Cover Date: February 1997
On Sale Date: December 1996
On Sale Date: December 1996
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Billy Tan
Inker: D-Tron
Letterer: Dennis Heisler
Colorists: Richard Isanove, Tyson Wengler, & Greg Hammond
Editor: James Felder
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras
Artist: Billy Tan
Inker: D-Tron
Letterer: Dennis Heisler
Colorists: Richard Isanove, Tyson Wengler, & Greg Hammond
Editor: James Felder
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras
Cover Artist: Billy Tan
An hour and a half earlier, Cyberforce member Ballistic sits at a crummy bar with a group of unconscious men scattered around her. She hates the fact that men constantly hit on her, unaware that she's lethal and genetically incapable of missing a shot. Yet another man comes up from behind to hit on her, and she replies by punching his nose off with her elbow. Surprisingly, the gentlemen is a demon, who has come into the bar with a whole group of demon friends that are all smitten by the barfly sharpshooter Ballistic. A brief fight begins, with Ballistic quickly eliminating each of the demons with her guns, until one grabs her from behind. The demon is knocked away by a swinging chain produced by the Ghost Rider, who has been sent by Cyberforce to retrieve Ballistic. Ghost Rider explains the situation, that he is from an alternate Earth and the devil Mephisto from his world has come to her universe. She lights a cigarette off Ghost Rider's hellfire and agrees to take a look at what he's describing.
Minutes later, atop a nearby building, Ghost Rider shows Ballistic what is happening to New York City. Times Square is Mephisto's lair, so the two heroes decide to go there and shoot Mephisto until he dies. They attack the demon horde and kill a good number until Mephisto himself appears and forces them to retreat. As they escape, they see a group of demons heading toward the Midtown Tunnel to enter Manhattan and kill everyone on the island. Ghost Rider and Ballistic destroy the cars in the tunnel, but the demons are still alive. With a few well-placed shots, Ballistic ignites the gasoline spilling from the damaged cars, causing the tunnel to be engulfed in an enormous explosion. Ballistic congratulates herself and the Rider on a job well done, unaware that they are being watched from a nearby building by none other than Wolverine.
This story takes place between Ghost Rider (1990) # 85 and Ghost Rider (1990) # 86.
Mephisto was believed to be dead, killed by his son Blackheart in Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: The Dark Design.
It's a safe bet that any Ghost Rider comic written by Warren Ellis is going to be interesting at the least, considering a few years before this he had produced two highly enjoyable fill-in stories for the character. Unlike the previous Cyblade team-up issue, Ballistic comes off as an interesting character that can hold her own with Ghost Rider; of course, I assume that's because this is Warren Ellis writing it and not because Ballistic was already a fully-realized and fleshed-out character in the pages of Cyberforce. Ellis makes me like Ballistic right away, and he once again does a good job writing Ghost Rider as well.
The best thing about this comic is the script, which is where Ellis excels with the dialogue between Ballistic and Ghost Rider. The plot is pretty much non-existent, nothing more than an excuse for 22 pages of explosions and gunfire. Ellis knows this, I think, and he fills the action scenes with some terribly witty banter between the two heroes. Even Ghost Rider, who at times can come off as overly-serious and dramatic, has some hilarious moments - such as when he tells Ballistic to get off his bike (“Nobody touches the bike.”) and his deadpan reactions to her snide comments. The whole “Decor Rider” bit is priceless, too. It's a bit surprising that a comic with demons, murder, and horrible things like that is so much FUN!
Helping to achieve that sense of fun is Billy Tan, who at the time was a Top Cow house artist that has since gone on to have a solid career at Marvel. His work here is very rough and very much of the company's house style (proto-Silvestri, see David Finch as well), but he gives it a manic energy that propels the action sequences along at a breakneck speed. He, too, gives us some good humor moments, particularly with Ghost Rider removing his own jaw following Ballistic's remark that she's try to get him to laugh if she wasn't afraid his lower jaw would fall off. I really like Tan's work in this comic, he fits Ghost Rider very well. In fact, he even manages to make that horrible red-and-yellow tracksuit costume look sort of cool!
I must admit, I would really like to read more issues of Ghost Rider and Ballistic blowing shit up and quipping with one another. This comic doesn't take itself too seriously, and in fact embraces the ridiculousness of the violence. For pure entertainment value, this one is a winner.
At 4 AM in New York, four cars driven by the demonically-possessed minions of Mephisto travel down the Midtown Tunnel. In this universe, there is no God of Death; so Mephisto has come to use all the unclaimed souls for himself while his servants kill everyone they see. Before they reach the end of the tunnel, the vehicles are attacked and destroyed by Ballistic and the Ghost Rider.
An hour and a half earlier, Cyberforce member Ballistic sits at a crummy bar with a group of unconscious men scattered around her. She hates the fact that men constantly hit on her, unaware that she's lethal and genetically incapable of missing a shot. Yet another man comes up from behind to hit on her, and she replies by punching his nose off with her elbow. Surprisingly, the gentlemen is a demon, who has come into the bar with a whole group of demon friends that are all smitten by the barfly sharpshooter Ballistic. A brief fight begins, with Ballistic quickly eliminating each of the demons with her guns, until one grabs her from behind. The demon is knocked away by a swinging chain produced by the Ghost Rider, who has been sent by Cyberforce to retrieve Ballistic. Ghost Rider explains the situation, that he is from an alternate Earth and the devil Mephisto from his world has come to her universe. She lights a cigarette off Ghost Rider's hellfire and agrees to take a look at what he's describing.
Minutes later, atop a nearby building, Ghost Rider shows Ballistic what is happening to New York City. Times Square is Mephisto's lair, so the two heroes decide to go there and shoot Mephisto until he dies. They attack the demon horde and kill a good number until Mephisto himself appears and forces them to retreat. As they escape, they see a group of demons heading toward the Midtown Tunnel to enter Manhattan and kill everyone on the island. Ghost Rider and Ballistic destroy the cars in the tunnel, but the demons are still alive. With a few well-placed shots, Ballistic ignites the gasoline spilling from the damaged cars, causing the tunnel to be engulfed in an enormous explosion. Ballistic congratulates herself and the Rider on a job well done, unaware that they are being watched from a nearby building by none other than Wolverine.
 |
| You don't touch a demon's ride, Ballistic! |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider was brought to the Top Cow Universe to stop Mephisto in the second chapter of the crossover, Devil's Reign: Cyblade/Ghost Rider # 1.
This story takes place between Ghost Rider (1990) # 85 and Ghost Rider (1990) # 86.
Mephisto was believed to be dead, killed by his son Blackheart in Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: The Dark Design.
CHAIN REACTION
As I said in the review for the previous chapter, the two Ghost Rider issues are all that I own of “Devil's Reign”. Re-reading this issue makes me curious about the rest of the story, I wonder if its anywhere near as entertaining as this one?
It's a safe bet that any Ghost Rider comic written by Warren Ellis is going to be interesting at the least, considering a few years before this he had produced two highly enjoyable fill-in stories for the character. Unlike the previous Cyblade team-up issue, Ballistic comes off as an interesting character that can hold her own with Ghost Rider; of course, I assume that's because this is Warren Ellis writing it and not because Ballistic was already a fully-realized and fleshed-out character in the pages of Cyberforce. Ellis makes me like Ballistic right away, and he once again does a good job writing Ghost Rider as well.
The best thing about this comic is the script, which is where Ellis excels with the dialogue between Ballistic and Ghost Rider. The plot is pretty much non-existent, nothing more than an excuse for 22 pages of explosions and gunfire. Ellis knows this, I think, and he fills the action scenes with some terribly witty banter between the two heroes. Even Ghost Rider, who at times can come off as overly-serious and dramatic, has some hilarious moments - such as when he tells Ballistic to get off his bike (“Nobody touches the bike.”) and his deadpan reactions to her snide comments. The whole “Decor Rider” bit is priceless, too. It's a bit surprising that a comic with demons, murder, and horrible things like that is so much FUN!
Helping to achieve that sense of fun is Billy Tan, who at the time was a Top Cow house artist that has since gone on to have a solid career at Marvel. His work here is very rough and very much of the company's house style (proto-Silvestri, see David Finch as well), but he gives it a manic energy that propels the action sequences along at a breakneck speed. He, too, gives us some good humor moments, particularly with Ghost Rider removing his own jaw following Ballistic's remark that she's try to get him to laugh if she wasn't afraid his lower jaw would fall off. I really like Tan's work in this comic, he fits Ghost Rider very well. In fact, he even manages to make that horrible red-and-yellow tracksuit costume look sort of cool!
I must admit, I would really like to read more issues of Ghost Rider and Ballistic blowing shit up and quipping with one another. This comic doesn't take itself too seriously, and in fact embraces the ridiculousness of the violence. For pure entertainment value, this one is a winner.
 |
| Call it a strategic withdrawal of forces? |
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