Dirtbag Rapture Vol. 1
by
Christopher Sebela, Kendall Goode (Illustrator), Gab Contreras (Colorist)
To be perfectly candid, I saw this comic and I was not going to read it — the premise seemed entertaining but at the same time when I saw some of the preview pages, I was struck with a dread of cliched story-beats that I have been getting tired off reading and can very easily be written in a tiresome manner. It was purely on the back of the writer, Christopher Sebela, that my decision see-saw chose to see rather than saw. For those unfamiliar, Sebela did great work continuing the iconic John Carpenters’ “Big Trouble In Little China” and the Snake Plissken movies aside from some good one-shots for the big-2 publishers and originals for Image.
Also, I now find it harder to think of “dirtbag” as an insult because it’s arguably the most useful part of a vacuum cleaner.
The basic premise of the comic contains elements that in a very basic sense you’ll likely find familiar (a) protagonist goes through traumatic experience, in this case nearly dying, and develops a unique ability as a result in this case (b) she can talk to the dead and they want her to help, ala “Ghost Whisperer” and “The Sixth Sense” and lastly, (c) Kat, is a smug, self-absorbed, snarky and “probably smarter than even she knows” and is of course destined to be our hero because, well, she just is our hero – whether you like it or not. That last one in particular is a trope that I find eye-rolling and annoying a bit and was off-putting at the start but Sebela does a very good job balancing out both characters and the story as I will explain.
Kat uses her powers (interestingly) to barter with the ghosts who have taken over her life by constantly wanting her to do things – things that she does if they can offer her something of value in trade, like buried money or something that she can use, which is fair enough I suppose and kind of unique. Over time she has slid into a true dirtbag lifestyle, making her living carting ghosts around to places they want to go or do what they want as and when she sees fit and the rest of the time she lives a totally isolated lifestyle – save a trio of friends and a cat (I think people in these stories just have cats to humanise these characters extra and because you can leave a cat to wander, a dog not so much). Oh and she is utterly and totally hooked on drugs and partying and anything that will numb her and shut out all the ghosts wandering the Earth.
What kept me going the most in the first two issues was, to be honest, the magnificently low-key artwork. I am new to these artists but their work was subtle and had a quality that I can only explain as a combination of mellow, charming and minimalist with nice bright colours nicely on display to make for an eye-catching experience.
What kept me going further however, was the wonderfully creative places that Sebela takes the reader. Yes, the above is familiar territory but then he takes us to unexpected places that engage you – there’s the inner-space of Kats mind which is where she allows ghosts to dwell and is how she helps them travel around and is people by a small group that aren’t ready to move on yet; there’s the sudden emergence of angels/demons which thankfully does not go as it might in most stories, a fun new take on the afterlife and supernatural; and of course Kats friends who may or may not be what they claim and add a much needed note of human relations and levity to a story that tries to make some jokes but struggles in that department with our snarky lead – at least that’s my view.
In the end, this is a remarkably charming little ghost-facing adventure and character journey and the saving graces that keep it from devolving into cliche are some of the creative ideas, a realistic character arc for the protagonist wherein she is not totally transformed to a heroic being but instead is an awkward hero feeling her way there.
What keeps it from scoring/rating higher for me is frankly that it’s too short – and I mean that as a genuine compliment, because the many ideas both little and big that are introduced, we have no time to explore, let alone the philosophical and metaphysical areas the story touches on by the halfway point onwards. Not to mention that Kats’ friends get far far too little time on-screen because I found them personally way more likeable and interesting than her (which is fine, it happens); but the bottom line is that there is a LOT of potential here for a far more interesting and impactful story that here feels like it was rushed and crushed to fit five issues OR the creators didn’t want to delve any deeper and focus instead on the quick pace and get to the big finale – either way, it adds a watered down feel to what is a fun read I would not discourage you from could have been an outstanding story to read.
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