Cover Date: August 2014; On Sale Date: June 2014
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
At his home, Robbie Reyes shaves his head and discovers a series of scars, which Eli tells him is a sign that the two of them are becoming one. The night before, the Ghost Rider fought the gangster Grumpy, who had ingested Dr. Zabo's strength-enhancing pills. Grumpy was far stronger than the Rider, who managed to get an upper hand against the drug dealer by using his car as a weapon. However, Grumpy mutated, growing an extra set of arms, and beat Robbie into submission before leaving.
The next day, Dr. Zabo argues with his other self, Mr. Hyde, about how to fix the problem with his mutagenic drug. He realizes that the problem is in the chemical compound, and that he must change it to make the pills work correctly, changing their color from pink to blue. At school, Robbie and his rival, thug Guermo Valdez, are asked by their teacher to help with a community outreach program, which Valdez laughs about before leaving. Meanwhile, Grumpy confers with his gang about getting more of the pink pills, his mind and body severely changed by the drug.
Robbie takes his little brother, Gabe, out for ice cream in his new car, while Guermo and his friends are approached by Zabo and his men about the whereabouts of Grumpy. Zabo offers Guermo both cash and a chance for great power by helping him, which Valdez accepts. Robbie sees Guermo on the street talking with Zabo, and despite Eli telling him to seek vengeance on his rival, Robbie resists the urge and continues on his way with Gabe. While Grumpy continues to consume the drug, Zabo comments that until he finds his pills all of Hillrock Heights will burn.
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 recap page for this issue gives the full name of the Spirit of Vengeance inhabiting Robbie as Eli Morrow. Eli's origin 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
Smith and Moore provide a quiet interlude while they set up all of the pieces for next month's showdown between all of the various characters, while Robbie fights the Ghost Rider's influence.
Following the high-impact energy of the last two issues, the opening arc's fourth chapter slows things down considerably. Aside from the first few pages being used to close up the cliffhanger ending from last issue, everything present here is either plot or character development. That is, of course, far from a bad thing. Smith has done a lot in the past three issues to build not only the setting for the book's conflict but also the motivations for each of the principle characters. Robbie, naturally, gets the lions share of the development, and I both like and dread where the writer is taking the character. An established aspect of all the various characters that been Ghost Rider is the effect of vengeance on their personalities and the world they live in. Some, like Johnny Blaze, fought against the little voice in his ear telling him to burn the world to ashes, while others like last volume's Alejandra embraced it and was led to ruin. Robbie is following down an increasingly similar path as previous hosts, but it's unclear as to which outcome he'll eventually embrace.
Smith isn't exactly subtle in his characterization of Robbie, with him shaving his head to reveal the flame-like scars on his scalp, but there is some nuance present. I've said before that Reyes is a character teetering on the edge of blowing up with rage, and the tension between his desire to be a good person and his desperate need to gain payback for all the shit heaped on him is building nicely. You can see it every time he interacts with Guermo Valdez, and it's getting worse now that he has Eli speaking to him. Eli (whose last name, according to the recap page, is apparently Morrow) is interesting, because despite his more familiar way of speaking he seems like a very strong echo of Zarathos. He's like a snake wriggling his way deeper into Robbie's psyche, getting on his good side by complimenting Gabe while at the same time driving Robbie to "annihilate!". The dueling voices are a theme, and again not a very subtle one, when you look at the book's main antagonist, Dr. Zabo, who argues with his other self like a schizophrenic.
Tradd Moore doesn't get as much of an opportunity to show off as he did in the first three issues, but he still produces quality work. He over-exaggerates when it's appropriate, such as the grotesque transformation of Grumpy when he grows his extra arms, but he also does very well with the quieter scenes. The high stylization of the artwork is still there during the school scene with Robbie and his teacher, but it's dialed down considerably in comparison to the opening fight sequence.
The only downside to this issue, as much as I hate to say it, is that it doesn't feel like much happens to further the plot. That's the double edged sword when it comes to middle chapters of arcs, though, so it's a necessary and expected snag. This is still a highly recommended series and I cannot wait to see how it all comes together next issue.
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