Michael Aushenker is one of those folks that I automatically associate with one particular genre of comics storytelling — that being slapstick humor — but then, I also consider him to be a cartoonist who draws as well as writes his own material. What the hell do I know, though? His latest self-published release, The Ghost Pirate, puts paid to both of those notions in that it’s decidedly not aimed directly at the funnybone and is also, in point of fact, a collaboration with artist Marcus Collar that relegates Aushenker to scripting duties only.

All of which is to say, I suppose, that if you think you know “what to expect” from a Michael Aushenker comic — as I surely did — you’re in for something of a surprise here.

A time-twisting tale that starts off in 1775 with our titular pirate, who answers to the name of Molitar…