Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Dresden Files, dynamite, entertainment, Ghoul Goblin, Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin – 24 Trades Of Christmas

Published Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:00:55 -0600

This is the second appearance for the only Wizard for Hire in all of Chicago, but this time the publisher has changed as the character moved from the Dable Brothers to Dynamite Entertainment and the original story Ghoul Goblin was created. Like the previous entry on the list, The Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin fits in between two of the novels in the series. This comes in between the Fool Moon and Grave Peril, the second and third novels in the series.

As the trade kicks off, Harry Dresden had recently dealt with werewolves… multiple kinds. Yes, in the Dresden universe there are various types of werewolves and each one has their own kind of weakness and strength. The adventure left him on the outs with Karen Murphy and without a lot of friends. And he's just tried to deal with a sea creature that looks like a cross between the Abomination and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Not the best of times for Harry, so when a deputy shows up from Boone Mill, Missouri asking for help, Harry packs up his staff, his pendant and Bob the Skull, hops into the Blue Beetle and heads there right away.

The case involves a family named Talbot (nice nod to Universal's The Wolfman) who are a cursed bloodline since their ancestor acted the fool back almost 100 years ago in Cairo. The family has suffered tragedy after tragedy and the latest two deaths, though in complete different ways, are both mysterious. The local deputy seems to be the only one that care and Harry wants to help the family, but as things tend to happen with Dresden… he ends up getting beaten up a few times, run afoul of the local sheriff, and has to stand up to some very big, scary things from the Nevernever. But hey, at least he's out of the city.

Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin is a nice standalone story from series creator Jim Butcher and co-author Mark Powers. With Butcher working on the story, you can guarantee that the Harry we get in the comics is the same from the novels. The two combine to create an entertaining story that uses the comic medium well. The art by Joseph Cooper is well done and suits the story. His version of Dresden looks like he stepped right out of the novels. Since most of the characters are new, he didn't have to worry about matching any fans ideas of what they should look like. His work fits in somewhere between Darick Robertson and Amanda Conner.

This book would work as a gift for fans of the Dresden Files who don't read comics, comics fans who don't know the Dresden Files and people who just want a good story. The fact that it's a standalone and outside of the normal cast of characters makes it an excellent jumping on point in the series. It's also a fun read.

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