On Sale Date: February 2006
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Clayton Crain
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Clayton Crain
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Cover Date: Clayton Crain
Adam wakes up thinking he is in Heaven, but quickly realizes he is in Hell due to having sold his soul. Ghost Rider also awakens in Hell, seeing a fiery-skulled Gustav race by in his wheelchair, and is immediately confronted by Malachi. The angel tells him that he lied to him and cannot release him from Hell, he was simply using him as a weapon to keep Kazaan out of Heaven. Ruth appears behind Malachi and rips his wings off, damning him to Hell. Hoss appears and explains that he and Ruth partnered up to find out who had released the Ghost Rider to stop Kazaan, revealing that Kazaan had once been an angel. Malachi and Kazaan had been receiving promotions from Heaven and Hell due to the information they passed back and forth to one another, but now that's all over. Ghost Rider rages, furious that he was used as a pawn, so Hoss tells him to take his pleasures where he can. Later, Ghost Rider is again taking his nightly ride through Hell to reach the gates before the demons catch him, only now he is dragging Malachi behind him as he rides.
CHAIN REACTION
As a story in and of itself, this one is very well-written. Garth Ennis couldn't produce a badly-written comic if he tried, the man is just that great of a writer, and everything concludes appropriately here. All of the characters reach a resolution to their roles in the story, the ultimate plot introduced in the first issue is wrapped up without any dangling threads, and as a story it all hangs together without incident. The problem is that Ghost Rider, the title character, is completely incidental to the story, with all of the major resolutions being farmed out to the supporting characters. Hoss, Ruth, and Miss fucking Catmint are the real heroes of "Road to Damnation", while Johnny Blaze is just kind of there to make the visuals look cool.
When you have a story with an interchangeable lead character, whose actual presence does nothing to change or influence the climax, that's considered a failure. I wanted a comic that actually involved Ghost Rider, not one where he is relegated to ineffectual stooge that's downplayed in favor of the writer's own creations. I don't think Ennis gave a damn about Johnny Blaze, and hey, that's okay. Ennis is a fantastic writer and one of my personal favorites, but if he didn't have anything interesting to say about the character he should have stayed away. Especially considering the draught of original material featuring the character at this time, with only one short mini-series in nearly a decade, fans wanted GHOST RIDER. "Road to Damnation" was trumpeted as a big damn deal by Marvel, getting the writer who reinvigorated the Punisher to do the same for Ghost Rider was a fantastic idea. On the front, Ghost Rider and Garth Ennis looked like a perfect match, but this series was not what was advertised. This was The Adventures of Hoss and Ruth, and I don't want to read that shit.
Another problem is that Ennis does nothing to get the character back into circulation, which I can imagine had to be a goal for Marvel. Instead, we get a new status quo introduced in the first issue, with Johnny Blaze stuck in Hell, and that's awesome. But when you have an entire mini-series devoted to reintroducing a character, sticking him back at that same closed loop status quo at story's end is extremely dissatisfying. Daniel Way was the writer who eventually dragged Ghost Rider out of the mire left by "Road to Damnation's" ending, and we all know how that turned out. I can see the appeal of the twist ending, but more so than taking the character back out of circulation, it emphasized the "Ghost Rider is nothing but a dumb pawn" trope that he's been stuck with ever since.
The one bright side to all of this is Clayton Crain, who turns in another beautifully horrific issue with his computer generated artwork. Again, I feel cheated that we didn't get to see him actually draw Ghost Rider more than he does in this series, because the covers he produced showed so much promise for his interpretation. I love so much of his work here, the chains from the mouth and the blue glow of Kazaan's angel form are inspired. Crain's an artist I always love to see return to the character, because his style fits Ghost Rider perfectly.
So, I know a lot of people hold "Road to Damnation" up as a Top Ten Ghost Rider story, but I can't give high marks to a series that didn't have very much "Ghost Rider" in it. Ennis and Crain will return for "Trail of Tears" a year later and produce a series that's better in almost every aspect than this one, so if you really want to see those creators turned loose on a quality Ghost Rider project, choose that one.
Ghost Rider and Kazaan are confronting one another atop the Gustav Petroleum building, which has been split down the middle by the portal to Hell below. Kazaan claims that the Ghost Rider has been duped by Malachi, and the angel and demon are actually brothers. Ghost Rider denounces him as a liar, and both he and Kazaan jump into the gulf between them, colliding in a burst of fire that destroys Kazaan's body. They fall the length of the building and land hard, where Kazaan's true angelic form is revealed. Back at the top of the building, Earl Gustav looks on at what he has helped Kazaan accomplish. His assistant, Jemima Catmint, pushes Gustav's wheelchair to the edge and threatens to throw him off if he doesn't stop what he is doing. Down below, Ghost Rider fires chains from his mouth to hold Kazaan from leaving, while above Gustav recites the spell that reverses the Hell portal. All of the demons are sucked back down into Hell, including Kazaan who is held from escaping by Ghost Rider's chains. When the portal closes, Ghost Rider cheers, thinking he has won his freedom. He's then shot and killed by Father Adam, who then dies himself. Gustav is dropped off the building when Ruth startles Miss Catmint, causing her to let go of the man's wheelchair as he dangled off the edge of the building.
Adam wakes up thinking he is in Heaven, but quickly realizes he is in Hell due to having sold his soul. Ghost Rider also awakens in Hell, seeing a fiery-skulled Gustav race by in his wheelchair, and is immediately confronted by Malachi. The angel tells him that he lied to him and cannot release him from Hell, he was simply using him as a weapon to keep Kazaan out of Heaven. Ruth appears behind Malachi and rips his wings off, damning him to Hell. Hoss appears and explains that he and Ruth partnered up to find out who had released the Ghost Rider to stop Kazaan, revealing that Kazaan had once been an angel. Malachi and Kazaan had been receiving promotions from Heaven and Hell due to the information they passed back and forth to one another, but now that's all over. Ghost Rider rages, furious that he was used as a pawn, so Hoss tells him to take his pleasures where he can. Later, Ghost Rider is again taking his nightly ride through Hell to reach the gates before the demons catch him, only now he is dragging Malachi behind him as he rides.
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| Love that blue flame on the back tire! |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider appears next, still trapped in Hell, in Ghost Rider (2006) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
"Road to Damnation" concludes with one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever read.
As a story in and of itself, this one is very well-written. Garth Ennis couldn't produce a badly-written comic if he tried, the man is just that great of a writer, and everything concludes appropriately here. All of the characters reach a resolution to their roles in the story, the ultimate plot introduced in the first issue is wrapped up without any dangling threads, and as a story it all hangs together without incident. The problem is that Ghost Rider, the title character, is completely incidental to the story, with all of the major resolutions being farmed out to the supporting characters. Hoss, Ruth, and Miss fucking Catmint are the real heroes of "Road to Damnation", while Johnny Blaze is just kind of there to make the visuals look cool.
When you have a story with an interchangeable lead character, whose actual presence does nothing to change or influence the climax, that's considered a failure. I wanted a comic that actually involved Ghost Rider, not one where he is relegated to ineffectual stooge that's downplayed in favor of the writer's own creations. I don't think Ennis gave a damn about Johnny Blaze, and hey, that's okay. Ennis is a fantastic writer and one of my personal favorites, but if he didn't have anything interesting to say about the character he should have stayed away. Especially considering the draught of original material featuring the character at this time, with only one short mini-series in nearly a decade, fans wanted GHOST RIDER. "Road to Damnation" was trumpeted as a big damn deal by Marvel, getting the writer who reinvigorated the Punisher to do the same for Ghost Rider was a fantastic idea. On the front, Ghost Rider and Garth Ennis looked like a perfect match, but this series was not what was advertised. This was The Adventures of Hoss and Ruth, and I don't want to read that shit.
Another problem is that Ennis does nothing to get the character back into circulation, which I can imagine had to be a goal for Marvel. Instead, we get a new status quo introduced in the first issue, with Johnny Blaze stuck in Hell, and that's awesome. But when you have an entire mini-series devoted to reintroducing a character, sticking him back at that same closed loop status quo at story's end is extremely dissatisfying. Daniel Way was the writer who eventually dragged Ghost Rider out of the mire left by "Road to Damnation's" ending, and we all know how that turned out. I can see the appeal of the twist ending, but more so than taking the character back out of circulation, it emphasized the "Ghost Rider is nothing but a dumb pawn" trope that he's been stuck with ever since.
The one bright side to all of this is Clayton Crain, who turns in another beautifully horrific issue with his computer generated artwork. Again, I feel cheated that we didn't get to see him actually draw Ghost Rider more than he does in this series, because the covers he produced showed so much promise for his interpretation. I love so much of his work here, the chains from the mouth and the blue glow of Kazaan's angel form are inspired. Crain's an artist I always love to see return to the character, because his style fits Ghost Rider perfectly.
So, I know a lot of people hold "Road to Damnation" up as a Top Ten Ghost Rider story, but I can't give high marks to a series that didn't have very much "Ghost Rider" in it. Ennis and Crain will return for "Trail of Tears" a year later and produce a series that's better in almost every aspect than this one, so if you really want to see those creators turned loose on a quality Ghost Rider project, choose that one.
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| Premature declaration! |
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