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| Cover Artist: Ron Garney |
Original Price: $1.75
Title: Road To Vengeance: The Missing Link, Part 1: "Mother Love"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Ron Garney
Inkers: Chris Ivy
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
SYNOPSIS
In Greenland, a very pregnant Lilith sings her siren call in the vain hope that one of her scattered children will come to her. She has devoured the corpses of her children that were killed by the Midnight Sons, and is ready to give birth to them once again. Her song is carried to every corner of the planet, and is heard by Centurious. Recognizing Lilith's call, he teleports away, believing that the demon queen may be able to help him in his quest for the Medallion of Power. Meanwhile, in New York, Dan Ketch sits in his apartment, thinking about all the questions that have been raised concerning the Ghost Rider's origin. Suddenly, a strange woman enters, saying that her name is Seer, one of the Caretaker's people. Dan says that the Caretaker is dead, killed by Vengeance. Seer replies that the Caretaker is probably still alive, and that Dan needs to come with her to get the answers he seeks. At that moment, hearing Lilith's siren call, Seer grabs Dan and pulls him out of the apartment.
Back in the Arctic, Lilith begins to lose hope that one of her children will come to her aid. Finally, a Lilin by the name of Outcast arrives, saying that he wants to return to the family fold. Outcast rips a hole in his mother's stomach, allowing the reborn Lilin to emerge in a flash of light. Blackout, whose face is now fully healed from the scars inflicted by Ghost Rider's hellfire, is the first to approach Lilith. She tells him that the Nine must die, that she wants their entrails as adornments. Blackout forces Pilgrim to teleport him to New York, in order to kill Danny.
Danny and Seer ride through NYC on his motorcycle, when they are attacked by Pilgrim and Blackout. Pilgrim creates a rift in the street, opening a giant chasm directly in front of Dan, who manages to grab hold of the street-edge. Dan tells Seer that he can't transform into the Ghost Rider until innocent blood is spilled, to which she says is untrue. Frustrated, Seer lets go of Danny and falls into the chasm, hoping to trigger his transformation. Blackout then grabs Dan's wrist, pulling him out of the chasm. When Dan sees the fresh blood that stains the vampire's teeth, the transformation is triggered and the Ghost Rider emerges. Pilgrim promptly teleports himself and his ally, as Blackout taunts the Rider by threatening Dan's mother.
In Greenland, Lilith and her offspring are confronted by Centurious, who seeks an alliance with the demon queen. Realizing that Centurious knows the location of the Medallion of Power, Lilith accepts the offer. Meanwhile, the Ghost Rider enters the darkened home of Francis Ketch. He finds the woman in the basement, attempting to fix the lights. Pilgrim and Blackout appear and grab Mrs. Ketch, commanding the Rider to transform back into Dan or she will die. The Ghost Rider refuses, slamming the end of his chain into Pilgrim's face (shattering it rather nicely). The demon then forms a length of the chain into a facsimile of a stake, promptly stabbing it into Blackout's forehead. Pilgrim teleports the two Lilin away, leaving GR alone with Mrs. Ketch. She tells the Rider that she knows about him and Dan, and that it's time for him to learn the truth. She is then grabbed from behind by Centurious, who blasts the Ghost Rider with an energy beam. As he teleports away, he tells GR that John Blaze knows where to find him, and that both of them must come. Seer then reappears, offering to give GR the answers to his questions. The Ghost Rider brushes her aside, opting instead to search for Blaze.
ANNOTATIONS
Ghost Rider last appeared in Morbius: The Living Vampire (1992) # 15. "Road to Vengeance: The Missing Link" continues in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 14.
Ghost Rider (1990) Annual # 1, in which Ghost Rider fights the vampire Night Terror, takes place between scenes in this issue; specifically right after Seer picks Dan up from his apartment.
Lilith was defeated and the Lilin were killed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 31. Lilith was seen pregnant with her reborn children in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 13.
Blackout's face was destroyed by hellfire in Ghost Rider (1990) # 3. He later killed Dan's sister, Barbara, in Ghost Rider (1990) # 7 and attacked the rest of his friends and family in Ghost Rider (1990) # 25. He learned about his Lilin heritage in Ghost Rider (1990) # 28.
REVIEW
After a solid year of build-up across two ongoing titles, the pay-off for the Centurious/Zarathos/Medallion of Power storyline is finally upon us. Howard Mackie later said that this story was editorially mandated - that he preferred to keep the Ghost Rider's origins a mystery - and I can certainly see why he'd be hesitant to take credit for "Road to Vengeance".
In this opening chapter, however, things are getting off to a nice start. The reintroduction of Lilith and Blackout coupled with the first on-screen moves of Centurious go a long way in saying this storyarc is where all the cards are being laid on the table - in other words, Mackie and company are waving their arms and screaming "this is IT!" at the top of their lungs. And for this first chapter, it works...though not without some drawbacks.
Along with dealing with the origin, Mackie's main thrust in this arc seems to come down to how many villains he can throw into the narrative alongside the kitchen sink. This chapter brings back both Lilith and Blackout - while subsequent chapters include Centurious, Zarathos, Vengeance, Deathwatch, and Skinner - and it amazes me to see just how far the book's # 1 villain, Blackout, has fallen since "Rise of the Midnight Sons". Throughout the first two years of the series, Blackout was THE villain, responsible for not only the death of Dan's sister but also Dan himself. In all honesty, I feel that Blackout should have died at the end of the 25th issue, because the character had run his course. Now, with the events of this issue, everything that had made Blackout unique has been taken away - instead of a lone serial killing mutant, he's now a mystical vampire that's just one of a group of bland mystical villains. Of course, that's not to mention the fact that this issue successfully takes away the villain's complete reason for wanting revenge on the Ghost Rider once his face is healed. Mackie will succeed in bringing the character back to a touch of his former glory later on in the series, once the Lilith nonsense ended, but right now Blackout is just a shade of what made him so good to begin with.
We're also dealing heavy in retcon city with this storyarc and it's focus on the Medallion of Power. For an object that's supposed to be kept secret, it seems like a whole lotta people know about it. Motivations for characters change without explanation, including Lilith and Centurious, and it makes me wonder if perhaps Mackie originally had something else in mind for Centurious' return when he first started dropping hints a year before. But I've also never been a fan of the whole Medallion of Power concept and origin, and I seriously disliked how every villain started claiming that as their ultimate goal in this storyline when there had been no mention of it beforehand.
Only two issues into his run, Ron Garney is starting to slip a little on the book's artistic front. While I still enjoy his rendition of the Ghost Rider, the detail of his work seen on Nightstalkers is starting to get pushed to roadside in favor of a more simplistic style that doesn't go over well with me. I also dislike the way he's drawing Mrs. Ketch as a thin young woman when every previous depiction of her has been the opposite, a slightly heavy older woman.
While some of the details were decent enough, "Road to Vengeance" is a story that smacks as a big ol' mistake, featuring way too many characters and an opening villain that's a pathetic shade of his former self. And unfortunately, the story really doesn't get much better than this.
Grade: C
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