It's midnight here--the Witching Hour! Time for ghosts and devils!

[skjam]

The second issue of "Casper and the Spectrals" has finally come out!

To recap for those of you who weren't with us nine months ago...

Casper and company live in Spooky Town, a dark mirror of New York City segregated into boroughs for the various supernatural beings. The races stay separate as much as possible, cooperating only on vital projects such as imprisoning Volbragg, a truly evil and powerful being who once ruled their land with an iron fist. To keep his prison strong, the spectrals go to the human world and frighten people for their fear energy.

Casper, unlike the other ghosts, doesn't want to scare humans. Instead, he wants to make friends with them. This makes him something of an outcast. While breaking the law by exploring other parts of Spooky Town, Casper runs into Wendy, a witch who is much more good-oriented than most of her mischief-making kin. They quickly become best friends.

Now a pair of renegades, they continue exploring their world. While in ogre territory, Casper and Wendy run into Hot Stuff, who's playing a practical joke on the strong but slow of mind natives. The little devil quickly frames our heroes for the deed, and they're captured in a witch-and-ghost-resistant net and sentenced to the boiling tar pit.

New comic, so four pages.



But before we resolve the cliffhanger, we visit the Brooklyn laboratory of Professor Phineas Field, who has placed some sort of mad science helmet on his lab assistant Eloise Essex' head. He fails to understand her obvious question, replying that her mind could not possibly melt the device. Then she tries directly asking if this is dangerous.



Volbragg feels his prison weakening, but plays dead for the moment--no need to alert the guards.

Back in Ogreville, Casper and Wendy fail to convince their captors not to throw them in the boiling tar pit. Fortunately, Hot Stuff has a minor attack of conscience (he's okay with pranking people, but actually killing is not on his to-do list) and tricks the ogres by posing as a tar monster. Soon Casper and Wendy are free, while the ogres are inside the net.

After they escape, Casper and Wendy finally see the humor of the situation, kind of.



Hot Stuff reluctantly agrees to this condition, as this "friends" thing sounds like fun. They do the "hands in the middle" friendship pledge.

Back at the lab, Professor Field is getting closer to tapping into the supernatural energy source, and Ms. Essex points out how many safety and zoning regulations they're breaking.

Over the next little while, the new trio continue exploring as Hot Stuff slowly gets compassion lessons from his buddies and he teaches them the ways of deviltry. They wind up in Monsterton, where the more individually fearsome critters reside, and see a werewolf. Hot Stuff can't resist going in for a closer look at what the wolfman is barbequeing, and is caught. The werewolf threatens to eat Hot Stuff (he may be bluffing) and Casper decides he'd better try being scary to distract the wolfman while Wendy frees the little devil.




Our heroes are seriously grounded, and have to suffer with the disappointment and disapproval of their families.

Up in the human world, despite the obvious warning signs, Professor Field goes ahead and taps into Volbragg's prison energy, for science! This has the obvious effect, and Volbragg is once again free to terrorize both the supernatural and human worlds.

Overlooked in the commotion, however, are three children....



Your thoughts and comments?

Suggested tags
char: Casper the friendly ghost
char: Hot Stuff
char: Wendy the good little witch
creator: Pedro Delgado
creator: Todd Dezago
publisher: Ardden Entertainment
title: Casper and the Spectrals

Comments

[recognitions.livejournal.com]

I never understood the whole Casper concept. Was he supposed to be the ghost of a dead little kid? Because that's some serious Fridge Horror there.

[skjam]

Never referenced in the original cartoons and comics, as far as I know. As far as they were concerned, "ghost" was effectively a species with no connection to living people.

The live action movie a few years back did in fact say that Casper was formerly living, and explained how he died, but that's not comics canon.

[khamelea]

The one with Christina Ricci?

I thought the place that death occupied in it kind of gave it a split tone personality.

[cmdr_zoom]

Yeah, that tends to happen when you try to give the setup any kind of serious examination.

[dejadrew]

I coulda sworn it showed up in the cartoons. At least indirectly. I definitely remembered one Casper cartoon I saw as a kid where Casper was "living" next to a tombstone...

(googlegooglegoogle) Yep, here it is! It was called "There's Good Boos Tonight."

Casper was lonely so he left the graveyard to try to make some friends. He found a fox and he named it Ferdie and it became his beloved pet and they were bestest friends!

Until, y'know, Ferdie was brutally murdered by a hunter.

Casper was all miserable and crying and he buried Ferdie in a little grave right next to his. But just as Casper finished burying him, Ferdie floated out of his grave as a ghost fox so they could still play together always!

IT WAS THE WORST HAPPY ENDING EVER.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, but the other origin for him is that he's the offspring of two existing ghosts (who have now presumably moved on) so it would reasonable that he'd live in a graveyard with other ghosts anyway,

[tacobob]

Well, the original one had him 'living' at a graveyard where his fellow ghosts are seen popping out from their graves. He is seen at his tombstone. And ofcourse, back then, if someone befriends a small animal by the end THAT ANIMAL IS GONNA DIE! :O


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx52pLFVtR0

[arbre_rieur]

You mean you never read the issue where Richie Rich is killed and turns into Casper?

[fungo_squiggly]

Richie Rich wasn't killed!

He realized how hollow the pursuit of money really is and took his own life.

[icon_uk]

Which would also explain why he couldn't get into heaven, what with suicide being a sin...

[psychopathicus_rex]

Don't EVEN try, man. It's hopeless. Harvey is about as clear on what a ghost actually is as... as... something that is not clear. Sometimes they'll acknowledge that Casper and his fellow spooks are, y'know, DEAD, other times they'll show them doing things like eating breakfast and getting beaten up and GOING TO SCHOOL. GHOST school. With OTHER GHOSTS. If that makes sense to anyone, then pass the eggnog jellyfish and pull up a squirrel, as long as you're in Crazyland anyway. Not to mention that you get the odd reference to ghosts having never been human in the first place, which kinda invalidates the whole concept, no? He might as well be 'Casper the Friendly Magical Glob of Silly Putty', for all the difference it makes.

[blackruzsa]

.... I like the style here. It's gorgeous.

My earliest memory of Casper is of him going to some alien planet where he apparently is really big and---

Yeah, now that I think about it, NINETIES.

[hyperactivator]

Here it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_the_Friendly_Ghost

In casper's world ghosts and devils and goblins are mearly magical creatures.

[cmdr_zoom]

And witches aren't just humans with magical knowledge/abilities, or at least act like they're more different than that.

[mullon]

Aww, that was really cute. Well, see you guys next year when #3 comes out.

[skjam]

The next issue box says "Coming in 30 Days...See you in June."

[icon_uk]

So how far above the Arctic Circle do you have to live for that to have validity? :)

[terrykun]

The art style here is really distinctive and has a sharpness that jumps off the page. (:

Plus, Hot Stuff's parents and one of Wendy's aunts having it going ON. :D

[skjam]

Not too surprising for Wendy's aunt as the artist is clearly going for the "Maiden/Mother/Crone" trio. I'm not sure, but I think Hot Stuff's father may be the mayor of the devils. (They look pretty much identical, but we only see the mayor in a crowd, in one panel.)

[halloweenjack]

So, they're all teenagers? At least Wendy seems to have, ah, developed.

[skjam]

I'd say tweens, 12-13.

[cmdr_zoom]

Tweens, yeah.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

I really like this art style, particularly Wendy's design. It's cute! :D

[janegray]

I feel conflicted...

On the one hand, this looks really cute and fun.

On the other hand, I really hate the "Science Is Bad" trope.

[cmdr_zoom]

Would you accept "Careless/Mad Science is Bad"?

[janegray]

In fiction, too often the "careless/mad" part is implied to be inseparable from science :(

However, if the scientist dude becomes a recurring character and his inventions are shown to be good and useful in future stories, then the trope will be subverted. For now, it's being played painfully straight.