Based on a concept by JM DeMatteis and Brendan Deneen this comic kicks off a re-imagining of the Casper the Ghost mythology with Wendy the Witch and the troublesome devil Hot Stuff. I pulled this comic off the shelf out on a pure whim seeing the punkish/emo redesigns on the main characters. The look of the characters is reminiscent of one of my favorite online comic artists, Bleedman. Who creates deconstructionist stories of characters like the Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory.

The story of this book is simple enough. It turns out that ghosts and witches scare people to keep an even greater evil at bay from rising up in the modern world. It’s an idea that brings that whole mythology together in a clean way, even if it is a bit oversimple and predictable. But hey, this is a comic for kids. The characters function rather well and it’s a testament to the book that I picked it up at all, having never been a huge fan of the old Casper comics.

Where this book really shines is the artworld by Pedro Delgado with colors by Kieran Oats. The world is dynamic, brightly colored, and creates a modern look for the characters of Wendy and Hot Stuff without getting rid of what makes them enduring in the first place. It really feels like reading a good Saturday morning cartoon.

All in all this is a great little book that I would recommend for kids and worth a look for everyone else.