Review by Frank Plowright

Trev wouldn’t like to be considered one of TV’s ghost punchers, but he does have a cable show and is on a personal mission to prove ghosts exist. He’s accompanied by photographer Kent and tech wrangler Brian, together the Ghost Bros, a bunch of likeable lads shocked to hear their show is about to be cancelled. The solution? Head for Montana and investigate the one ghostly phenomenon from which people allegedly don’t return.

The back cover gives away that the Ghost Bros don’t return either, at least not in the form they entered. It turns out there are stages to being a ghost, and the boys are on one steep learning curve.

There’s something of Sergio Aragonés about Ben Sears’ cartooning, although his panels aren’t packed with little jokes in the detail, and of Gahan Wilson’s later, simpler style. However, the simplicity is deceptive as the art is clear and adaptable in delivering both the characters and their circumstances, and when events become even sillier Sears shines.

While the Ghost Bros are relatively sincere, shows developed in their wake are more contrived, and Christopher Sebela enjoys mocking the documentary style employed by TV ghost hunters. His main cast are separated by being likeable with real feelings rather than the degrees of cynicism employed by almost everyone else. What does wear exceptionally thin, however, is the joke of replacing swearing with bleeps, as if a TV broadcast. Beyond that, Sebela keeps feeding in funny ideas and elevates the suspense throughout.

Ultimately a form of greed is pretty well the motivation for everyone, and there are some clever revelations when things escalate to critical. Dead Dudes is sitcom funny and you’ll never see a ghost hunting show the same way again.