Ghosted in L.A. #11 : All Tomorrow’s Parties

The emotional tension Sina has been crafting, detail by detail, explodes as we’re getting close to the finale. This issue is a climax. It also feels like a lesson. Agi was presented to us as an endearing old white woman, and that image of her has been scattered until we learn the seeds and the magnitude of the wrong she’s done. That knowledge will certainly keep some people wondering more about this character that Agi has wronged, but the bitterness of it works as a great reflection of how our characters are flawed human beings navigating a difficult situation. And it’s also kind of the prologue of an open door (you’ll see how that’s literal).

The narrative construction of the issue, opposing the colorful, exciting, just visually astounding queer prom to the ghosts’ conflict and forcing our characters to deal with that opposition is kind of brilliant. Like, it’s saying to you that it’s ok if you need to deal with your (or your friends’) own “ghosts” and can’t attend that really cool party.

That opposition is everywhere in the comic, even in an opposition of joke-y tones and weight, and sometimes (like when Daphne tells Zola “you know Ronnie’s name”), it takes a little away from the drama, but it mostly works perfectly in showcasing these faulty characters dealing with complicated feelings about someone they appreciated. Which I think is a powerful theme to bring.

The art is more dark and expressionist in this issue, with the exaggerations that felt cartoonish other times driving themselves to more emotional ends. Siobhan masters the visual storytelling and the capacity of the emotions of these characters with the conflict at hand to spread to the reader. The worries and fears of these characters, the (rightful) anger of some characters, the pain and disillusion, project really well onto the page, and translate into a somber coloring and night setting that contrasts perfectly with the cheerful and colorful queer prom party.