Mann (The Affinity Bridge
) combines the trendy superhero and steampunk genres, but his cardboard characters and laughable dialogue (“I had never loved, until I loved you”) never attain even the level of parody. In an alternate 1927 Manhattan, a deadly vigilante nicknamed the Ghost stalks the city, attacking the employees of the Roman, a mysterious mobster. The Roman's men have been committing horrific acts of violence, drawing the attention of police detective Felix Donovan. Also dragged into the plot are carefree playboy Gabriel and his lover, Celeste, who seems to exist solely to sleep with the hero and then be sacrificed to move the plot along. The action sequences are solid, though excessively gory, but there's little that comic fans haven't seen done more impressively a dozen times before. (Apr.)
