On Sale Date: March 2014
Writer: Felipe Smith
Artist: Tradd Moore
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorists: Nelson Daniel & Val Staples
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorists: Nelson Daniel & Val Staples
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso
Cover Artist: Tradd Moore
At an auto repair shop in East Los Angeles, teenager Robbie
Reyes is working on a customized Dodge Charger. His boss pays him,
attempting to cheat him out of part of his wages before being caught by
the teen, and Robbie leaves. At the Patrick Wellman Development Center,
three punks are hassling Robbie's mentally and physically handicapped
younger brother Gabe. They steal the boy's wheelchair, and when Robbie
intervenes and starts a fight, one of the punks pulls out a gun. They
three boys beat Robbie viciously and leave with the wheelchair, forcing
Robbie to take his brother home by carrying him on his back. On their
way home they pass by a murder scene roped off by police, and while
eating dinner that night they hear gunshots down the street.
Later that night, Robbie breaks into the auto shop and borrows the Charger, promising to return it before morning. When he puts on the racing helmet and starts the engine, he doesn't notice the flames surrounding his reflection in the window. He takes the car to an illegal street race, hoping to win $50,000 by using the car as his collateral. Robbie is easily winning the race, until he realizes he's being chased by the police. He thinks about what will happen to his brother if he's arrested and sent to prison, so Robbie attempts to outrun the police cars. However, he mistakenly pulls into a dead-end alley. When the police pull in behind him, he gets out of the car and attempts to explain, but the "cops" murder him in a hail of machine gun fire. They soak the car with gasoline, remove several duffel bags of pink pills out of the trunk, and then set the car on fire while Robbie bleeds to death. The soldiers leave Robbie and the burning car in the alley, but the flames reach out to the boy and he is transformed into the Ghost Rider. He gets inside the burning car and drives away while Gabe sleeps at home, blissfully unaware of what's happened to his brother.
Later that night, Robbie breaks into the auto shop and borrows the Charger, promising to return it before morning. When he puts on the racing helmet and starts the engine, he doesn't notice the flames surrounding his reflection in the window. He takes the car to an illegal street race, hoping to win $50,000 by using the car as his collateral. Robbie is easily winning the race, until he realizes he's being chased by the police. He thinks about what will happen to his brother if he's arrested and sent to prison, so Robbie attempts to outrun the police cars. However, he mistakenly pulls into a dead-end alley. When the police pull in behind him, he gets out of the car and attempts to explain, but the "cops" murder him in a hail of machine gun fire. They soak the car with gasoline, remove several duffel bags of pink pills out of the trunk, and then set the car on fire while Robbie bleeds to death. The soldiers leave Robbie and the burning car in the alley, but the flames reach out to the boy and he is transformed into the Ghost Rider. He gets inside the burning car and drives away while Gabe sleeps at home, blissfully unaware of what's happened to his brother.
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| Subtle and not-so-subtle visual foreshadowing! |
THE ROADMAP
The concept of there being many different Spirits of Vengeance,
each with their own appropriate vehicle, was introduced by writer Jason
Aaron in Ghost Rider (2006) # 27. That issue even showed a glimpse of a Ghost Rider that drove a muscle car similar to the one used by Robbie Reyes.
The issue ends with a text piece by editor Mark
Paniccia titled "Blazing a New Trail" that details the history of Ghost
Rider and the evolution of the new series, and shows design sketches
from Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore.
CHAIN REACTION
Marvel makes yet another attempt to relaunch Ghost Rider into
his own series with an interestingly stylistic creative team and a new
character.
"All-New" doesn't begin to describe the
differences between this series and the previous Ghost Rider titles, at
least on a superficial level. Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore are new
creators at Marvel, and while I'm totally unfamiliar with Smith I did
enjoy Moore's work on The Strange Talent of Luther Strode for Image
Comics. So, I wasn't quite prepared for what this first issue had in
store. I had, of course, seen all of the preview artwork and promotional
interviews, which made it obvious that Marvel was swinging for the
fences. New character as Ghost Rider, an art style that would likely
have as many people that hated it as loved it, and perhaps most
drastically, putting the Ghost Rider behind the wheel of a car instead
of the traditional motorcycle. It's almost like they were trying
to drive regular Ghost Rider fans away from this new book with such a
daring approach, and I know I wasn't the only hardcore Rider fan that
was skeptical.
You know what, though? It worked; the hype, the
art style, the new character and setting, it all contributed to what has
to have been the biggest push the company has ever given to a Ghost
Rider title. It got people if not excited then at least curious about
the book, myself included. I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened
this debut issue, but I can say this: while it may not be everyone's cup
of tea, there's no denying that Smith and Moore have something very
interesting here. The book is deep within the street racing culture of
California (hell, there was even a promotional tie-in with Lowrider
magazine, of all things), and it's extremely new-reader-friendly. For a series that's as
idiosyncratic as this one, that's an important element.
However, at the heart of this story is something that's pretty traditional: troubled teen with a family member in jeopardy gets in over his head. Hell, that's the standard Ghost Rider origin in spades, from Johnny Blaze down to Danny Ketch. While readers might be dazzled or even put off by the car stuff, the LA influence, and the lack of recognizable characters, that core story engine (pardon the pun) is immediately familiar. Not only that, but Smith makes Robbie Reyes a likable and well-rounded character from the start. Sure, there's a bit of cliché when it comes to the "good kid from the wrong side of the tracks trying to escape to something better", but Smith gives Reyes enough baggage that it doesn't feel tired. There's rage seething behind this character, buried maybe beneath the love and concern for his handicapped brother, but you can see it with his interactions with everyone else. Reyes is damaged goods already, though his heart is in the right place, and he wants to get his brother a better life. It's instantly relatable and resonant, another important element for the first issue of a new series. My one serious complaint with this first issue is that it really needed to be double-sized to show us more of the new Ghost Rider. I'm not faulting Smith for that, because he needed to establish both a brand new character and the world he lives in, which needed the page count. Still, would've been nice to see more than two pages of the Rider himself.
Tradd Moore is certainly an acquired taste, I think. There's a hint of manga influence in his work, and it's stylized to the point of near caricature. I think if there's one thing that keeps traditional GR readers away from this series, it will be Moore's art. I'm currently on the fence about it, because while I normally don't gravitate toward this style of comic art, I can't deny how great Moore is when it comes to the street racing sequence. Car chases are generally very hard to make exciting in a static medium like comics, but Tradd gives each panel a sense of motion that I don't think I've ever seen before. We will see next issue when Moore gets to cut loose on some Ghost Rider action, that I think will be the decision maker. I do, however, wish that Felipe Smith was handling the art as well as the writing, because his designs for the characters and his variant cover are astounding. Reyes has a cool, distinct look with the white stripe in his hair, and damn does this new Ghost Rider have an awesome look to him. I know some fans were critical of the fact that the traditional flaming skull has been replaced with a helmet of sorts (though Smith has said in interviews that it's not a flaming helmet, that IS Reyes' actual head), but I love it. The call back to Blaze's original jumpsuit design is just the icing on the cake. You'll notice I've not mentioned the car yet, but again, I'm not that critical of the change in vehicle. Jason Aaron established this precedent during his run, and it makes for some new and potentially different visuals.
However, at the heart of this story is something that's pretty traditional: troubled teen with a family member in jeopardy gets in over his head. Hell, that's the standard Ghost Rider origin in spades, from Johnny Blaze down to Danny Ketch. While readers might be dazzled or even put off by the car stuff, the LA influence, and the lack of recognizable characters, that core story engine (pardon the pun) is immediately familiar. Not only that, but Smith makes Robbie Reyes a likable and well-rounded character from the start. Sure, there's a bit of cliché when it comes to the "good kid from the wrong side of the tracks trying to escape to something better", but Smith gives Reyes enough baggage that it doesn't feel tired. There's rage seething behind this character, buried maybe beneath the love and concern for his handicapped brother, but you can see it with his interactions with everyone else. Reyes is damaged goods already, though his heart is in the right place, and he wants to get his brother a better life. It's instantly relatable and resonant, another important element for the first issue of a new series. My one serious complaint with this first issue is that it really needed to be double-sized to show us more of the new Ghost Rider. I'm not faulting Smith for that, because he needed to establish both a brand new character and the world he lives in, which needed the page count. Still, would've been nice to see more than two pages of the Rider himself.
Tradd Moore is certainly an acquired taste, I think. There's a hint of manga influence in his work, and it's stylized to the point of near caricature. I think if there's one thing that keeps traditional GR readers away from this series, it will be Moore's art. I'm currently on the fence about it, because while I normally don't gravitate toward this style of comic art, I can't deny how great Moore is when it comes to the street racing sequence. Car chases are generally very hard to make exciting in a static medium like comics, but Tradd gives each panel a sense of motion that I don't think I've ever seen before. We will see next issue when Moore gets to cut loose on some Ghost Rider action, that I think will be the decision maker. I do, however, wish that Felipe Smith was handling the art as well as the writing, because his designs for the characters and his variant cover are astounding. Reyes has a cool, distinct look with the white stripe in his hair, and damn does this new Ghost Rider have an awesome look to him. I know some fans were critical of the fact that the traditional flaming skull has been replaced with a helmet of sorts (though Smith has said in interviews that it's not a flaming helmet, that IS Reyes' actual head), but I love it. The call back to Blaze's original jumpsuit design is just the icing on the cake. You'll notice I've not mentioned the car yet, but again, I'm not that critical of the change in vehicle. Jason Aaron established this precedent during his run, and it makes for some new and potentially different visuals.
The last time Marvel tried to launch a Ghost Rider
series with a different host character, we got Alejandra and the Rob
Williams run. This one takes a much better approach by letting the new
character stand on his own merits without having Johnny Blaze around to
force instant comparisons (and Marvel made a genius move by putting the
Blaze Ghost Rider in Thunderbolts at the same time as launching this new
series, because it gives readers both the new and the established
Riders on a monthly basis). So, don't let your preconceived notions keep
you from trying out this series...I think they might just have
something worthwhile here.
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| Kentucky fried! |
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