Hungry Ghosts #1 Advance Review

Hungry Ghosts #1

Publisher: Dark Horse
Creators: Anthony Bourdain & Joel Rose
Artists: Alberto Ponticelli & Vanesa Del Rey
Color Artist: José Villarrubia
Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Review by Anelise Farris

In Hungry Ghosts #1, cooking, folklore, and Japanese culture come together to give readers a unique comic. When I first saw that Anthony Bourdain was a co-creator of this comic, I knew I had to read it. I admit it, I am definitely a foodie, and to me Bourdain represents what I like about cooking: passion and experimentation. And, I was even more excited when I found out that this would be a series about Japanese folklore.

Hungry Ghosts #1 is set in Montauk, New York, at a fancy, catered dinner. After the cooks are finished serving the meal, they talk about their sense that something is “off” about the atmosphere. Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop them from accepting the host’s invitation to after-dinner drinks and amusement. The amusement being Kaidan—a samurai game that was popular during the Edo period. Basically, it’s a game that involves scary stories and a whole lot of candles. Two of the cooks share stories in this issue. The first, called “The Starving Skeleton,” warns of the danger of not helping someone who is hungry. The second, named “The Pirates,” is about a licentious crew who rescues a stranded woman.

In general, the writing in Hungry Ghosts #1 is well-done. There are few points at the beginning in which the cooks are talking that feel a bit clunky, but I think part of that might be due to the panel arrangement. Fortunately, the flow improves as the comic progresses. The art is a surreal-realistic blend, which speaks to the atmosphere of the story itself. Although the stories are horror in the traditional sense, they aren’t depicted in a way that would scare most readers. In other words, the art reflects the playful vibe of ghost stories shared around a campfire. The coloring, though dark, is balanced by the brightness of the panel backgrounds and the white uniforms the cooks wear, and the lettering is spot on throughout. 

Verdict: Buy it.

Hungry Ghosts #1 is a promising start to a series that combines two of my favorite things: folklore and food!