (Glenat Comics), Italy (Cosmo Editoriale), and Spain (Norma) with his creator-owned work. He has written notable runs on Avengers World and Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. at Marvel Comics, as well as the creator-owned series Black Market and Broken World (BOOM! Studios), The Revisionist (Aftershock Comics), Violent Love (Image Comics), and The White Suits (Dark Horse Comics).
In 2017, Frank began working as a writer and narrative designer in the video games industry. He has since contributed to the Destiny franchise and was lead writer on Darksiders Genesis and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. He currently works as a Lead Writer at Skydance Interactive.
Frank is a former English teacher with degrees from Rutgers University and the Graduate School for Education.
After breaking into the comics industry with the creator-owned hit Five Ghosts (Image Comics), Frank has since worked for every major publisher in the U.S., as well as having a global presence in France (Glenat Comics), Italy (Cosmo Editoriale), and Spain (Norma) with his creator-owned work. He has written notable runs on Avengers World and Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. at Marvel Comics, as well as the creator-owned series Black Market and Broken World (BOOM! Studios), The Revisionist (Aftershock Comics), Violent Love (Image Comics), and The White Suits (Dark Horse Comics).
In 2017, Frank began working as a writer and narrative designer in the video games industry. He has since contributed to the Destiny franchise and was lead writer on Darksiders Genesis and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. He currently works as a Lead Writer at Skydance Interactive.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 30, 2015
Five Ghosts is the comic book H. Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs would have written starting out. A Indiana Jones/ex-Con Treasure Hunter/Thief can use five different skill sets thanks to dream stone fragments stuck in his chest. He is still learning about what is happening with the stones and what they are. What starts to become clear, is that other people are out to capture or kill him because of the stones. Meanwhile, his sister is in a coma and he is searching for some way to save her. Adventures galore along the way. The comic feels 1930s retro. The art didn't jump out as amazing right away but after a while it just really fits the story. All is not resolved in this volume. Plenty more story to go in the future.
September 16, 2022
Enjoyable quick read. I think it works better as just the first 2 volumes. Sadly it was cancelled after vol 3. I enjoy the classic pulp style but it can feel a bit rushed at times. Not a perfect book but a fun time to read.
June 13, 2021
(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
This is a very good book, with a few notable flaws. Flaws that unfortunately take this from an outstanding read, and one that I would recommend to almost anyone, to a good book that I could only recommend to a certain type of reader. First of all, the art is absolutely stellar. I wasn't quite sure what I thought about it, as I went in completely blind, with little idea of the story and no idea of the art, although it quickly captured me, with its very heavy nods to the action cereals of the past. This book really does feel like a throwback to the seventies, with a slightly more modern colouring sensibility, although one still rooted in the halcyon days of action comics. The characters are interesting, as are their adventures, but the entire thing leaves me a little cold, as there simply is not enough writing in this book to elevate it above its current station. When the author deigns to give us a few words here and there, the whole thing dramatically improves, and I am swept away to some pretty magical places. Unfortunately, page after page after page goes by with barely a word being said, and I can't help feel let down by this rather significant omission. Comics are a marriage of words and visuals. Sometimes one can do more of the heavy lifting at times, but the best comics form an effortless synergy between the two. A synergy this book rarely attains. A synergy that I was left sorely wanting. Oh, how great this could have been. It's still pretty bloody decent though, however frustratingly so. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
This is a very good book, with a few notable flaws. Flaws that unfortunately take this from an outstanding read, and one that I would recommend to almost anyone, to a good book that I could only recommend to a certain type of reader. First of all, the art is absolutely stellar. I wasn't quite sure what I thought about it, as I went in completely blind, with little idea of the story and no idea of the art, although it quickly captured me, with its very heavy nods to the action cereals of the past. This book really does feel like a throwback to the seventies, with a slightly more modern colouring sensibility, although one still rooted in the halcyon days of action comics. The characters are interesting, as are their adventures, but the entire thing leaves me a little cold, as there simply is not enough writing in this book to elevate it above its current station. When the author deigns to give us a few words here and there, the whole thing dramatically improves, and I am swept away to some pretty magical places. Unfortunately, page after page after page goes by with barely a word being said, and I can't help feel let down by this rather significant omission. Comics are a marriage of words and visuals. Sometimes one can do more of the heavy lifting at times, but the best comics form an effortless synergy between the two. A synergy this book rarely attains. A synergy that I was left sorely wanting. Oh, how great this could have been. It's still pretty bloody decent though, however frustratingly so. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
October 16, 2025
I loved the first volume of this when I originally read it. A pulpy comic in the vein of Indiana Jones about a hero who has the ghosts of 5 mysterious adventurer literary archetypes (The Detective - Sherlock, The Wizard - Sha-zam, The Vampire - Dracula, The Archer - Robin Hood, The Samurai - Toshiro Mifune) embedded within him. While the story is fun pulpy stuff it doesn't really go further than that in the next volumes, always entertaining though. The art style is a hero here, both looking different from anything else on the market (reminds me of Matt Kind's books) and simultaneous looking a bit older.
October 12, 2015
A story that I love, with characters and situations that have a lot of potential. It's got a throwback sort of feeling to it, like an old serial or pulp story, but with a modern sensibility. My biggest problem is that the writer allows the art to do a lot of the storywork, and while the art is far from bad, I'm not sure it's always up to the task. Still, quite worth spending some time reading.
November 2, 2016
This was a pretty unique idea, and that's really want I liked most about this. The actual execution wasn't bad, but... wasn't quite as interest as the idea, I guess you could say. If there ever is to be a second deluxe edition, I may pick it up, but I want to re-read this before doing so to be sure I really want to continue.
January 6, 2016
This wasn't... like, terrible? But... I have no idea why I requested it or read it- just very much not my style. Very pulp comic-y, but not in a self-aware way that might interest me. Just a big shrug.
September 10, 2015
The story is great, pulp fun and the art is outstanding. Mooneyham is the real deal.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews