# Comics  > Image Comics >  Tokyo Ghost discussion

## CBR News

The Isles of Los Angeles 2089: Humanity is addicted to technology, a population of unemployed leisure seekers blissfully distracted from toxic contamination, who borrow, steal, and kill to buy their next digital fix. Getting a virtual buzz is the only thing left to live for. It's the biggest industry, the only industry, the drug everyone needs, and gangsters run it all. 
And who do these gangsters turn to when they need their rule enforced? Constables Led Dent and Debbie Decay. This duo is about to be given a job that will force them out of the familiar squalor of Los Angeles to take down the last tech-less country on Earth: The Garden Nation of Tokyo.
Bestselling writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS) and superstar art team SEAN MURPHY (CHRONONAUTS, Punk Rock Jesus) and MATT HOLLINGSWORTH (WYTCHES, Hawkeye) examine our growing addiction to technology while thirsting for a nature we continue to destroy.


_Full article here._

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## Ragdoll

> Humanity is addicted to technology, a population of unemployed leisure seekers blissfully distracted from toxic contamination, who borrow, steal, and kill to buy their next digital fix. Getting a virtual buzz is the only thing left to live for. It's the biggest industry, the only industry, the drug everyone needs


This book on my tablet will be my next "digital fix". This book better get me high like the premise promises. I am fiending that "virtual buzz".

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## cc008

This has been on my pull list for MONTHS... just waiting to be released. Can't wait.

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## Ragdoll

This issue was just okay, as far as debuts go. The concept is cool, but the execution was iffy. I hope we never see that Davey guy again, I can;t recall there ever being a more obnoxious antagonist in a Remender book. All that 4chan lingo was making me cringe. Also, it is trying to convey the "America is evil" theme in the style of Saga or East Of West, but he made it a bit too blunt, and it comes off more like Bitch Planet or We Stand On Guard. I feel like Remender is judging anyone who uses the internet just because a couple trolls harassed him on Twitter or something. They even showed people talking shit about this book on the web feeds to demonstrate where their dislike of the internet comes from.

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## Kristoffera

I really loved it, but I also adore Cyberpunk.

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## buffalorock

I thought it was a great issue. If anyone ever cringes when they see people glued to their phones when surrounded by people, this is probably a book for you.

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## BeastieRunner

> I thought it was a great issue. If anyone ever cringes when they see people glued to their phones when surrounded by people, this is probably a book for you.


Yes!

I loved that commentary.

Also, the "twamp" tweets making fun of each of the creators gave me a nice chuckle.

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## SkyMason21

> This issue was just okay, as far as debuts go. The concept is cool, but the execution was iffy. I hope we never see that Davey guy again, I can;t recall there ever being a more obnoxious antagonist in a Remender book. All that 4chan lingo was making me cringe. Also, it is trying to convey the "America is evil" theme in the style of Saga or East Of West, but he made it a bit too blunt, and it comes off more like Bitch Planet or We Stand On Guard. I feel like Remender is judging anyone who uses the internet just because a couple trolls harassed him on Twitter or something. They even showed people talking shit about this book on the web feeds to demonstrate where their dislike of the internet comes from.


"I'm going expert hardcore all the way to the big boss!", makes my skin crawl. And it's not even the words that bother me, its the "definitely too old to know how people use these" way they are thrown together. Please no more Davey. I liked it, but it's my least favorite of Remender's image books for now. Hopefully the next issue will change my mind.

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## Detox

Very good start to this book with great pace. I thought it was an incredibly fun read.

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## Ragdoll

> I really loved it, but I also adore Cyberpunk.


Maybe that is my issue, not being a big cyberpunk fan. I loved Battle Angel Alita, and it was my first cyberpunk, and now everything else feels like a cheap imitation, even when they are things that came before Alita even began. Cyberpunk never seems to have any new themes, just variations of the same theme. And I enjoy some genres that do the same thing, most superhero books are also just "more of the same", but I find cyberpunk is not one I get into easily.

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## UltimateTy

I didn't like this at all. I wasn't feeling the lead character that much and the villain's dialogue was just terrible.

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## jonnythewolf

remender has been terrible lately, this is issue was meh...good enough to keep me going onto issue 2. idk how good of an intro this was to the book...

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## el shah

Couldnt get in to this one. People have been raving about how good it is, but I'm not seeing it

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## Ragdoll

> Couldnt get in to this one. People have been raving about how good it is, but I'm not seeing it


If the villain wasn't so cringey, I might have been able to enjoy the ride more. But it was a rare experience, I felt actual embarrassment for Remender just reading the book.

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## onetimeasianlover

loved it!  Remender writing and the Murphy art is a perfect pairing for all the craziness going on in this book!  :Smile:

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## jacob g

I really liked this issue, the art and most of the writing, but I also must admit that Davey was "too much" for me.

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## LionLloyd13

> I really liked this issue, the art and most of the writing, but I also must admit that Davey was "too much" for me.


Totally agreed. The lingo Davey used was just bad and cringe-worthy at best. That being said, I loved the art and the concept is really unique so I'm happily awaiting Issue #2.

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## cc008

> Totally agreed. The lingo Davey used was just bad and cringe-worthy at best. That being said, I loved the art and the concept is really unique so I'm happily awaiting Issue #2.


The way Davey spoke is the way I hear kids on Xbox Live talk all the time. In Tokyo Ghost... that kid grew up to be Davey. And I'm not surprised that's how he talks lol.

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## LionLloyd13

> The way Davey spoke is the way I hear kids on Xbox Live talk all the time. In Tokyo Ghost... that kid grew up to be Davey. And I'm not surprised that's how he talks lol.


That's fair, I hear the same kinda shit. And I totally understand that's what Remender was going for. I guess it just felt too forced in the way it was written.

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## Ragdoll

> I guess it just felt too forced in the way it was written.


Mmm hmm. I know he was going for the cringe factor, but it was too cringey for me to handle. And some parts, Remender doesn't even seem to know what the lingo means. It just felt like the character was written to appeal to a demographic that I like to pretend doesn't exist. As if he was hoping the character would turn into the next big 4chan or reddit meme. Sorry Remender, but Davey is not and never will be the next Bueno Excellente.

Also, I feel bad that I've been bashing this issue. I have a feeling it will win me over once it puts some distance from this Davey fellow. Unless the next issue has him break out of jail and become the series main villain. In which case, I am bailing. Good villains can sell me on a book sometimes more than a good hero, and when a book has dumb villains, I get easily frustrated. I can't be the only Villains fan here, right? And Remender writes great villains usually. Then Davey out of nowhere....

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## LionLloyd13

> Mmm hmm. I know he was going for the cringe factor, but it was too cringey for me to handle. And some parts, Remender doesn't even seem to know what the lingo means. It just felt like the character was written to appeal to a demographic that I like to pretend doesn't exist. As if he was hoping the character would turn into the next big 4chan or reddit meme. Sorry Remender, but Davey is not and never will be the next Bueno Excellente.
> 
> Also, I feel bad that I've been bashing this issue. I have a feeling it will win me over once it puts some distance from this Davey fellow. Unless the next issue has him break out of jail and become the series main villain. In which case, I am bailing. Good villains can sell me on a book sometimes more than a good hero, and when a book has dumb villains, I get easily frustrated. I can't be the only Villains fan here, right? And Remender writes great villains usually. Then Davey out of nowhere....


I have a feeling that if he pops up again it won't be a for while. I think the arc is that Led and Debbie end up hightailing it to Japan, so hopefully Davey doesn't just magically appear halfway around the world and ruin the story.

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## El Sombrero

I liked Davey as the villain, I thought he worked well in the "Joker" / symbol-of-anarchy character type way.

The issue was really nuts.  I don't know if this was intentional but many pages felt so crammed with art and text that it kind of served as a metaphor for what the characters are meant to be going through (visual overstimulation).  The colors were killer and Murphy is obviously having a great time.  This is definitely a book where I don't think it would be anywhere near as good with a lesser artist.  Only art-related complaint is that Murphy misspelled "Zeus" on the motorcycle art multiple times, which I thought was really distracting.  Typos are bad enough in word bubbles but just look really bad in artwork.  He spelled it properly on the cover so I can assume the misspelling is not intentional.

My concern with the series is that I think unless Remender really opens up these characters, the themes will get old fast.  I already felt a little burned out on the "technology is addictive" and "overstimulation" messages with Led Dent and it was only the first issue.  Also, Debbie's voice in the narration boxes didn't match her dialogue at all.  I could somewhat accept that as Debbie putting on a show when she speaks, and her narration boxes are her true thoughts, but her voice in her narration boxes felt A LOT like other characters I've read in Remender books (which I basically take as Remender himself), and that was kind of distracting.  I did however generally like Debbie as sort of a Looney Tunes like character.  The whole book felt like a really f-ed up Looney Tunes style dystopia, with so much hyperviolent energy and color.

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## Geralt of Rivia

Is it me or this was Remender's weakest debut on a creator owned Project? It was merely alright compared to his usual home runs like black science and Low...

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## Kristoffera

I enjoyed issue #2 immensely and a lot more than the first issue.

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## Ragdoll

> I enjoyed issue #2 immensely and a lot more than the first issue.


Yep, it was much much better.

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## cc008

> Yep, it was much much better.


I thought issue one was pretty good to begin with so this is great news

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## sven

> I thought issue one was pretty good to begin with so this is great news


Like you I really enjoyed #1 so I wouldn't say #2 was much much better but it was still very good. Can't wait for #3.

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## Kirby101

> Like you I really enjoyed #1 so I wouldn't say #2 was much much better but it was still very good. Can't wait for #3.


Same here. But then again I'd read a Murphy illustrated instruction manual for a lawn mower. 

But they really fleshed out the characters and the world more, and the glimpse of Tokyo is intriguing.

Can we rename this thread, since it has become the thread for the whole series, and not just issue #1?

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## Shyster

I just finished 1 and 2. Wow, the art and colors are great! I really like how busy, fast, bizarre, and even beautiful this is. I can relate to the addiction aspect personally and feel for Debbies need for love. Her mom, Jesus, lol. Davey didn't bother me too much with his dialogue but I can see the cheesiness. Thankfully for me it didn't kill the book. So far so good for me, can't wait for 3.

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## Ragdoll

> I just finished 1 and 2. ... Davey didn't bother me too much with his dialogue but I can see the cheesiness.


If I had read issues 1 and 2 back to back like you did, I wouldn't have minded Davey as much. But with just issue #1, he seemed to have more dialogue than the actual main characters, and him dominating the book left me with a lot to be desired. Issue 2 is the one that really sells you on the 2 main characters and their struggle.




> Can we rename this thread, since it has become the thread for the whole series, and not just issue #1?


I'll second this, if it's something mods can do here. We could make anoter thread I guess, but all the good discussion is already in this one.

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## cc008

Saw in the letters section of #3 (which was the best issue so far) that this is only planned through 10 issues right now. Little surprised by that number, honestly. With Deadly Class and LOW both being planned for 50+ issues

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## Ragdoll

Issue 3 was amazing. Although it was obvious the "paradise" was going to have a dark side from the beginning. The girl is too optimistic for her own good, and her boyfriend was too self conscious to keep voicing his worries after sobering up. But I have a bad feeling that he was right that everyone there is corrupt, right up to the top.




> Saw in the letters section of #3 (which was the best issue so far) that this is only planned through 10 issues right now. Little surprised by that number, honestly. With Deadly Class and LOW both being planned for 50+ issues


Weird and disappointing. But when you have multiple ongoings in motion, there's nothing wrong with wanting to do a mini, I guess.

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## cc008

That's true.. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

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## Kirby101

Murphy seems to like doing limited series.

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## Hawkman

To be clear, Remender doesn't rule out going past ten issues entirely.  He just says that he only has ten issues planned out at this point, but he goes on to add that he has two endings in mind, intimating that one is definitive, and the other would allow for the series to continue on indefinitely.

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## Ragdoll

Issue 4 was the best one yet!!! These were the kind of issues that make Remender books a notch above the rest.
But the final page pissed me off in a major way.
*spoilers:*
"You forgot about Davey Trauma, didn't you?" - Rick Remender
No, I did not forget. How could I forget the worst character Remender has ever written? I really hoped we would never see him again after the first issue, but it looks like everyone's favorite supervillain with the mouth of a 12 year old on X-Box live is back for good. Please kill him in the next issue, don;t keep him around forever. I have a bad feeling Remender loves writing him and thinks we love him too, and plans to keep him around for good....
*end of spoilers*

This is why Rick Remender is better than Jonathan Hickman. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the most recent East Of West issue about a long fight scene and the issue not having any words until the final page. This issue of Tokyo Ghost also featured one long fight scene as the entire issue. But instead of making it a silent film, it is jam packed with morality debate and hilarious one liners.

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## caramon

Love this series - and I agree with issue 4 - let's see what the future will bring.

To be perfectly honest sometimes I prefer a mini series (or midi like 24 issues or so) with a "no fillers just killers" in each book instead of long stories that sometimes feel like the thrill and fun have left. 
Whatever they will decide it will be right, Murphy and Remender are a great team.

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## Kristoffera

I was a little disappointed by issue six. 
I guess Debbie "SPOILERS!!!!!!!!" is the hero now? I those two are going to come to a clash?

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## Sharkey

I loved #6, it felt like a fresh debut issue even though we had five issues before it - the catch-up page was really helpful to remind me of what had happened.

Tokyo Ghost is brill, a weird mixture of nihilistic perversion and tech-based dystopia.

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## Ragdoll

The new issue was a mixed bag. 
Right when I thought Davey Havoc's dialogue in #1 was the most annoying thing Remender had ever written, we get slammed with a talking waffle who speaks in Etrigan.
Also, we get it, Donald Trump is a dick, do we really need every comic book coming out these days offering their attempt at commentary on the guy? The one thing more annoying than Trump at this point is people whining about him.

The final page reveal was cool. I look forward to seeing the Ghost get its revenge.

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## Kirby101

So what did everyone think of the ending.

Kinda anti climatic for me.

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## cc008

Not the most jaw dropping story.. but it was fun and kept the door open for more.

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## Maxpower00044

It was enjoyable. Murphy's art was amazing and loved the premise (it sometimes doesn't seem too far off from what's really happening with society and technology). Gonna have to give all ten issues a re read in the future.

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