It's Just Another Manga Monday: Brody's Ghost by Mark Crilley

I just love ghost stories, but not every ghost story. I am actually rather selective as I used to get nightmares as a child watching scary movies and the anxiety has always stuck with me. I have been reading the Ghost and the Goth series, though by Stacey Kade. They are an enjoyable foray into the paranormal. Light reading and fun. Well, I have for review today a series by Mark Crilley called Brody's Ghost.

Book Description:
Publication Date: January 18, 2011
Brody knew that being mixed up with Talia, a dead girl turned ghost, was going to change his life forever. He just didn’t realize it was going to involve going head-to-head with one of the most vicious gangs in the whole city. But here he was, giving himself over to the bizarre training methods of Kagemura, an ancient samurai ghost, to transform himself from a flabby slacker to a peak-condition fighter capable of bringing the city’s most dangerous criminals to their knees!


My Review:
While this is technically not a manga, it's style is very like a manga book. Mark Crilley is an award winning author / artist who has also created the Akiko series and Miki Falls. I must admit I never read Akiko, but I did read the Miki Falls series. There were four volumes in the series, one after each season. It was quite a good series.

But that is not what I am reviewing today. Brody's Ghost is an entertaining series.  I read Book 2, but Book 3 just came out on May 1, 2012. I do believe I mentioned I am very behind on my manga reading. I will read book 3 soon.

Anyway, Brody is pretty much a loser. He's a down and out musician and his girlfriend dumped him. Enter Talia, aka The Ghost, to shake up his world. He can see her. She wants to get into heaven. She can't until she completes a task, which is bringing a murderer to justice and she needs Brody's help.  What's more, he doesn't seem to have any say in the matter.  She's very persistent.

He is weak as well as a loser and assisting Talia with her task is going to be dangerous, could possibly even get him killed. So, he is off to train in martial arts under the tutelage of a very cranky ghost named Kagemura. He gets stronger through his training and becomes a formidable opponent, but he also got more than he bargained for.

Will Brody be able to accomplish what he set out to do? Will Talia make it into heaven? Will Kagemura ever crack a smile?

The books have just under 100 pages. There are a planned 6 volumes to the series. SO far one volume has come out per year. If I have anything to criticize, it's that it seems like the books could be released a little more frequently. Otherwise, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a ghost story that is also an action / adventure story. You've got ghosts, martial arts, butt kicking, death on the line to spice it up. What's not to like?