Humanity survived a monstrous threat, but the world isn’t better for everyone. Every day Loloi hits the road to deliver her delicious cooking to the masses, outsmarting her treacherous competition and staying one step ahead of the massive robots “protecting” them all. But everything changes when she serves a mysterious warrior named Ash, whose secrets might just save the world…if his superhuman strength doesn’t destroy it first. Ghost Pepper #1 is an interesting debut that shows off potential but the art is what really shines.

Ludo Lullabi does double duty with the writing and art for Ghost Pepper and the debut issue generally dumps readers into the world without much as far as explanation as to what’s going on. It’s a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world where it feels like a few control a lot and the majority attempt to just get by and survive. There’s some sort of mechanized police and the issue eventually introduces a mysterious warrior Ash, who seems to have some sort of past that and connection to what happened and threatens the current rulers.

Lullabi has created an interesting world but, it’s a debut that needs to give just a little bit more info as to what that world is. Why should we care about Ash? What is the focus on the food? What’s up with the mechanized police type things? It’s all great ideas that all needed a little more fleshing out in the first issue, not later on.

The art by Lullabi is great though. With color by Adriana Lucas, Lullabi’s style is reminiscent of Joe Madureira’s which is why Lullabi was chosen for the relaunch of Battle Chasers. There’s a kinetic feel to it and it brings a lot of flare and energy. It’s a comic that looks great but the flash stands out making the rest feel rather thin as far as depth.

Ghost Pepper #1 is an interesting start. It’s good but not great. The biggest problem is, as presented, it feels like a remake of the manga Crazy Food Truck. It could be completely different but that’s how overall not fleshed out the first issue is beyond eating some food and fights. Interchange the characters into this issue and it’d feel like a continuation of that series. Still, there’s potential here and the art does pop. It’s a bit of a throwback to a time when Image was a bit more flash that substance and it’s debatable if that’s a good thing or not.

Story: Ludo Lullabi Art: Ludo Lullabi Color: Adriano Lucas
Story: 7.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read

Skybound provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle