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#15 Phantom Road Vol 1,2 by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernández Walta


The first issue of Phantom Road was released in March 2023 by Image Comics, another quality title from this beloved publisher and yet another strong entry in the extensive body of work by its writer. This is a creation that’s absolutely worth your time.

I’d noticed it when it first came out, but I was waiting to get the collected volume before reading it. You know how things go sometimes, it got lost among the endless stream of daily information and simply slipped my mind. That is, until I stumbled upon it again recently. With two volumes now available, I sat down and read it in one sitting. It was exactly what I needed, though I wished there had been more. Not because I wasn’t engaged, far from it, but because I wanted more time with it. Now I’m eagerly awaiting the third volume. Until then, I’ll dive into something else. Thankfully, there are plenty of options.

So, what’s Phantom Road about?

Well, it’s one of those ideas that instantly brings to mind The Twilight Zone, or something that might have come from Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, or even Richard Matheson.

There are three central characters: Dom, Birdie, and Theresa. The first two are thrown together by chance, while Theresa is an FBI agent tasked with investigating a mysterious case. So far, this tells you very little, but here’s where it gets interesting. Dom and Birdie suddenly find themselves transported to another world, or perhaps another dimension. The exact nature of it is something you’ll discover as you read. What follows is a strange, often dangerous journey through a desolate, otherworldly landscape inhabited by humanoid creatures that are anything but friendly.

As the story unfolds—especially into the second volume—the world-building deepens. We learn more about the bizarre place they’ve entered, and the mystery becomes increasingly layered. Meanwhile, Theresa seems to have vague memories of that world from childhood. Her investigation only leads to more questions, drawing her deeper into the enigma rather than closer to solving it. It’s clear that Lemire has a lot of material planned for Phantom Road, and I love the way he’s unraveling it. Combined with Walta’s atmospheric, beautifully moody artwork, the series feels like the perfect companion, engaging, but never overwhelming.

It’s not a heavy or intellectually demanding read in the sense that it doesn’t require constant decoding or intense focus to grasp abstract ideas. It leans more toward pulp, one of those immersive stories I never tire of holding in my hands.

You could think of it as a metaphysical road movie, possibly infused with a touch of paranoid conspiracy theory. That said, in my opinion, the best comic dealing with such themes is The Department of Truth, which I’ll definitely write about in the future. 

Phantom Road has just the right amount of melancholy and drama. Its protagonists carry emotional baggage, and the narrative feels like it could easily be adapted into a television series, if the right creative team and budget came together.

In any case, if you’re in the mood for a thriller-horror comic with washed-out tones, sepia-like aesthetics, and a strong focus on mystery, you’ll be in for a treat.

Until next time — be well, and keep reading.

It’s important!


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