What to say about this latest title from Sea Lion Books?  Pack a lunch.  There is so much being set up here that I have no doubt Sea Lion has another hit on their hands.  The only worrysome thing is that this might be even bigger than Pariah when everything comes together.

This Haunted World comes to you from Mark Powers, Rahmat Handoko, and Chris Lie.  The first issue follows three characters, Corporal Nunez, Daniel Ismail, and Sam Duffy (and Max – who hasn’t really been fleshed out yet so lets cover that quick).

Max is the least developed so far, however he has the potential to be the most dangerous.  Max is a politician, and like so many, he knows far more about what’s going on than he lets on.  I’ll return to Max as the later issues come out and his character becomes more developed.

Corporal Nunez was injured and disfigured while in the Middle East with his platoon.  Everyone thinks he lost it and if he wasn’t suicidal he was at least homicidal.  The committee reviewing his case has trouble believing his story.  In great comic story telling, you cant blame them.  This is a normal world, like our own, with one random unexplained thing happening to a very small group of people.  Bullets begin to rain down on the soldiers and the only one left alive is Ninez.  When I say bullets rain down, I mean they actually rain.  Nothing is fired, there are no firearms, but suddenly a hail storm of rounds covers them.  The bullets don’t necessarily kill them all but something does.  This mysterious figure in black.

Daniel Ismail is accused of killing two people, and whether or not that’s true we don’t yet know.  But it doesn’t really matter, because something far more ghastly happens.  Every single prisoner and guard is dead, and it looks like its by suicide.  Its a shocking horrible scene and its creepy as all hell.

Sam Duffy is visiting a Hiroshima museum, seeing the damage that his countrymen caused.  Its a humbling time, and he is lost in thought when someone keeps talking to him.  We’ve all been there, just wanting to observe and learn but there is that person who wont shut up about the most tedious things.  Oh, crap.  Its that mysterious figure in black again.  And here is where the book goes from average to mind blowing.  Well something blowing up.  The man in black can summon the power of the dead, and he blows up the museum along with the majority of downtown Hiroshima.  The book briefly returns to Daniel’s story and he is determined to make his way to Hiroshima.

I cant even guess where the book is going, and that excites me.  Is the mysterious figure the devil, death itself, a human that can summon souls?  There is no way to yet know.  Is Sam dead, and in a book with so many ghosts, can any of the characters really be dead?  What does Daniel already know about this and why does Max care?  Its a great set up and a title sure to cause hours of debate at the local comic book shops.  I could sit down and come up with 100 possibilities for where this book is heading next, but I’m sure the creative team will take me on that 101st journey I never even conceived.

Highest recommendation for this title.