The Trillion Dollar Kid: Ghost Machine Comics’ Fun New Universe Launch

Don’t worry, in this The Trillion Dollar Kid Review, you can look at it as a suggestion, or a legit review! Spoiler free! Kind of. Set in the world of Ghost Machine comics—the amazing publisher behind one of my first introductions to comics, Hyde Street—comes a new face intertwined within their expanding universe: The Unbelievables universe.

Whereas Hornsby & Halo features an angel and demons swapped at birth, and The Rockefellers follows a family from the 25th century hiding in the 21^st century, The Trillion Dollar Kid promises a deeper look into the fabric of their fun and strange universe in just its very first issue.

Is Money Everything?

The story opens with a flashback of our protagonist’s grandfather and his core philosophy: true wealth should be hidden. That the richest, most powerful people always hid in plain sight, concealing themselves within the masses, pretending to be like the masses. A philosophy that the protagonist’s parents followed, and as they built their empire and became millionaires with their band-aid company, they never showed their faces to the world.

But our protagonist, Tommy, is different.

When his family was going bankrupt, Tommy made an incredible invention that not only saved his family’s business, but made him the world’s first Trillionaire at the age of 13: band-aids that wouldn’t stick. That’s right, you could pull those suckers out and it wouldn’t hurt a bit. And with this invention, our protagonist shows his face to the world and spent his money like any other kid would’ve.

He got the fountains to shoot out lemonade and built a rollercoaster to school so all the kids would be excited to attend, but he still felt lonely.

Honestly, that’s all I want to say, because the last few things that happens at the end of issue one were pretty heartfelt. What I will say is that he decided to set off into the world in search of The Unbelievables, and his first stop is New York, the home of Hornsby & Halo.

The Whimsy Behind The Veil

Because I had only read Rook and Hyde Street, the only things I knew that were different were the art-style, and potentially the tone, and I was pleasantly surprised. While Hyde Street has trauma-bound horror, and Rook has action packed violence, The Trillion Dollar Kid’s tone was a breath of fresh air.

The characterization of Tommy Townsend III is just joyful and a fun depiction of a kid, especially as I’ve grown accustomed to wealthy kids being portrayed as snobs and jerks. Tommy’s invention was fueled by the need to help his family out of a bad situation, and his money wasn’t only spent on him, as we can see all the goofy stuff that fills his home, but on his town.

Slight spoiler to the end of the comic, and I only want to save from it because, again, it was such a nice and heartfelt touch.

The Twist (Slight Spoiler)

As Tommy spends his money-making people’s lives easier, and well as goofing off, the reader witnesses a twist as his parents and sister we’ve seen this whole time, are actually actors. Because Tommy’s the first one to reveal himself, and because of his grandfather’s philosophy, it’s crazy to think that, potentially, he was separated from his parents because of that.

What’s sadder is that Tommy has a vault, which could also function as a symbolism to show that he locks away what hurts him the most, because behind that vault is his grandfather’s old home. Within that home is some sort of detective map that Tommy plotted in hopes of not only finding The Unbelievables, but also his family. 

What Kind of Story Is This?

It feels like a lighthearted tale, and after reading all these dark comics, it’s a nice palate cleanser. It’s a coming-of-age story where Tommy has secluded not only himself as a person to the whole world but also tied himself to his town. As he explores the outside world, I’m sure he’ll discover more than just his family’s whereabouts.

So far, having in mind that only one issue has been released, it’s very promising. Ghost Machine comics has yet to let me down, so why would it start now?

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