Comic Book Review:
The Ghosts of Wreckers Cove
by Liniers, del Campo, and colors by Argiz
Review:
Cristina and Martha move to a lighthouse with their father. He gets to be the new lighthouse keeper but the lighthouse hasn’t worked in many years since the night of the big storm. The lens was stolen which caused another ship to crash on the rocks.
Cristina and Martha befriend a teenage girl named Ida who seems to appear out of nowhere. Martha – ever the observant one – noticed Ida doesn’t have feet. The girls realize Ida is ghost and used to live at the lighthouse.
Ida’s story shows that she overcame her father’s doubts about being a girl and doing the serious work of operating the lighthouse. It turns out Ida does much more than what’s expected. She’s a bonafide hero!
Cristina is a modern teen who has to spend her summer without wi-fi for the first time. She’s supposed to be watching her little sister. Cristina’s story as a shared protagonist takes her through challenges that have swing between beneficial and dire.
Martha’s love of knowledge is inspiring. She can devour non-fiction books that end up proving to have useful information. Her imagination is at that level of childhood dreams and imaginary friends that adults miss. Days are spent looking playing with invisible swords, building sand castles, and learning to swim.
These two girls are not put off by doing research. They go to a library and museum to look for clues into what happened in Ida’s life. Instead of relying on the internet to answer all their questions, they have manually search on scanned old newspapers on film in the library. They notice fine details in photos and paintings. They learn more about the people from a hundred years ago and even further back. Wreckers were land pirates. They would sabotage a lighthouse, make ships crash, then steal the goods. The legend about Ida was twisted and had her mixed up with the wreckers, but the girls don’t believe it after getting to know her ghost.
The art has a fine sketchy quality with soft colors for a young reader. When a moment needs to be emphasized, that panel will have a border twice as thick, subtle and almost subliminal to the brain. The flashback scenes of the ship wreck utilize cloudy shaped panels with vignette dreaminess and monochrome. When Ida’s ghost is reconnected with the truth of the lighthouse and the missing lens, instead of monochromatic beige tones, she’s kept in vibrant present day colors as she breaks free from the untrue legend and rumors. I believe the chapter break illustrations are all lighthouses from Maine, but I could be mistaken. Each one is an inked sketch of a different lighthouse.
I absolutely loved this book! It had to be fate that it landed in my inbox when it did because I had just gotten back from my first visit to a lighthouse! It captured my heart and got my mystery-solving mind going.
For fans of: the Wollstonecraft detective series by Jordan Stratford
Rating: 5 stars
Comixology Originals Announces The Ghost of Wreckers Cove
An Original Graphic Novel by Liniers and Angelica del Campo with Color by Christian Argiz
Coming to Comixology Originals November 8, 2022
October 25, 2022—New York, NY— Comixology Originals announces The Ghost of Wreckers Cove, a wildly imaginative tale that blends historical fiction and magical realism in a Middle Grade original graphic novel from critically acclaimed Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Liniers (The Big Wet Balloon, Good Night, Planet, Written and Drawn by Henrietta) and frequent collaborator Angelica del Campo, with colors by Christian Argiz, and edits by John Lind.
The Ghost of Wreckers Cove is a story of ghosts, pirates, stolen treasure, seashells, swimming, and a young lighthouse keeper. This gorgeously told story will be available beginning November 8, 2022 from Amazon’s Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line.
“We have always been fascinated with the lighthouses on the coast of Maine and the fact that there were so many women lighthouse keepers and that there are so many shipwrecks still at the bottom of the sea on the eastern seaboard,” say Liniers and del Campo. “All those things inspired us to create a story of how two young girls cope with the loss of their mother through a magical friendship with a ghost that has grains of historical truth that the children can then investigate. It’s an inverted take on the classic detective genre, instead of logic and deduction saving the day, magic and the supernatural are at the heart of the story.”
To escape the city for the summer, sisters Cristina and Martha head to the coast of Maine where their father has rented a house for them near a famous, but non-working, lighthouse. While their father works, the girls explore and make friends with a young red headed girl. As the girl communicates with them, they soon suspect she is not of this time. They begin to investigate at the local library, meet with a local historian, and head to the maritime museum where they discover more about the girl—her fame and disappearance—and unravel the mystery of the lighthouse.
The Ghost of Wreckers Cove is a spellbinding book that will make you believe in ghosts and the bonds of sisterhood.
“Liniers’ work is so profoundly beautiful, spirited, and touching,” says Bryce Gold, Comixology Originals Lead. “It is an honor to bring The Ghost of Wreckers Cove to English language audiences worldwide for the first time and my hope that readers of all ages, alive, spectral, or otherwise, enjoy it.”
Comixology Originals titles are available at no additional cost for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and Comixology Unlimited, and for purchase at amazon.com/comixology. Prime Reading offers all Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of over a thousand top Kindle books, magazines, short works, comic books, children’s books, and more – all at no additional cost. Kindle Unlimited gives customers access to more than 1 million titles, including thousands of audio books, and current magazines for just $9.99 a month with a free trial period at amazon.com/kindleunlimited. Comixology Unlimited offers over 40,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a 30-day free trial at amazon.com/comixologyunlimited.
About the Creators:
Ricardo Liniers Siri (aka Liniers) was born in Argentina in 1973 and began his career putting together fanzines for friends, while studying to be a lawyer. He is the creator of the daily strip Macanudo, as well as the author of graphic novels for younger readers, including the Eisner Award winning Good Night Planet. Macanudo is published all over the world, in different newspapers ranging from the LA Times to El País in Spain. It was originally published by La Nacion newspaper in Argentina. The strip is currently syndicated in the USA by King Features Syndicate. Liniers won the inkpot award for career achievement in 2018, and the Reuben Award for best newspaper strip in 2021. Together with his wife, Angelica del Campo, he founded La Editorial Comun, a project for publishing graphic novels in Latin America. Liniers has published over 30 books, and has been translated into English, French, Italian, Swedish, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese and Italian. He has toured Latin America and Europe with the musician Kevin Johansen, drawing on stage while Johansen performs. He currently tours with colleague and friend Alberto Montt, doing an illustrated stand-up show all over Latin America. He has illustrated 7 New Yorker covers. Liniers lives in Vermont with his wife and three daughters.
Angelica del Campo is a writer and editor who lives and works in a little town in Vermont. She was born in Buenos Aires and lived in many different countries before settling into country life. She has three daughters and one dog.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.