Quick Synopsis – Hundreds of years in the future, New York City is haunted by many ghosts, including a voyeuristic woman who died in our present day and a mysterious gun-toting man from the distant past. Normally solo travelers, these two specters meet and travel around the world together, bearing witness to society’s forward march toward decay.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Every Breath You Take by The Police

Release Date – Sept. 23, 2025

Bookshop Link – Spectators by Brian K. Vaughn (if you use my link to order I do get a small commission)

Content Notes – This is an adult graphic novel that contains nudity, violence, blood, gore, gun violence, sexual scenes, death, and other themes.

Spicy Rating – 🌶️🌶️ (there is a lot of nudity, but a lot of those scenes don’t really feel sexy to me)

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – Ever since I read Paper Girls a few years ago, I’ve been drawn to Brian K. Vaughn’s work. This graphic novel draws you in immediately with a shocking act of violence. Val, one of our main spectators, is violently murdered and turns into a ghost. Only she learns that ghosts don’t really do much except watch. They can’t interact with the living in any way. Val is a bit of a voyeur so this kind of suits her. Hundreds of years pass and on one fateful night she meets a fellow spectator Sam. Sam appears to be a gun toting western cowboy.

Throughout their night together they witness several acts of astonishing violence and love. Violence just for violence’s sake to see how many people a single person can kill. Love through sex and kink to cope with these acts of violence. Val and Sam are sort of like narrators talking about violence and sex throughout the story. I loved their interactions and how they talked about their lives and deaths. This story was a little hard to read because it does hold an uncomfortable mirror up to our own society and how accepting of violence we can be. There are also little nuggets of information that easily suggest this could be the first in a connected series of stories, though I really think Spectators could easily stand on it’s own.

Like most of Vaughn’s work I thought this had some really great meaning beyond the violence and sex. I also loved the stylistic choice to have the real world be in black and white where the spectators are the only thing in color. It made it easier to separate the two and also provided a stark dichotomy.

I think if you like comics that make you think and are a fan of Vaughn’s other works this would be a great book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Image Comics for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.