Dead Boy Detectives, Volume 2: Ghost Snow

  

 Edwin and Charles, the greatest pair of sleuths under the age of 13 in the afterlife have become a trio with the addition of the living and breathing wild child, Crystal Palace! Together, the group meets Clementine, the half-sister of Charles, in hopes of solving the mystery behind his mother's murder. As they search for clues, they trio stumble upon a conspiracy so sinister that it affects the stability of the Neitherlands, a mystical annex between this world and the next. With love blooming between Crystal and one of the Dead Boy Detectives, will they be able to focus long enough to solve all of these mysteries and possibly save the life of someone close to Crystal who was presumed dead and buried?

   Volume 2 was riveting. However, this is one of those series that if you take too long in between reading volume 1 and 2, you may find yourself needing a refresher because there is just so much going on. The combined work of Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham is so perfectly crafted, that my memory gaps were not a bother. Litt does a good job keeping the reader abreast as to what's going on without being obsessively repetitive as Marvel was notorious for doing in the 80s.

   Plus, the Masterful pencil work of Fables artist Buckingham was so hauntingly beautiful that it almost made me want to see just what a 'Ghost Snow' looks like- almost but not quite. The covers are awesome too and you finally get to see the mosaic the Buckingham has been crafting as little puzzle pieces at the end of each issue. Wicked Awesome Stuff!

   Volume 2 marks the end of this series of Dead Boy Detectives. This is the third volume so hopefully this isn't the end of their story. With Vertigo rolling out almost 2 dozen new series over the next couple of months, the odds are good (but not great) that this trio of supernatural detectives will return someday soon.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.