MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND, VOL. 1

TOKYOPOP
WRITER: Eric Wight
PENCILS: Eric Wight
INKS: Eric Wight with Mike Allred, Michael Cho, and Nick Derington
ISBN: 978-1-59816-996-6; soft cover; Comedy/Fantasy; Teen Age-13+
192 pp, B&W, $9.99

Twice on the book cover for My Dead Girlfriend, Vol 1, a blurb reminds us that Global Manga-ka Eric Wight is the "ghost artist on 'The O.C.'"  What does that mean?  Of course, you know that "The O.C." is a (once) popular teen and 20-something television drama on FOX.  One of the main characters, Seth Cohen, is a comic book artist, and as the young actor playing Seth (Adam Brody) apparently can't draw comic book art, The O.C.'s production company hired animator/illustrator/cartoonist Eric Wight to be the "ghost artist" who actually drew Seth's comics.

In fact, quotes from The O.C.'s creator Josh Schwartz appear on My Dead Girlfriend's back cover and on its second page.  Actually, the very creative fruit of 20 and 30-something TV (Joss Whedon, Allan Heinberg, Jeph Loeb, etc.) sing Wight's praises, and you know what?  Wight is right.  Over the few years, TOKYOPOP has been turning out some damn good OEM (original English Manga) and also known as "Global Manga, and My Dead Girlfriend ranks way up there.  Way up there, I said.

A mixture of Charles Addams, Tim Burton, and maybe even a dash of Scooby-Doo, My Dead Girlfriend focuses on Finney Bleak.  Bleak is the only non-supernatural at his school Mephisto Prep, so that makes Finney the target of every monster and living dead bully, clique, and bully clique on campus.  Finney is also a real boy in a family that wants to be ghosts.  In fact, the Bleaks have historically died bizarre deaths, but Finney really wants to live.  He meets a girl, Jenny Wraith, and they hit it off.  Finney is in love, but then he discovers Jenny's secret.

Wight mines the same gothic humor and pop gothic veins that Richard Sala does so well, except My Dead Girlfriend is much lighter in tone.  Frankly, in spite of its "13+" age label, MDG should be fine for 'tweens.  It's really like a Tim Burton film - dark, fixated on death, but the chills and thrills are all done in fun - as long as the audience can accept that death stays.

Wight builds Finney Bleak and focuses on him, allowing the audience to discover this tart-tongued lad who is determined to be his own man.  Of course, the supporting cast is nice, but Wight seems to know that no matter how cool the rest of this concept is, he'll sell it on the back of Finney.  People who claim they like good comics - period - regardless of national origin will dig this.

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.