Anya's Ghost

Anya's Ghost is a single-issue graphic novel by Vera Brosgol. It features Anya: an insecure, dowdy teenager, born of Russian immigrants, who finds herself struggling with the day-to-day trials of highschool life, like her crush Sean and mouthy friend Siobhan. One day, she falls down an abandoned well and discovers the bones of a young girl who fell down there before her... As well as the ghost of said girl, still haunting the well she died in ninety years prior. The ghost, Emily, turns out to be pretty friendly, and the two eventually become good friends, as well as partners in crime. (Anya uses her invisible buddy to cheat on tests, keep watch while she's smoking and spy on classmates.) Of course, these sort of things rarely end well, and soon Emily proves more of a problem than a friend.

A lovely story about friendship, selfishness and maturity. Try the artist's blog for more information.

"Siobhan: You have a crush on Sean? He's the kind of guy you crush on in a bad teen movie! Has he even talked to you?
 * Adorkable:
 * Dima.
 * Arguably also Emily..
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: Emily seems to think so.
 * All Men Are Perverts:
 * A picture of a girl in a bikini is visible on the inside of Sean's locker when Emily sneaks into it to look up his schedule for Anya.
 * Preston tells Anya, "Your boobs look spectacular in that shirt" at Matt's party.
 * Avoided with little churchboy Dima.
 * Siobhan certainly thinks so.

Anya: Yes, he has!

Siobhan: Are you sure he wasn't just talking to your breasts?"

"Sean: "Oh Anya, let's have an intense spiritual relationship for no believable reason!"
 * Alpha Bitch:
 * All of the Other Reindeer: The other kids picking on Dima. It's only seen for one panel, but it's enough to drive the message home.
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Sasha.
 * Anti-Hero: Anya is a Type III/IV. She's definitely no angel:.
 * She does show moral backbone when push comes to shove, though..
 * Bastard Boyfriend:
 * Bitch Alert:
 * Big Sister Instinct: Comes into play when Anya comforts Sasha after
 * Coming of Age Story: For Anya
 * Control Freak:  
 * Clingy Jealous Girl
 * Cute Ghost Girl: She's more of a mousy, spindly kind of cute, but still distinctly adorable.
 * Dead to Begin With
 * Death By Falling Over: Emily died by falling down the well and breaking her neck.
 * Deliberately Monochrome: The entire graphic novel is done in varying shades of black, white, and purple.
 * Delinquent Hair: The boy who rescues Anya from the well has a mohawk.
 * Disappeared Dad: Anya.
 * Dream Sequence / Imagine Spot:

Anya: "Oh Sean, take me away!""


 * Everyone Hates Mathematics: Siobhan refers to economics class as 'naptime'.
 * Evil Counterpart / Not So Different - is the evil counterpart to Anya.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Emily learns to flatten her hair to create a more modern look.
 * Face Heel Turn
 * Fighting a Shadow:
 * Fog Feet
 * Foreign Cuss Word: "Oy...bleen...my leg!"
 * Foreshadowing:
 * Gender Blender Name: Sasha, Anya's little brother. Their family is Russian.
 * Genre Savvy - Siobhan: "Sean from the basketball team? Dude, he's the kind of guy you're supposed to get a crush on in a bad teen movie".
 * Ghostly Goals: Emily  a type 1.
 * Glowing Eyelights of Un-Death
 * Gym Class Hell
 * Hair Decorations: Siobhan wears two hair clips.
 * Hollywood Pudgy: Invoked: Anya is of average weight, but diets stubbornly and sees herself as obese.
 * I Am Not Pretty: Again, Anya. For a curvy, fresh-faced young girl, she's pretty convinced that she's unattractive.
 * If I Can't Have You:  decision after catching her crush with another girl.
 * Jacob Marley Apparel: Emily explicitly expresses the wish to upgrade he turn-of-the-century jumper, but she's apparently stuck with it.
 * Kirk Summation / Shut UP, Hannibal: Anya's last argument with
 * Love Makes You Crazy / Love Makes You Evil:  excuse for burning a couple alive.
 * Love Martyr:
 * MacGuffin: The finger bone.
 * Manipulative Bitch:
 * Messy Hair: Emily's is described as 'dandelion-like.'
 * Nice Guy: Sean.
 * Noodle People
 * Non-Human Sidekick
 * One-Winged Angel: A mild form of this
 * Ordinary High School Student: Anya, Siobhan and their classmates.
 * Panty Shot: Anya gets one when she trips and falls in the middle of a run in gym class.
 * Product Placement: A boy throws a can of Crush soda down the well where Anya is trapped, which alerts her to call for help.
 * Prophet Eyes: Emily.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Emily convinces Anya to dress up and go to Sean's party. This is the result.
 * Shown her work - Vera Brosgol knows how to investigate old newspapers using microfilm, and she will make damn sure you do too when you've read this. With four pages, and a diagram. (Oh, and by the way, Anya's right: it will hurt your eyes. Don't do this for too long wearing contacts).
 * Shout-Out: A girl named Emily who comes back from the dead involved in a love triangle and a popular blonde girl named Elizabeth...where have we seen this before...
 * Anya has a Domo-kun plushie in her bedroom. It can be seen on pages 41 and 93.
 * A girl who falls down a well and becomes a ghost. Sounds familiar. The reference is made pretty explicit when.
 * Self Disposing Villain: A sad variation. After Anya
 * Smoking Is Cool
 * Soul Jar: Of a sort. Emily can't move very far from her skeleton, so Anya ends up carrying a bone from her little finger so they can move about together.
 * Unfinished Business
 * The Unpronounceable: Anya's last name is Borzakovskaya.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Siobhan is Anya's best (human) friend... She just has a funny way of showing it.
 * Anya's got a funny way of showing it too.
 * Who Dunnit to Me?
 * Yandere: Arguably subverted.
 * You Can Barely Stand: Almost said word-for-word when
 * Zettai Ryouiki: In her school uniform, Anya's stockings are between Grade B and Grade A.
 * You Can Barely Stand: Almost said word-for-word when
 * Zettai Ryouiki: In her school uniform, Anya's stockings are between Grade B and Grade A.