Ghostopolis

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I don't think we're in Turlock anymore, Skinny.

Ghostopolis is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Doug Ten Napel. Clocking in at 272 pages, it ties with Earthboy Jacobus for being his longest book. Unlike most of his comics, this one is published by Scholastic's Graphix imprint rather than by Image. Along with Gear and Solomon Fix, it's one of his few comics that's been printed in color and the first one that was not initially published in Black and White.

Basically, it tells the story of a young, terminally-ill boy named Garth Hale, a cynical paranormal investigator named Frank Gallows, and the fateful day their lives intertwined...and the madcap adventure that resulted.

Apparently, Hugh Jackman is either a fan of TenNapel's or got an advanced copy because, before the book was even released, it was reported that he'll be producing and starring in a feature-length adaptation. If this is true, he'll almost certainly be playing Garth.

Despite the similar title, it should not - in any way - be confused with Ghost World, nor should it be confused with the tropes Ghost Town or Ghost City.

Tropes used in Ghostopolis include:

• Abusive Parents
• Adult Child: Benedict Arnold
• The Alcoholic: Cecil
• The Atoner:
  • Cecil
  • Frank's boss
• Author Tract
• Awesome Moment of Crowning
• Berserk Button: Don't turn down Claire's uncle for tea - unless you want to be eaten.
• Big Bad: Vaugner
• Black Market: A very unique one too.
• A Boy And His Skeleton Horse
• Character Development: Cecil and Frank are probably the two most noticeable examples.
• Constructed World
• Covers Always Lie: The cover kind of makes it look like it'll be a supernatural western. It's not.
• Creator Thumbprint: Like many TenNapel, yarns, this one's got monsters, and the obligatory scene with a cat.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: Joe
• Cute Ghost Girl: Claire
• Dark and Troubled Past:
  • Cecil
  • Garth's mother
  • Vaugner, and it turns out to have been far worse than his problems with Clair.
• Dead All Along: Inverted. Vaugner was alive all along.
• Demoted to Extra: Skinny starts out as Garth's sole companion, but then gets pushed to the sidelines until the end of the story
• Disappeared Dad
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Specifically, the video game version of Neo's final fight with Agent Smith.
• The Dragon: Lockjaw
• Eldritch Abomination: Any still-living person who winds up in Ghostopolis has the potential to be this, not that they all do, though.
• Fallen Hero: Vaugner claims to have once been a well-intentioned young boy like Garth
• Foreshadowing: Lots of it, spread very subtely throughout.
• Freudian Excuse: Vaugner
• Gentle Giant: Joe, the Tuskee Airman who built Ghostopolis
• Heel Face Revolving Door: Benedict
• Heroic Bystander: Defied. The Mummy Boy wanted to be one, but his dad wouldn't let him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Frank. Also, Claire was willing to make one to save Garth, but he ended up saving himself.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Frank's boss
  • Cecil
  • The Bone King
  • Vaugner
• Historical Domain Character: Benedict Arnold
• Historical In-Joke: Pretty much every thing Benedict does, which is, of course, a flanderization of how the real Benedict was.
• Humongous Mecha: Frank treats Garth as one during the final battle
• I Hate Past Me: Cecil.
• Incredibly Lame Pun

Mummy Wife: (sees a section of buildings, now turned into a huge monster, walk by her window) "There goes the neighborhood."

• Kid Hero: Garth
• Littlest Cancer Patient: Garth
• Magical Girlfriend
• Meaningful Name: Frank Gallows
• Monochromatic Eyes: Vaugner
• Mr. Exposition: Cecil and (to a lesser extent) Clair.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twice!
• Not So Different
  • Frank and his unsympathetic boss
  • Garth and Vaugner
• Occult Detective: A whole agency of them.
• One-Winged Angel: Vaugner...and Garth
• Our Ghosts Are Different
• Our Monsters Are Different: Keep in mind, this is Doug TenNapel we're talking about.
• The Place
• Psychic Powers
• Punny Name: Clair Voyant.
• Red Right Hand: Vaugner.
• Redemption Equals Death: Frank
• The Reveal
  • Vaugner isn't dead
  • A minor one occurs near the beginning. When she first appears, it isn't immediately clear that Claire is actually a ghost...until she suddenly starts floating.
• Revenge: Vaugner wants to kill Garth, regardless of whether-or-not he's an actual threat, because that's the best way he knows of to hurt Clair.
• Shallow Love Interest: Not much is ever revealed about Claire's personality other than that she has conflicting feelings for Frank.
• She Cleans Up Nicely
• She Is Not My Girlfriend
• Shout-Out:
  • Maybe unintentional (or even preceeding the myth), but Vaugner is tall, skinny, scary as hell, and well-dressed.
  • Vaugner also looks a bit like Trevor Goodchild.
• Slap Slap Kiss
• Twenty Minutes Into the Future: Aside from the government having the technology to make round-trip expeditions into the afterlife, Garth and Frank's world really isn't anymore different or advanced than our own.
• Two Lines, No Waiting
• X Meets Y:
  • Real World scenes: Blade Runner meets Ghostbusters
  • Afterlife scenes: The Nightmare Before Christmas meets The Chronicles of Narnia meets Dark City meets Ultraman.