#3
The penultimate issue opens with pirate ghosts all over Manhattan causing mischief ("Sea Fright" from Real Ghostbusters comes to mind) while Phoebe and Sammy locate where Captain Kidd's house used to be in the Financial District and... it's not your typical scary haunted castle reveal. Well, at least it wasn't a Starbucks. Being the third of four issues, you would be correct in assuming Issue #3 is essentially the calm before the storm. It is a character-focused issue: our parent-child arcs get touched on some more but Lucky and Trevor continue to be a highlight of the series, and we get some clear answers about some of our new characters and naturally for the second-to-last issue, a cliffhanger ending.
The issue effectively sets up the emotional conclusion to the Dan / Sammy dynamic for the finale while also giving us a very slim clue about our big bad, Captain Kidd. "Father?" Sounds like we're going get another parent-child thing next issue. The action is very light so if you're not into introspection, hang tight with Issue #3 because it has to hit the final, necessary goal posts before the last issue in September. There are a lot of important insight that no doubt factors into Issue #4 at some point. I think of a lot of fans had a feeling what was going on internally with Sammy but here we get not only a definitive answer but we see both sides of the conflict, which felt heartbreaking and perhaps all too familiar for some of us. Hat tip to Booher for this particular scene and how Aviv Or staged it and how Cris Peter colored and lit it. The side by side panels of Dan and Sammy was good comic book framing.
What felt a little frustrating is Issue #3 is our big bad. If you're a Ghostbusters fan, you're pretty accustomed to the movie villains not showing up to dance until the end. But felt a little trolled with Kidd who only appears at the end of Issues #1-3! On the flip side, it's no doubt this is all leading to a lot of Captain Kidd in #4. An unfortunate aspect of the 4 issue format is David M. Booher has to keep things moving and can't spend 20 pages on something cool and cinematic like a whole issue of ghostbusting pirate ghosts throughout the city. In a way, it's reminiscent of one my quibbles with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in that once Garraka freezes New York, we don't get to see a big budget siege battle with Ghostbusters vs. a ghost army or much of a montage of ghosts terrorizing people - it cuts straight to the final showdown with the big bad.
Dead Man's Chest #3 was a great read. David Booher has the main cast down pat and takes it into higher gear with the new characters. Just because the issue is short on action, the introspection and dialogue does not slow down the brisk pace of the series. Issue #3 does some heavy lifting informing us about a certain conflict, elevating the emotional stakes, and giving answers but still leaving readers with questions heading into the finale. Still, this isn't an end-of-the-world doomsday scenario the movies constantly utilize and yet not really a big a threat as Madame Malveaux from the previous comic book mini-series. I'm very intrigued to see what Captain Kidd's actual goal is and I hope everyone else is, too! Maybe Ray was right after all.
Trivia, easter eggs, reference etc.
The penultimate issue opens with pirate ghosts all over Manhattan causing mischief ("Sea Fright" from Real Ghostbusters comes to mind) while Phoebe and Sammy locate where Captain Kidd's house used to be in the Financial District and... it's not your typical scary haunted castle reveal. Well, at least it wasn't a Starbucks. Being the third of four issues, you would be correct in assuming Issue #3 is essentially the calm before the storm. It is a character-focused issue: our parent-child arcs get touched on some more but Lucky and Trevor continue to be a highlight of the series, and we get some clear answers about some of our new characters and naturally for the second-to-last issue, a cliffhanger ending.
The issue effectively sets up the emotional conclusion to the Dan / Sammy dynamic for the finale while also giving us a very slim clue about our big bad, Captain Kidd. "Father?" Sounds like we're going get another parent-child thing next issue. The action is very light so if you're not into introspection, hang tight with Issue #3 because it has to hit the final, necessary goal posts before the last issue in September. There are a lot of important insight that no doubt factors into Issue #4 at some point. I think of a lot of fans had a feeling what was going on internally with Sammy but here we get not only a definitive answer but we see both sides of the conflict, which felt heartbreaking and perhaps all too familiar for some of us. Hat tip to Booher for this particular scene and how Aviv Or staged it and how Cris Peter colored and lit it. The side by side panels of Dan and Sammy was good comic book framing.
What felt a little frustrating is Issue #3 is our big bad. If you're a Ghostbusters fan, you're pretty accustomed to the movie villains not showing up to dance until the end. But felt a little trolled with Kidd who only appears at the end of Issues #1-3! On the flip side, it's no doubt this is all leading to a lot of Captain Kidd in #4. An unfortunate aspect of the 4 issue format is David M. Booher has to keep things moving and can't spend 20 pages on something cool and cinematic like a whole issue of ghostbusting pirate ghosts throughout the city. In a way, it's reminiscent of one my quibbles with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in that once Garraka freezes New York, we don't get to see a big budget siege battle with Ghostbusters vs. a ghost army or much of a montage of ghosts terrorizing people - it cuts straight to the final showdown with the big bad.
Dead Man's Chest #3 was a great read. David Booher has the main cast down pat and takes it into higher gear with the new characters. Just because the issue is short on action, the introspection and dialogue does not slow down the brisk pace of the series. Issue #3 does some heavy lifting informing us about a certain conflict, elevating the emotional stakes, and giving answers but still leaving readers with questions heading into the finale. Still, this isn't an end-of-the-world doomsday scenario the movies constantly utilize and yet not really a big a threat as Madame Malveaux from the previous comic book mini-series. I'm very intrigued to see what Captain Kidd's actual goal is and I hope everyone else is, too! Maybe Ray was right after all.
Trivia, easter eggs, reference etc.
This Post Contains Spoilers
Statistics: Posted by mrmichaelt — August 6th, 2025, 2:10 am