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| Cover Artist: Salvador Larroca |
Original Price: $1.50
Title: "Song of the Furies"
Writer: Ivan Velez Jr.
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Inker: Sergio Melia
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Editor: James Felder
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras
SYNOPSIS
As the dimensional void that serves as his prison changes and shifts around him, the Ghost Rider - clothed in a new costume - thinks about all he's learned about his past as a man named Noble Kale and the three demons known as the Furies who are coming to destroy him. Noble is visited in the void by the spirit of his little brother, Dante, who tells him that they have lots to do and remember...and most importantly, he has to face up to the blood on his hands, so when he's killed he'll die in a state of grace.
In Cypress Hills Cemetery, the police have uncovered a grave robbing incident where seven bodies had been taken. As the cops try to work out what they should do next, they fail to notice the demoness Black Rose emerging from one of the nearby graves. Elsewhere in Brooklyn, Danny Ketch, John Blaze, and Jennifer Kale begin to visit all of the people that are friends or blood relations to the Ghost Rider, to protect them from the Furies' wrath. In order to protect them, their only option is to erase their memories of the Ghost Rider's connection to Dan, and before they start Jennifer attunes her compact mirror to warn them of when the Furies arrive on this plane. They start their mission with Dan's mother, who falls quickly to Jennifer's mystical dust - Dan muses that she'll probably just think it's a hangover from drinking too much. Back in the Void, Noble continues to see visions of people from his forgotten past - Dante, his father Pastor Kale, and his wife Magdelena and their infant son.
At St. Michael's hospital, Dan and Jennifer visit the room of Gerry Dolan, where Stacy is sitting watching over her injured father. Jennifer casts the spell on the father and daughter, promising Dan that it won't affect Dolan's heart condition. They meet up with Blaze outside and start to go over other people that have personal relationships with the Rider - Dan mentions Jack D'Auria, but he's moved to Canada is out of their reach. Jennifer then comments that the Furies have to take over host bodies to appear on Earth, and that anyone who has come in contact with the Ghost Rider is eligible. At that moment, on a flight from Miami to New York, Paula Harris sits on the plane and thinks about how she ran away from Dan while they were dating. Suddenly, Black Rose appears on the plane and approaches Paula, telling her she and everyone else on the plane will die a horrible death unless she allows them to use her body for a few hours. Paula accepts, and she is transformed into the Dark Lady. When this happens, Jennifer's magic mirror begins to sing, alerting them that the first of the Furies has arrived on the earthly plane. Almost immediately after, in the burn ward of Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, Agent Uno - the former leader of an anti-terrorist task force who had been burned alive by Vengeance - is approached by Black Rose and given the same offer. In the subway, Kale's mirror alerts them to the coming of Lady Ash.
Jennifer, Danny, and Blaze all rush to Dan's apartment to try and find some weapons they can use before the third Fury arrives. As they rush into the building, Danny ignores Carlie Colon when she says hello to him. In Dan's apartment, Jennifer breaks a mirror and hands each of them a shard, telling them that the Furies aren't supposed to like their reflections when they're inhabiting a human host. Dan says that he thinks it's time for Ghost Rider to come out, but Jennifer warns him that they don't know how much of his memory has returned and that he may have discovered some things that won't make him very cooperative...there's nothing more horrible than a Fury, unless it's a Spirit of Vengeance. Back outside, Carlie's brother Choocho makes fun of her for fawning over Danny when no one would want a "Miss Piggy" like her. Thinking she's pathetic, Carlie opens the door to her apartment and finds Black Rose waiting for her.
Upstairs, Jennifer sends out a mystic distress call, hoping for a local deity like Thor or Hercules will answer it. She sees the mirror flash again, which means the third Fury, Ember the Maiden, has arrived. While Jennifer and Blaze prepare for the coming battle, Dan sulks in the background. Suddenly, all of the windows in the building shatter while the voices of the Furies boom - "Where is the Riding Ghost? Bring him to us or suffer!" Dan makes up his mind that the Ghost Rider is needed, and triggers the transformation despite Jennifer's warning. Blaze and Kale stand in shock as the Ghost Rider appears in his newly created outfit, formed out of pure hellfire. A moment later, Noble Kale busts onto the street to confront the three Furies, who have completely taken control over their host bodies.
ANNOTATIONS
The full story behind Noble Kale's origin is revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 92.
Dan's mother, Francis Ketch, revealed to him that she knew about him being the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (1990) # 41. Stacy Dolan learned the truth in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 18 and her father, Gerard Dolan, found out in Ghost Rider (1990) # 74.
Gerard Dolan was hospitalized for a heart condition following Ghost Rider (1990) # 76.
Dan mentions Jack D'Auria, who was last seen as the Shriker in Ghost Rider (1990) # 62.
Of the three women possessed by the Furies: Paula Harris was last seen in Over the Edge (1995) # 4, Agent Uno in Ghost Rider (1990) # 74, and Carlie Colon has been part of the supporting cast since Ghost Rider (1990) # 70.
The whereabouts of the bodies stolen from Cypress Hills will be shown in Ghost Rider (1990) # 83.
REVIEW
We got a brief last-page glimpse in the previous issue, but here's where we get our first extended look at the Ghost Rider's new costume - a horribly garish jumpsuit that I've always liked to call the "Speed Racer" uniform.
This issue continues Ivan Velez's first attempt at an origin story for the Ghost Rider, first bringing the Noble Kale name and background into play alongside the three Furies that were introduced in the previous two issues. What we're given is pretty much nothing but set-up for the fight in the next issue, padding out this storyarc more than was probably necessary. But it's okay, because it's still a good read that goes to incredible lengths to talk up just how much of a threat the Furies really are (a threat that the next issue unfortunately doesn't capitalize on). The Furies arrive on Earth by taking over the bodies of three current and former supporting cast members, from Velez's own creation Carlie to the previously forgotten and dumped-on-the-roadside Paula and Uno. I did like the nods to past continuity with the return of Paula and Uno, and it gives Velez's retcon origin teases a bit more weight than I expected with such a drastic change in direction.
While the book charges forward with the revamped status quo that Velez is setting up, we're also given a huge leap backward in terms of the book's original supporting cast. In the span of a few pages, all of the character development given to Francis Ketch and Stacy and Gerry Dolan is erased by a convenient "memory spell" that resets their personalities back to square one. Gone is the excellent character drama spelled out by Stacy's job as a cop colliding with her knowledge of Dan's secret identity in favor of returning the characters to - I can only imagine, anyway - a more manageable state for Velez and where he's wanting to take Dan. I admit, it DID seem like everyone and their literal mother knew about Dan being the Ghost Rider by this time, but Velez's attempts to close this particular Pandora's Box seems like an overly-complicated way to do it. Regardless, it seems more like a desperate attempt to turn the clock back on the characters than a genuine dramatic moment.
I suppose I can't go much further without talking about the Ghost Rider's new costume, designed by Adam Polina (mostly remembered for his work on X-Force around this time). While I understand the desire to move the book and character in a new direction following creator Howard Mackie's departure, I don't see why there was a need to take away the design that had become so iconic for Ghost Rider. It also doesn't help that not even an artist of Salvador Larroca's talent can make it look good. A lot of the blame goes on the shoulders of the color choices - I mean, who thought that red, yellow, and blue were appropriate colors for a motorcycle riding demon with a flaming skull for a head? But all of the elements of the costume are terrible, from the big yellow zipper running down the front to the sleeveless bodysuit beneath the jacket that we'll see in excruciating detail next issue. Fans should be thankful that this abomination only lasted for about 12 issues, which was way too long as it was.
Despite being saddled with the horrible new costume, Salvador Larroca and Sergio Melia continue to do the top-notch job on the artwork that they always have. While I do feel that Larroca's work began to slip in his last year or so on the book following Velez's start, his art never came close to being "bad". It's nowhere close to the sheer awesomeness of his art during the "Betrayals" and "In Chains" run, but it's still a pretty damn good job.
For all the good things this story had going for it, it was easily the beginning of the end for the series. A new origin and a horrible redesign were about to be coupled with a completely inappropriate new artist, and the patience of Ghost Rider fans was about to be tested like never before.
Grade: B-
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