A review by caitcoy
Ghost Fleet: The Whole Goddamned Thing by Donny Cates

5.0

Ghost Fleet starts with the buddy cop friendship of two combat-trained truckers, Trace Morales and Robert Ward. Both men work for the Ghost Fleet, a trucking service which has a long and deep history of transporting the most dangerous cargo anywhere you pay them to take it. While on one of their trips across country to transport cargo that they are forbidden to look at, Trace and Robert run into serious trouble. Even for ex-military men, it’s the kind of trouble that neither is quite ready for. The fallout of that night begins a chase leading straight into the arms of a cult that’s been collecting strange, unknown items. What are the intentions of the shadowy cult and can the Ghost Fleet survive the conspiracy it finds itself entangled in?



Ghost Fleet is like if Big Trouble in Little China had a baby with Kung Fury with more John Carpenter scattered throughout. It’s unapologetically violent, with a lot of morbid humor and nods to 80’s action movies all over the place. While it starts with an already crazy story, it’s pretty clear that Cates and Johnson had so much fun with this series. Even beyond the nods to classic movies (Trace looks exactly like Snake Plissken), Cates and Johnson even hide jokes in the sound effects and art. At no point does Ghost Fleet take itself seriously but the ending makes it truly go off the rails. I couldn’t help but wonder what it could have been if they’d gotten the full twelve issues to tell the story. The ending was undeniably rushed and I really wish they'd had the time they deserved to wrap it up.

When you pick up a book like Ghost Fleet, you have to accept that it’s going to be ridiculous and not something that you take seriously. There is a ton of violence in it so if you’re bothered by that, this is definitely not the comic for you. But if you’re a fan of movies like John Wick and Escape from New York, it’s a truly fun, insane ride.

Full series review here