"Corktown #2" Comic Review

Torrie was a detective in Detroit before she died.  Now she's a ghost, haunting her ex-partner in the hopes that she can somehow help him solve her murder.  The tricky thing is that her body is up and walking around in the world.  See, it's a vampire and it's rather hungry.  Her only hope at resting in peace is if someone drives a stake through that monster's heart.

We got most of this from the first issue of Corktown, as the creators drop us into the action and the story flows smoothly.  The sophomore issue goes back and shows us exactly how Torrie got into this situation in the first place.  Much of this isn't really needed.  We already have the basics.  What's interesting now is what is happening in the present, as the vampires are multiplying and the police force is clueless.  This could be a bloodbath if they don't figure it out soon.

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Torrie's old partner Williams is in bad shape too.  He's drinking heavily and seems to be blaming himself for her death.  This isn't going to help solve the case any time soon, but hopefully if and when it does happen, he'll be able to get some closure.  

Ghost Torrie maintains the same look as she did when she was alive, although with wispy tendrils of smoke coming from her body.  Artist Scott Ewen illustrates this well in just black and white.  She's not translucent, which would have worked as well.  Vampire Torrie is ragged.  She looks like she's been put through the ringer with beat up clothes and a face that's seen Hell.  It's a nice contrast between them, like two sides of the same coin.  

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Corktown's premise of a ghost solving her own murder as her corpse walks the earth as a vampire is a good one.  It's solid and intriguing, pulling you in with the elevator pitch.  This issue was a bit of treading water, as it didn't really advance the story and filled in history that we didn't really need.  In the end, you could skip this issue and dive into the next without missing anything.