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On Sale Date: July 2008
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Cover Artist: Marko Djurdevic
On Cell Block D, Blaze speaks with the preacher responsible for gunning down his parish. The preacher tells him he had been recruited by the First Church of the New Dawn, which he later learned was brainwashing people to serve in the army of Zadkiel. When he discovered this, the preacher took out a machine gun during a Sunday sermon and killed everyone inside. Blaze tells him he's there because a group of Satanists he roused in Denver gave him the preacher's name. The preacher admits that he made a deal with the Satanists; the Devil gets his soul and in return he's granted protection from Zadkiel's assassins and when he dies he won't have to go to Heaven. The preacher tells Blaze that Zadkiel is working to consolidate the powers of the Spirits of Vengeance, then realizes that Blaze himself is one of the Spirits. Before the preacher can say anything else, the Deacon comes up from behind and decapitates him. The Deacon makes quick work of the Satanists, then turns his attention to Blaze, who has transformed into the Ghost Rider. The two begin to fight, and Blaze is immediately injured by the Deacon's golden daggers. The Deacon gets the upper hand and throws Blaze through a wall into the prison's chapel; but when he gets close enough, Blaze grabs the Deacon and gives him the Penance Stare. Unbelievably, the Stare has no effect on the man, and he promptly stabs Blaze in the stomach. He explains that the Stare didn't work because he doesn't feel guilty for any of the lives he's taken; sin deserves to be punished and sinners must be made to repent. Blaze, nearly defeated, lays on his back and grabs the object nearest to him as a shield: the chapel's large, hard-bound Bible. The Deacon stops and demands Blaze to drop the book, saying “the Bible is not a weapon”. Johnny then uses the heavy book to hit the Deacon in the face, and continues to beat the madman senseless with the Bible. As he pummels his enemy, Blaze shouts over and over for the Deacon to tell him how to get to Zadkiel, until he finally notices that he's beat the man into unconsciousness. Blaze turns to leave, not noticing Bob the guard looking on, gun placed to his head in order to join his master Zadkiel.
Blaze staggers through the prison, unable to change back to his human form because his massive injuries would kill him. That means the Ghost Rider is calling the shots now, the Spirit of Vengeance crying out for the blood of the innocent to be avenged. At that moment, the Ghost Rider enters into a large group of rioting prisoners.
Eight minutes later, when the guards in riot gear break into the prison block, they find all of the prisoners laying on the floor and a huge hole blown out of the ground. In the cemetery outside, Ghost Rider blasts out from underground on his motorcycle and silently rides away toward the sunrise.
Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18. He has been searching for a way to get to Heaven since Ghost Rider (2006) # 20.
The Deacon makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33.
While not as immediately engaging as his opening storyline, this issue at least picks the break-neck speed of his first four issues back up after the slower opening to this arc in the previous issue. Aaron knows how to write action sequences very well, and this issue's throw-down with the Deacon is a good example of that fact. It's been a long time since we saw the Ghost Rider take a beating as severe as this, especially from a seemingly-normal villain like the Deacon. It was a bit surprising, actually, considering Blaze just spent two years eliminating the Devil himself with little trouble only to get his head handed to him by a strong guy with knives. Of course, the stand-out moment of the fight was the way Johnny won, by using the massive Bible as a bludgeon. That was pretty inventive, and I can't recall any other instance when someone was beaten nearly to death by a Bible, ha ha ha.
The rest of the issue is spent with Blaze and the nameless preacher (there Aaron goes not giving his characters names again!) having their conversation about Zadkiel. This scene frustrated me a bit the first time I read it because it doesn't give us any new information despite the number of pages devoted to it. We already know about Zadkiel trying to take Heaven's throne for himself and that he has numerous agents on Earth. If you're going to spend that much time on their conversation, at least give us something that makes it worthwhile. The only bone we're thrown is the very end of the conversation, when the preacher mentions the Spirits of Vengeance, plural meaning more-than-one.
Tan Eng Huat seems to be settling in comfortably with his second issue on the series, and he's finally given the opportunity to draw the Ghost Rider himself (last issue showed Johnny only half-transformed, as he was fighting to keep the Spirit of Vengeance under control). Huat gives us a much more traditional looking Ghost Rider that follows closely the Saltares/Texeira design, which surprised me after seeing Roland Boschi's exaggerated rendition of the character. Huat is just as stylized an artist as Boschi, so I was a little disappointed that he stuck so closely to the established look. Regardless, though, Huat turns in a great fight sequence between Blaze and the Deacon. His work has a great kinetic quality to it, a frantic flow that really translates well for the action scenes.
So, I didn't love this 2-parter as much as “Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound”, but its still pretty good on its own terms. Now get back to Danny Ketch, damn it!
Bob, the prison guard who is also a servant of Zadkiel, has released the murderous Deacon from his cell with orders to kill the Ghost Rider. To help him, Bob gives the Deacon a vial containing the Elixir of the Rock of Etam, one sip of which will grant him the strength of Samson, and a pair of giant golden daggers.
On Cell Block D, Blaze speaks with the preacher responsible for gunning down his parish. The preacher tells him he had been recruited by the First Church of the New Dawn, which he later learned was brainwashing people to serve in the army of Zadkiel. When he discovered this, the preacher took out a machine gun during a Sunday sermon and killed everyone inside. Blaze tells him he's there because a group of Satanists he roused in Denver gave him the preacher's name. The preacher admits that he made a deal with the Satanists; the Devil gets his soul and in return he's granted protection from Zadkiel's assassins and when he dies he won't have to go to Heaven. The preacher tells Blaze that Zadkiel is working to consolidate the powers of the Spirits of Vengeance, then realizes that Blaze himself is one of the Spirits. Before the preacher can say anything else, the Deacon comes up from behind and decapitates him. The Deacon makes quick work of the Satanists, then turns his attention to Blaze, who has transformed into the Ghost Rider. The two begin to fight, and Blaze is immediately injured by the Deacon's golden daggers. The Deacon gets the upper hand and throws Blaze through a wall into the prison's chapel; but when he gets close enough, Blaze grabs the Deacon and gives him the Penance Stare. Unbelievably, the Stare has no effect on the man, and he promptly stabs Blaze in the stomach. He explains that the Stare didn't work because he doesn't feel guilty for any of the lives he's taken; sin deserves to be punished and sinners must be made to repent. Blaze, nearly defeated, lays on his back and grabs the object nearest to him as a shield: the chapel's large, hard-bound Bible. The Deacon stops and demands Blaze to drop the book, saying “the Bible is not a weapon”. Johnny then uses the heavy book to hit the Deacon in the face, and continues to beat the madman senseless with the Bible. As he pummels his enemy, Blaze shouts over and over for the Deacon to tell him how to get to Zadkiel, until he finally notices that he's beat the man into unconsciousness. Blaze turns to leave, not noticing Bob the guard looking on, gun placed to his head in order to join his master Zadkiel.
Blaze staggers through the prison, unable to change back to his human form because his massive injuries would kill him. That means the Ghost Rider is calling the shots now, the Spirit of Vengeance crying out for the blood of the innocent to be avenged. At that moment, the Ghost Rider enters into a large group of rioting prisoners.
Eight minutes later, when the guards in riot gear break into the prison block, they find all of the prisoners laying on the floor and a huge hole blown out of the ground. In the cemetery outside, Ghost Rider blasts out from underground on his motorcycle and silently rides away toward the sunrise.
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| The power of Christ compels him! |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider (2006) Annual # 2
Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18. He has been searching for a way to get to Heaven since Ghost Rider (2006) # 20.
The Deacon makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33.
CHAIN REACTION
Jason Aaron's second story-arc comes to a close with the Ghost Rider's brutal fight against the Deacon, and we're given some more information on what exactly Zadkiel is trying to accomplish in Heaven!
While not as immediately engaging as his opening storyline, this issue at least picks the break-neck speed of his first four issues back up after the slower opening to this arc in the previous issue. Aaron knows how to write action sequences very well, and this issue's throw-down with the Deacon is a good example of that fact. It's been a long time since we saw the Ghost Rider take a beating as severe as this, especially from a seemingly-normal villain like the Deacon. It was a bit surprising, actually, considering Blaze just spent two years eliminating the Devil himself with little trouble only to get his head handed to him by a strong guy with knives. Of course, the stand-out moment of the fight was the way Johnny won, by using the massive Bible as a bludgeon. That was pretty inventive, and I can't recall any other instance when someone was beaten nearly to death by a Bible, ha ha ha.
The rest of the issue is spent with Blaze and the nameless preacher (there Aaron goes not giving his characters names again!) having their conversation about Zadkiel. This scene frustrated me a bit the first time I read it because it doesn't give us any new information despite the number of pages devoted to it. We already know about Zadkiel trying to take Heaven's throne for himself and that he has numerous agents on Earth. If you're going to spend that much time on their conversation, at least give us something that makes it worthwhile. The only bone we're thrown is the very end of the conversation, when the preacher mentions the Spirits of Vengeance, plural meaning more-than-one.
Tan Eng Huat seems to be settling in comfortably with his second issue on the series, and he's finally given the opportunity to draw the Ghost Rider himself (last issue showed Johnny only half-transformed, as he was fighting to keep the Spirit of Vengeance under control). Huat gives us a much more traditional looking Ghost Rider that follows closely the Saltares/Texeira design, which surprised me after seeing Roland Boschi's exaggerated rendition of the character. Huat is just as stylized an artist as Boschi, so I was a little disappointed that he stuck so closely to the established look. Regardless, though, Huat turns in a great fight sequence between Blaze and the Deacon. His work has a great kinetic quality to it, a frantic flow that really translates well for the action scenes.
So, I didn't love this 2-parter as much as “Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound”, but its still pretty good on its own terms. Now get back to Danny Ketch, damn it!
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| Anything can be a weapon in the right hands! |
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