Ghost Rider (2006) # 6

"Hell to Pay, Part 1"

Cover Date: February 2007

On Sale Date: December 2006

Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Richard Corben
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Richard Corben

On the banks of a river, a church group dressed in white robes descend into the water to join their preacher. The holy man takes a young boy and dips his head under the water to baptize him, but then holds the boy's head under until he drowns. As the group react in shock, the preacher asks "who's next?" just before the roar of an engine interrupts. The Ghost Rider, covered completely in hellflame, emerges from the forest, while the preacher transforms into yet another host for Satan. Lucifer catches the Rider's chain and flings Blaze into a nearby tree, causing John to realize that he's stronger and more powerful than the last time.

A long time ago, in Lynchburg, Tennessee, John is awakened by a cop named Arvis, who arrests the vagrant Blaze in an unnecessarily brutal way. Arvis takes John back to the local jail, where he locks him in a cell with another man named Clay. Clay tells Johnny that a local bartender got himself shot in the head with no witnesses, so the cops are rounding up all the "undesirables", drifters like the two of them, and locking them up until they find their man. Or, if they don't, a patsy to pin the crime on. Clay introduces himself and shakes John's hand - only to see Blaze's eyes glow red while he holds the man's hand in his grip. John asks Clay if he killed the man or if he's truly innocent, prompting Clay to respond that he never said he was innocent but he did not kill the bartender. Blaze lets go, apologizing by saying he had to ask.

In the present day, the Ghost Rider continues his battle with Lucifer. The demon bats Blaze around, asking him where the fury and vengeance has gone. John tells Lucifer that he should be more careful what he asks for, then blasts him with a burst of hellfire from his mouth. Lucifer falls to the ground, his body still on fire, and the Ghost Rider cautiously approaches. Satan's eyes pop open, and with a smile he remarks that he can actually feel the fat on his body sizzling. The demon grabs the surprised Blaze's leg, rips it off at the knee, and then proceeds to beat the Rider into submission with his own limb. As Lucifer stands victorious over him, Blaze thinks to himself that he's been holding back because he doesn't want IT to take over again -- but that the only chance he has against Lucifer is to go full-throttle and let IT out.

Back in the past, Johnny is set free from the jail by Arvis, Clay having already been released. The two drifters meet up again outside the jail, where Clay is standing against a limousine with a bottle of wine in his hand. He invites Blaze to get in the car, where he meets Clay's lawyer, Mr. Bedelstraum. Bedelstraum tells Johnny that he'll represent his case in exchange for providing an alibi for Clay. Blaze thinks about the legality of such a deal, and Clay tells him that there's no way either of them will get a fair trail in this town - if he does what Bedelstraum says, they'll both ride out as free men. Johnny agrees to provide Clay's alibi and then comments about the attorney's limo. Clay corrects him by saying that the car is actually his, and that he looks and acts like a dirtbag by choice. He's actually a member of a certain fraternal order, one that Blaze has probably heard of. As the limousine drives away, the camera closes in on the license plate which reads HLSANGLS.

Mighty strong grip you got there, boy!

THE ROADMAP

The flashback sequences take place between Ghost Rider (2001) # 1/2  and Ghost Rider (2005) # 1.

Blaze last let the Spirit of Vengeance (Zarathos) take control of the Ghost Rider during his fight with Doctor Strange in Ghost Rider (2006) # 3.

CHAIN REACTION

Daniel Way is finally getting around to explaining some of the long-standing mysteries held over from the previous Ghost Rider books, starting with just how he wound up in Hell in the first place. Joining him is legendary artist Richard Corben, resulting in an issue that is very much for acquired tastes.

The good news lies in the fact that, following the abysmal "Vicious Cycles" storyarc, writer Daniel Way has turned in his second really good issue in a row. While last issue was a nice quiet interlude that went a long way to establishing Way's credibility in dealing with the Ghost Rider mythos, this issue goes further in establishing Lucifer as a threat that might not be quite as redundant as I feared. After all, how many times can we see the same "Ghost Rider vs. Satan" fight scene, regardless of setting? We're going to get a bigger taste of this much-needed diversity when the "Sleepy Hollow" arc starts in # 8 with the Lucifer-possessed Jack O' Lantern, but the Satan host presented here is a step in the right direction.

A lot of what makes the fight with Satan stand out is the artwork by literal comics legend Richard Corben. Corben's been illustrating comics since the mid 1970s, and has most recently done work for DC (Hellblazer) and Marvel (Banner, Haunt of Horror) - but mainstream stuff like Ghost Rider isn't usually his normal fare. It's safe to say that Corben has a very unique style to his art, and it's almost always the case where you either love it for its unconventionality or hate it due to its distorted proportions and distinct quirks. Normally, I'm not much of a fan of Corben's, but something about this issue makes his work seem eerily appropriate and fitting. His rendition of Lucifer is great, giving the demon a tweak in appearance to keep him from being a carbon copy of the Saltares/Texeira look for the character, and the fight sequence between Lucifer and the Ghost Rider is a wicked example of brutality. From the Ghost Rider emerging on the splash page as a figure composed entirely of hellfire to Lucifer beating Blaze down with his own severed leg, it's some real visceral stuff. But, because of the sheer uniqueness of Corben's work, I can easily imagine fans of more traditional comic art just outright hating this issue. I'm actually a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it myself, because I was all set to dislike it as well.

The writing and plot this month is also heads and above the normal fare for this series, even though it's still drowning in the decompressed mire that gives the illusion of nothing happening. But it's the minimalist approach to the flashbacks that makes the decompression actually work in this instance. We all know how the flashback side of the story is going to end, with Johnny taken to Hell, but its the approach to this resolution that makes it so interesting. We're not given a "Ghost Rider versus demons" storyline, instead it's a really down-to-earth murder mystery involving crooked cops and the Hell's Angels. It honestly reads more like something you'd find in one of DC's Vertigo books, like Hellblazer, than a superhero style book such as this.

Overall, the Ghost Rider series continues to climb out of its nose-dive and is finally starting to shape into the well-written series I hoped it would be.

Insert amputee joke here?