Review by Frank Plowright

Almost fifteen years after her last series Ghost was revived, and Elisa Cameron returns via the creative team of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Noto. She’s not the starting point, which is a good idea as she maintains a mystery when she manifests via machinery operated by schlock TV ghost hunting duo Tommy Byers and Vaughn Barnes. She has no memory, but her powers are intact, and she’s compromised when gangsters attack, Byers having stolen the machinery from someone who wants it back.

DeConnick keeps Ghost unknowable. She’s amnesiac, but sticks with Barnes and Byers who’re keen to find out who she is, and has a violent reaction caused by external stimulus, which is shown to be connected with an ethics-free scientist. Also somehow involved is a corrupt and violent politician, now seeing Barnes’ ex-girlfriend.

Noto’s art is extremely proficient in all respects other than him not being the best at strong emotions. That’s not a great drawback to In the Smoke and Din because it features a cast by and large repressing what they are and what they feel. Everything else is very decorative, and very satisfactory.

Despite the modern setting meticulously provided by Noto, DeConnick infuses a pulp feeling to proceedings, underlined when the trick to the stolen box is revealed and when an old fashioned society ball manifests in the final chapter. Everything is resolved there in what’s an effective reboot, not only returning Ghost, but explaining how she can do what she does and giving her an ongoing mission, picked up by Christopher Sebela in The White City Butcher. What’s presented is true to the way Ghost was when last seen, yet nails her down for those who want to know the hows and whys, but crucially without deleting anything. No reader has to know about Ghost’s history to enjoy In the Smoke and Din, and the neat crime drama with a touch of the supernatural hits the right spots.