Ghost Racers (2015) # 2

Cover Date: July 2015; On Sale Date: May 2015

Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Juan Gedeon; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain; Editor: Mark Paniccia; Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla

Before becoming a Ghost Racer, Robbie Reyes and his brother Gabe were living normal lives in Doomrock Heights, part of South Doomstadt.  On a particularly hot day, Robbie and Gabe are hanging out with their friends (Guero, Ernie, and Romero) when Robbie sees a pretty girl walk by.  While Robbie is talking to her, Gabe busts open a fire hydrant for everyone to use to cool off.  This brings the attention of a Sentinel, who is ready to apprehend them for vandalizing property of Doom.  Robbie takes the blame for the hydrant, and the Sentinel scans him, discovering an "Igniter Spirit" inside him.  Two Thors arrive to assist in Robbie's apprehension, while the Sentinel takes in Guero, Ernie, and Romero, leaving Gabe alone on the street. 

At Doomstadt Coliseum, Arcade and Zadkiel visit Robbie in the prison cells, addressing him as a Ghost Racer despite Robbie's protests to the contrary.  Zadkiel notes that his Spirit of Ignition is different from the others and draws its power from another source, thought Arcade doesn't care.  They leave Robbie with the other imprisoned racers: Danny Ketch, Zero Cochrane, Alejandra Jones, and Knuckles O'Shaugnessy.  Later, Robbie is taken to an armored battle charger, and when he gets in he hears a voice speaking to him inside his head; it's his igniter spirit, who calls himself Eli.  Robbie transforms into a Ghost Racer for the first time as the race begins, but he is quickly taken out while Alejandra wins.  After the race, all of the losers including Robbie are tortured by Zadkiel.  Eli talks to Robbie and makes him a deal: Robbie makes sure they never lose again and Eli will find them a way out.

In the present day, Robbie has won every Ghost Race since then, making him a celebrity in the eyes of his fans and his brother, Gabe.  Arcade, meanwhile, has bet a significant amount of money against Robbie winning the next race, and tells Zadkiel that he has to ensure Robbie's loss.  During that night's race, Robbie takes an early lead and sees a giant mutated monster on the track that he recognizes as his three friends taken by the Sentinel, merged into one creature.  Still in shock, he sees his friends killed by a missile.  Then, Venus Compiler, a robotic biker that acts as the ultimate challenge for racers, is released to catch up to Robbie, destroying other Ghost Racers in her path.  Robbie screams at Eli to get them out of there, which Eli does by opening a portal that they drive through, causing them to disappear.  Arcade is furious, saying he doesn't win his money if Reyes disappears, and demands Zadkiel send out their best Ghost Racers to find Robbie and bring him back.

THE ROADMAP

Ghost Racers was part of the 2015 Secret Wars event, which saw the Marvel multiverse destroyed with only a single world remaining under the rule of a godlike Doctor Doom.  The planet, Battleworld, was comprised of dozens of domains consisting of fragments of alternate realities.  This series takes place in the domain of Doomstadt, which is home of the Killiseum.

Due to the nature of Battleworld, none of the Ghost Riders featured in this series come from the established Marvel Universe; all of them hail from alternate realities, which explains the inconsistencies in characterizations.

The Ghost Racers featured in this issue include: Robbie Reyes (who first appeared in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 1), Danny Ketch (first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1), Carter Slade (first appeared in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 1), Knuckles O'Shaughnessy (first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33), Zero Cochrane (first appeared in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 1), and Alejandra Jones (misnamed Alejandra Blaze in this series, first appeared in Ghost Rider (2011) # 1).

Zadkiel, who appears here as the handler for the Spirits of Ignition, was the angel responsible for the creation of the Spirits of Vengeance in the 616 Marvel Universe.  He made his first appearance in Ghost Rider (2006) # 27.

This issue also included a 1-page text/art article by Juan Gedeon called "The Devil's In the Details Part 2: Ketching Fire", which features commentary on his design for Danny Ketch.

CHAIN REACTION

Smith and Gedeon give us the origin story for this Battleworld version of Robbie Reyes, while continuing their bizarre tribute to Ghost Rider history.

As it was made so clear in the pages of All-New Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes is really just a GRINO (Ghost Rider In Name Only) with no connection to the actual Spirits of Vengeance, they even trotted out Johnny Blaze to hammer the point home.  This series, however, is Felipe Smith's attempt to really ground Robbie in the lore of Ghost Rider history, and since it's an alternate reality mash-up he can get away with just about anything.  It's obvious that he's done his research, since this issue brings in such characters as Ghost Rider 2099, Knuckles O'Shaugnessy, and even a cameo at the end from Vengeance.  Knuckles fucking O'Shaugnessy, people, you'll either love it or you'll hate it.  The crazy interpretations of past Ghost Riders may be the selling point of the series, and that aspect just keeps getting wilder, but the real heart of the comic is Robbie Reyes as a character.

Like in All-New Ghost Rider, Robbie's relationship with Gabe is essential to the character's motivations and it's what sells the drama of the story.  The origin sequence, which takes up the majority of the issue, goes a long way to not just show what Robbie was like before becoming a Ghost Racer, it also marks a drastic change from how the character was before "Secret Wars" hit.  In this version of the world, Robbie was actually happy, with friends and a disposition more like a normal teenager.  The Robbie from All-New Ghost Rider would have taken his transformation into a Ghost Racer with a bit less pants-wetting because he was a much harder person.  Even in the present day Robbie's a celebrity with a dream life, provided he keeps winning of course, and if taken too far Robbie could have easily felt like a totally different character.  It's the relationship with Gabe and the guilt that comes with lying about the nature of losing a race that brings back the Robbie that we're used to reading about. 

Juan Gedeon continues to kill it on the artwork, providing even more distinct and interesting variations on the Ghost Rider concept.  "Skull on fire and leather" is pretty basic, so letting him run wild with guys like Zero Cochrane, who is literally riding an electric chainsaw bike was a great idea.  Granted, I'm one who loves the original robot design for Zero and I kinda missed it here, but I can also see it not being crazy enough.  Making each rider distinct from one another was either a nightmare or a dream job, and Gedeon stepped his game up nicely.

Ghost Racers isn't just a continuation of All-New Ghost Rider, it really seems like Smith's olive branch to Ghost Rider fans who might not have tuned in for Robbie Reyes the first time around.  I think he succeeds admirably while also keeping what was so great about Robbie in the first place, making this a great spiritual (no pun intended) successor.