Cover Date: October 2014; On Sale Date: August 2014
Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Damion Scott; Inker: Robert Campanella; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Val Staples; Editor: Mark Paniccia; Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: Tradd Moore
Late at night in East Los Angeles, two children are outside playing in the street, one of them wearing a mask created to look like the “Robot Racer” or “Skeleton Driver” seen in the neighborhood the week before. When the boys’ mother comes outside to make them go to bed, fearing for their safety, the boys respond that the “Racer” would protect them. After they go inside, a street race led by Robbie Reyes rushes past down the street. Reyes wins the race in his Hell-Charger, the latest of many he’s won using the car’s power. The spirit of Eli that resides inside both the car and Robbie’s head is not happy, saying that Robbie is misusing their power.
The next day, a news report from Hillrock Heights following the recent battle between the new Ghost Rider and Mr. Hyde is seen by a mysterious individual in a bar. The man finishes his beer and gets on his bike, riding out of New York. Back in Los Angeles, Guermo and his gang report to school in slings and casts following their beating at the Ghost Rider’s hands. During Mr. Wakeford’s class, Robbie casually taunts the seemingly docile Guermo, and after class he tells the teacher that he and Guermo “worked things out”. Guermo, on the other hand, has convinced his crew to attend a mysterious meeting. They arrive by bus in downtown L.A. and enter an abandoned building.
Meanwhile, at the developmental school, Robbie meets with his handicapped brother Gabe’s teacher, who tells him that Gabe’s progress recently has been amazing. He then uses the money won through racing to pay off part of Gabe’s therapy bill, to the surprise of Gabe’s teacher. That night, Robbie puts Gabe to bed and counts his money while Eli becomes more and more impatient, urging Robbie to go out and seek vengeance.
The next evening in Venice Beach, Robbie wins yet another street race, while in downtown L.A. a homeless man shows his friends a baggie of Zabo’s pink pills that he found in Hillrock Heights after the gunfight. After the homeless men go to sleep, their pet dog eats the pills and transforms into a monster. Using a machine gun left behind by Zabo’s men, the dog is gunned down and dies, but not before it kills all of the men. The rest of the pills are then eaten by a collection of rats, cats, and birds. Guermo and his boys, meanwhile, are meeting with the escaped Dr. Zabo, who introduces to them his newest concoction in the form of a blue pill.
THE ROADMAP
The story behind Eli Morrow is revealed in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 8.
The mysterious man in New York is revealed to be Johnny Blaze in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 7. Blaze last appeared in Thunderbolts (2013) # 32.
CHAIN REACTION
The newest Ghost Rider series begins its second arc, which introduces a new artist while spinning its wheels narratively.
Following up the spectacular first arc could not have been an easy task, and there are so many things that Felipe Smith does right in this opening chapter of “Legend” that it makes me sad to see the series already starting to go off the rails due to a few bad story decisions. I’ll highlight the good parts first, because they’re definitely great forward steps. Highlighting the improved life of Robbie Reyes and the counterpoint of an increasingly frustrated Eli is fascinating, because it’s an exact inverse of the traditional Ghost Rider motif. With Blaze, Ketch, and even last volume’s Alejandra, the main conflict came with the human host struggling to hold in check the fiery vengeance of the spirit inside him, and being barely able to do so. Robbie, on the other hand, seems to have complete control of the power inside him and has effectively locked the ghost of Eli Morrow away with the power to do little more than bitch and moan. It’s eventually going to turn the other way in upcoming issues, of course, but it’s a neat turn of events that I didn’t expect. Robbie has no problem turning away from vengeance at this point, because he’s getting everything he wants (and, admittedly, it’s turning him into a bit of a dick), and until Eli make his heel turn later in the arc I really felt like Robbie was doing the wrong thing by denying his responsibility as a (pseudo) Spirit of Vengeance. Smith also doesn’t waste any time with setting up the eventual return of Johnny Blaze in a scene that immediately echoes the character’s return in the 90s Danny Ketch series, and that’s awesome.
The problems set in pretty quickly though, because instead of moving forward the plot is stuck in neutral. Once again the story is revolving around Mr. Hyde/Dr. Zabo and his enhancement drugs, turning what was a novel idea in the last arc into a retread here. Smith gives us the twist with the animals taking the pills, but I really wanted to see Reyes have to face a NEW threat, especially considering how thoroughly it seemed Zabo was defeated in the last issue (how did he evade capture by the cops, anyway?).
Of course, where the comic truly stumbles has nothing to do with the story, it’s the artwork. Damion Scott is brought in as the book’s new regular artist, and it’s honestly not very pretty to look at. Following up as distinct an artist as Tradd Moore, who truly defined this title’s aesthetic, had to be a true struggle for the editor, and I can see why the choice was made to go to someone like Scott. He’s been working in the comics field for years, and I even have fond memories of his work on titles like Batgirl and Robin over at DC. He has distinct style, though one that’s found in the work of people like Skottie Young, and it has a certain look to it that resembles graffiti, which works well for the East LA setting and characters. However, the finished product is an absolute mess. Scott attempts to capture the same kinetic energy as Moore, with the multiple insert panels laying over top larger splashes, but it all comes out as a jumble. The characters look doughy and malformed, a definite style shift from the previous arc’s sharp angles and extremely tight lines. His work reminds me of two other controversial Ghost Rider artists from years past, Pop Mhan and Trent Kaniuga, and it surprises me that Marvel keeps going to these types of artists to work on this character.
So, despite such a strong opening arc, All-New Ghost Rider is already starting to show signs of trouble. Here’s hoping Smith can regain the momentum as the arc progresses.
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