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Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Tradd Moore; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Val Staples; Editor: Mark Paniccia; Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: Tradd Moore
In an abandoned junkyard, Robbie Reyes has a conversation with
the spirit responsible for transforming him into the Ghost Rider. The
spirit scoffs at the idea of being an angel or demon, claiming to be a
human that was killed. The spirit, who says its name is Eli, offers to
help Robbie by giving him the power to fight back against the injustice
in his life. Eli transforms Reyes into the Ghost Rider, and Robbie
agrees to join with the supernatural entity.
The next day, Mr. Hyde's paramilitary team are on
the hunt for the missing back of pink pills that were stolen by the drug
dealer Grumpy. Hyde is furious, having come to Los Angeles to forge
himself a criminal empire after the mercenaries broke him out of prison
for his leadership. Elsewhere, Robbie attempts to buy a new wheelchair
for his brother Gabe, but refuses to be swindled by the owner of the
pawn shop. At school, Robbie is asked by his new teacher, Mr. Wakeford,
to take a look at his car's broken window.
Later, at the auto shop where he works, Robbie
finds his boss Canelo and the other employees dead from numerous gunshot
wounds. Eli speaks to Robbie, offering to help him find the people
responsible...but the car isn't in the garage. It was taken by Grumpy's
men, whose house is attacked by Hyde's soldiers. During the ensuing
gunfight, Grumpy ingests some of Hyde's pink pills. Back at the auto
shop, Robbie transforms into Ghost Rider and walks through a wall,
disappearing just as an ambulance arrives. Grumpy and two of his men
have escaped in the haunted car, with Grumpy himself suffering from a
gunshot wound. Reyes appears as part of the car, emerging from the roof
just as the two gangsters talk about how they killed Canelo. Consumed by
rage, Robbie stops the car and pulls the two men through the roof,
beating them both savagely. Afterward, the car shakes as Grumpy fully
transforms from the effects of the pills and rips his way out,
determined to kill Robbie.
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| Sounds like a good deal, right? |
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 identity of the Spirit of Vengeance possessing
Reyes is revealed in this issue to be the soul of a man named Eli.
Robbie asks if Eli is an angel, which is a reference to the Spirits of
Vengeance being powered by Heaven, as introduced in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18, or a demon, which is of course the basis for Johnny Blaze's origin way back in Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 5. "Eli" is apparently neither, instead being the spirit of a murdered man whose story is revealed in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 8.
While traditionally a foe of Captain America and the Avengers, Mr. Hyde has had three previous encounters with a Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) in Ghost Rider (1990) # 4, Ghost Rider (1990) # 36, and Ghost Rider (1990) # 55.
CHAIN REACTION
Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore further differentiate their new Ghost Rider from past incarnations in this third issue.
I admit, when the first issue of this series was
released, I was interested but still skeptical about the concept. While
being superficially divergent, the story of Robbie Reyes wasn't much
different than we'd seen 15 years ago when Danny Ketch was introduced.
The second issue won me over considerably, and now this third issue has
sealed the deal. This book is flat-out awesome.
The big revelation in this issue comes in the
first few pages, where Robbie has a conversation with his new haunted
car. I can see this part actually being difficult for some longtime
Ghost Rider fans to accept, that this Spirit of Vengeance comes from
neither Heaven nor Hell but via the ghost of a murdered man. Personally,
I had a harder time with Daniel Way's angel concept than I do with
this, and we all know how well Jason Aaron was able to sell that
previous idea. Furthermore, I see this as Smith taking that final giant
step to make his new Ghost Rider truly unique instead of just another in
a long lineage of flaming skulls. Regardless of where "Eli" comes from,
it still plays off the mandatory idea of overwhelming revenge, which is
absolutely essential for any Ghost Rider story regardless of the
trappings surrounding it. The ghost of a murdered man latching onto a
teen killed under similar circumstances as way for both of them to get
revenge on the evils of society, that's a pretty great story hook.
With each new issue, I like Robbie Reyes more and
more. I've mentioned before that he's a character that's seething with
anger under the surface, and all of that is brought to the fore in this
issue. It doesn't take a whole lot of convincing to get him on board
with what Eli is selling him (and I'm sure there's a big catch to all of
this waiting in the wings), and you can see his patience getting
thinner as the issue progresses. The bullies in his school that stole
his brother's wheelchair will, I assume, get their comeuppance in due
time because of what Robbie goes through in this book's second half.
Let's talk about the artwork, which seems to be
another aspect of this series that Ghost Rider fans are slowly adjusting
to. As with the story, the work by Tradd Moore in this issue surpasses
what's come in the previous two issues as he becomes more comfortable
with the characters. I'm still not too keen on how he draws Mr. Hyde,
but that's really the only negative remark I have to make. His Ghost
Rider is astounding and there are so many things I could mention to back
up that statement. You've got the new symbiotic relationship with the
car, merging with it to pass through its hood in the driver seat and to
step into shadows and emerge as part of the car itself. As with Blaze's
motorcycle, Reyes' car is a character all by itself (not even counting
the Eli personality), appearing and disappearing at will and literally
coming to life. Moore also does great when it comes to Reyes
transforming in the auto garage, you can see the anguish in the kid's
face as he slowly gives over to his desire for vengeance. It's something
that builds, actually, on each page following the junkyard scene. All
around Robbie are little sparks of flame on the peripherals of the
panels, it's such a subtle touch that I didn't even notice it the first
time I read through the issue, it's almost subliminal.
Marvel released a lot of great series as part
of "All-New Marvel NOW!" but
All-New Ghost Rider was definitely the best of the bunch.
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| Peek-a-boo! |
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