On Sale Date: December 1991
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Guang Yap
Inker: Bud LaRosa
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Fernando Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Guang Yap
Inker: Bud LaRosa
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Fernando Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover Artist: Sam Keith
THE ROADMAP
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine, Nova, and Speedball.
To say this story has been an exercise at killing time and filling pages is an understatement, since we were given the flimsiest excuse for a justified team-up in the opening chapters and then spent the rest of the time meandering from fight scene to fight scene. The last two chapters slowed things down considerably, which was a refreshing break from the running battle that took up the first half of the arc. Finally, we get the story's twist, which reveals that the girl Ghost Rider and Cable have been trying to save since the first chapter is actually just a reanimated corpse with no identity of her own. This at least gives a handy answer as to why the girl has gone nameless through the story, she's not a person at all but an undead prize to be passed around the various parties.
Ghost Rider and Cable are still big damn heroes, though, so they are adamant that the girl gets to choose whether she becomes the bride to a tentacle monster or not. I love the overwhelming politeness of the Warriors of the Dead, who keep repeating "you are honorable men, why the hell won't you just go away and leave us alone now?". The Grateful Undead are still nameless ciphers, even with their back-story having been told, but seeing that they're underground assassins who apparently kill via passive aggressiveness is really endearing.
Guang Yap continues his yeoman work as artist, providing a nice opening splash of the impaled girl crying on her knees, trying to figure out why she isn't dead. Outside of that, Yap doesn't get much to draw outside of talking heads, though he at least varies the conversation panels up enough that things don't get boring or repetitive. He has a good handle on both lead characters, and something I appreciate is how he draws Cable as a relatively normal and subdued guy, which is amazing considering this is not long after Rob "I love big guns and pouches" Liefeld created him.
This arc is so uneven, it's like riding a really boring rollercoaster. Still, maybe the last chapter will save it?
The girl rescued by Ghost Rider and Cable has been revealed to actually be dead, having been stabbed by the Warriors of the Dead, her wounds leaking energy instead of blood. When the Grateful Undead's leader tells her that only they can help her, she fights back and refuses to go. Ghost Rider and Cable intervene on the girl's behalf, putting the fight at a stalemate. The head Warrior explains that the girl is no longer a living human being, instead she is a nameless shell reanimated by their priests during an ancient ritual, and all the memories of their race were placed inside her mind. Realizing that the Warrior speaks the truth, the girl goes into a rage and attacks him and her two protectors. She again refuses to go, but breaks down into tears when the Warrior tells her that she has no choice. Cable protests for her again, saying they will make sure she gets a choice. Then the room is engulfed with bright light and the floor gives way, with the Warrior stating that "all choice has been taken out of our hands...now our lives are in the hands of my god". Ghost Rider, Cable, the girl, and the Warriors of the Dead are brought back to the Cathedral of the Dead far underground. When they land, the all of the Warriors except for the bowing leader are sucked under the ground, and the skeletons around them form themselves into the shape of a man.
 |
| "Get over here!" |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider and Cable escaped from the Cathedral of the Dead the first time in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 93.
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine, Nova, and Speedball.
CHAIN REACTION
"Servants of the Dead" reaches its penultimate issue and reveal's the story's big twist, providing at least some satisfying attempts at storytelling.
To say this story has been an exercise at killing time and filling pages is an understatement, since we were given the flimsiest excuse for a justified team-up in the opening chapters and then spent the rest of the time meandering from fight scene to fight scene. The last two chapters slowed things down considerably, which was a refreshing break from the running battle that took up the first half of the arc. Finally, we get the story's twist, which reveals that the girl Ghost Rider and Cable have been trying to save since the first chapter is actually just a reanimated corpse with no identity of her own. This at least gives a handy answer as to why the girl has gone nameless through the story, she's not a person at all but an undead prize to be passed around the various parties.
Ghost Rider and Cable are still big damn heroes, though, so they are adamant that the girl gets to choose whether she becomes the bride to a tentacle monster or not. I love the overwhelming politeness of the Warriors of the Dead, who keep repeating "you are honorable men, why the hell won't you just go away and leave us alone now?". The Grateful Undead are still nameless ciphers, even with their back-story having been told, but seeing that they're underground assassins who apparently kill via passive aggressiveness is really endearing.
Guang Yap continues his yeoman work as artist, providing a nice opening splash of the impaled girl crying on her knees, trying to figure out why she isn't dead. Outside of that, Yap doesn't get much to draw outside of talking heads, though he at least varies the conversation panels up enough that things don't get boring or repetitive. He has a good handle on both lead characters, and something I appreciate is how he draws Cable as a relatively normal and subdued guy, which is amazing considering this is not long after Rob "I love big guns and pouches" Liefeld created him.
This arc is so uneven, it's like riding a really boring rollercoaster. Still, maybe the last chapter will save it?
 |
| Well, that's certainly ominous... |
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