Oni Press; $4.99

It’s been five years since private investigator Juan Calavera was killed, but his spirit has been reawakened. On Dia de Los Muertos, his former associate and reporter Maria Valdez has summoned him back to life to find out who has kidnapped her son. As Calavera begins the investigation, he is struck by the changes Los Angeles has gone through since he died, and there’s the disorienting fact that he’s a living skeleton.

Written and illustrated by Marco Finnegan, Calavera P.I. #2 starts digging into the case, while also providing social commentary. It’s set in 1930, during the beginning of the Great Depression, and they are witnessing the mistreatment of out of work citizens, particularly those who are Latino. Calavera is also adjusting to his new reality, finding that some of it works against him, but some in his favor – which could prove to be an important part of the story moving forward.

Calavera P.I. is a noir story set during the prime period for a gum shoe story, with an emphasis on Chicano history in LA, giving it a new angle to the genre.

–Amanda Sheriff