Wine Ghost Goes to Hell is a comic that you must read twice. On the first read-through, let it wash over you. Soak up all the details Sage Coffey places in the backgrounds that color Wine Ghost’s world; her high-femme shoe fashion, the strange hellish liquors on the shelves at the bar, the wildly detailed and fun, non-human character designs of each figure that passes through the panels.
On the second read-through you’ll be obsessed with all the character interactions and interpersonal dynamics. Who truly is this old, fuzzy, and “adorable” friend with a snout capable of cruel snarls? Who are Wine Ghost’s new friends in hell, and which of these old and new relationships is healthy and valuable? Who is Wine Ghost? Who is she?
Wine Ghost Goes to Hell
Sage Coffey (Writer & Artist)
Iron Circus Comics
June 1, 2023
I’m lucky to have met Wine Ghost much earlier than her explosion onto Backerkit. While working on this review I did a little digging and found a treasure – Wine Ghost Orders a Sub, a zine by Sage Coffey from the early days of Wine Ghost’s development. In this deceptively emotional comic Wine Ghost is in pursuit of an earthly indulgence: her favorite sub sandwich from when she was alive. Her journey takes her out of Hell, into a sub shop for an unfortunately ineffectual haunting, and finally into the body of a friendly and willing young woman. Wine Ghost gets the sub, but she also runs into a still-living friend she left behind. Her journey ends on a melancholy but determined note: “her death isn’t the end of her story.”
Wine Ghost Goes to Hell has proved that statement true. Our hero has floated drunkenly away from mini-comic pages where she was printed only in a soft pink-orange, and into the lush and brightly alive full-color pages of a soon-to-be-printed book. She’s just as tenacious as she ever was, but she’s moved on from subs to pizza, assisting with her friends’ housing needs, and pining for an escape from loneliness into fulfilling and loving relationships.
Wine Ghost is that friend – or ex, or both – who always seems fine. Their depression and addiction might shine through, but they always seem to pick themselves up and move on to the next party, the next night of debauchery, the next poor decision that will eventually turn into a wild story. Most importantly, they’ve always got time for you when you need them, even if they don’t make real time for themselves. That’s Wine Ghost through-and through, but Goes to Hell presents her with a challenge that forces her to do some self-reflection. It’s a heart-wrenching privilege to watch her begin the journey.
While her shoe rack has expanded, Wine Ghost’s original character design hasn’t really changed. In fact, it seems to have inspired a whole world and lore behind “Hell,” including some intriguing ethical questions. A once-living person’s sharpest characteristics seem to be reflected in their hellish body, thus Wine Ghost is an extremely mobile, lively and armless bed sheet on sexy legs who can put away an inhuman amount of wine. Coffey populates Wine Ghost Goes to Hell with other characters whose fascinating designs seem full of secrets. What does Sebastian’s soft but sharp-toothed doglike face reveal? Who was the guy in that one panel with the shark head – is “shark” actually metaphorical?
There are also demons and other creatures native to Hell. In the background at the bar we can see what appears to be a harpy wearing cat-eye glasses and the reader meets a humanoid demon with horns and fangs, but it’s difficult to determine who is a hell creature and who is a perished human.
While Wine Ghost does have something of a serious tone in terms of story, it’s dedicated to being a fun visual feast. Many of the characters are, like Wine Ghost, fashionable and FABULOUS. It’s clear Coffey had a lot of fun dressing up multi-armed cyclopes, cactus creatures, and lamia-esque figures in neon leather bodysuits, crop tops, and fancy lingerie. Crucial to the fun of the story is also the color, and it is some wild color! There are several single-color panel backgrounds that allow the moment to focus on a character’s expressions or emotions, but that color is always something bright – yellow, bubblegum pink, dark minty green, deep scarlet red, and on and on. If heaven exists in Wine Ghost’s world I’m not sure I’d want to go! Why miss out on the riot of colors and characters down in hell?
The limited lore of Wine Ghost’s world begs interesting questions about “hell” and what it means to deserve a place there. The story surprised me by making me think about The Good Place, with its subtle musing on the ethics of “goodness” and the very limiting moral concept of what it means to live in a “good” way or a “bad” way, thus being deserving of reward or punishment. I’m a little obsessed with this angle of the story, to be honest! Wine Ghost died and went to hell, and while she certainly made some poor choices, she doesn’t seem like a bad person. She’s a supportive friend, she’s careful with consent – the possession in Wine Ghost Orders a Sub is conducted with full consent! — and despite her insecurities she knows she’s HOT. What is hell, then, if it’s a place for Wine Ghost?
If you’re looking for a fun, funny but ethically interesting story I very much recommend Wine Ghost. Just make sure you read it at least twice, and take your time obsessing over all the little background details. Back it ASAP on Backerkit to make sure you don’t miss out on a copy!
