Ghost Rider (2016) # 2

"Four on the Floor, Part 2"

Cover Date: February 2017; Publication Date: December 2016

Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Danilo S. Beyruth; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Val Staples & Jesus Aburtov; Editor: Mark Paniccia; Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso; Cover Artist: Marco Chechetto

In Los Angeles, Laura Kinney (the All-New Wolverine) is attacked by the alien creature that escaped from the beach.  She discovers that its skin is impervious even to her adamantium claws, which cannot cut through it.  The "Totally Awesome" Hulk arrives and punches the monster into a glass window, causing shrapnel to fly at them.  He explains that the monster is a power-mimic that has already copied his abilities, including the impenetrable skin.  He sees that the shrapnel had cut Wolverine to shreds, and the alien makes contact with her blood, mutating it yet again. 

Meanwhile, Robbie and Gabe arrive at Canelo's Auto Shop while their boss, Mr. Canelo, conducts an interview with a new employee named Ramon who has just got out of prison.  Robbie goes to the bathroom and vomits, asking Eli what happened the night before.  Eli explains that they "leveled up", that every time he uses his power as the Ghost Rider it makes them more powerful.  Ramon leaves, and the other employees tell Robbie that the man was Ramon "Mad Dog" Cordova, a.k.a. El Perro Rabioso, who was a psychotic gangster that went to prison over a decade ago.

Back at the fight, the monster uses Wolverine as a "human dagger" and impales her claws through the Hulk's chest.  While the two heroes heal from their massive wounds, the monster escapes.  Hulk explains to Wolverine that he put a tracking device on it and asks her to help him find and stop it before it hurts more people.

That night in Hillrock Heights, Ramon Cordova's old gang attempts to get him to join back up with them to go to war with another gang.  Ramon refuses, saying that prison changed him and he has turned away from his murderous past.  Amadeus Cho and Wolverine pull up in a van and ask to be let through, and when the gang leader threatens them Cho steps out and turns into the Hulk.  The gang attacks, forcing Hulk and Wolverine to defend themselves, but the sound of an engine interrupts the fight.  The gang backs off, leaving Hulk and Wolverine in the street as a howling mad Ghost Rider arrives.

CHAIN REACTION

"Totally Awesome All-New Hulk and Wolverine Team-Up" continues into its second issue, with a surprise guest star in a flaming car arriving at the end!

I'm really not sure what Felipe Smith had in mind when he decided to devote so much time to the opening issues of this series to a bunch of guest-stars, because it totally kills any interest in the title character.  That's due, of course, to the fact that we only get to see Robbie "Ghost Rider" Reyes for 5 pages total in this issue.  That's unfortunate for readers like myself, who bought this comic expecting it to actually be about Ghost Rider.  Instead, we get page after page of the Totally Annoying Hulk and X-23 having a team-up that is in no way connected or related (so far, of course) to Robbie Reyes.

Look, unlike a lot of Ghost Rider fans, I enjoy the work Smith has done during his last two series.  All-New Ghost Rider was an incredible introduction to Robbie Reyes, and though the series stumbled a bit in the second half of the run he followed it up with Ghost Racers, a love letter to Ghost Riders of the past.  I was very excited for this series, but the first two issues have killed any enthusiasm I had for reading it.  Had this been released as some kind of "New Fantastic Four" mini-series, or even a traditional crossover between Ghost Rider, All-New Wolverine, Totally Awesome Hulk, and Silk (because yes, she's coming too) it would have been a fun diversion.  This, though, is not what I want from a Ghost Rider comic.

When Smith does remember who the main character is or that he can do subplots other than aliens fighting random superheroes, things are still sort of off.  This series has a weird structure, sort of like last issue's scenes not fitting into a correct chronological order between day and night.  Robbie has a conversation with Eli, which then goes into a flashback to a scene that really should have been in the last issue.  The flashback gives an important bit of information about Ghost Rider becoming more powerful, and Robbie acts like it was a huge deal in the moment, but the scene it references from the last issue gives no indication of anything like what happened here.  It just feels so disconnected from itself as it goes from scene to scene, like the bit with Ramon Cordova and his gang.  It seems like it should be a bigger deal, and its obviously setting up something for the future, but with so much space devoted to his introduction only for it lead to more Totally Asinine Hulk?  Disappointing.

The one part of this series that I am warming up to, though, is the artwork by Danilo Beyruth.  He definitely fits the Robbie Reyes house style, but the guy seems more willing to get his hands dirty with the nasty stuff.  His evisceration of the Hulk, which was cathartic on a lot of levels, was particularly brutal.  I also loved his changing design for the purple alien, with its upside down Wolverine heads.  I'd like to see more of his Ghost Rider, here's hoping he'll get to draw him next issue.

If I'm being hard on this comic, it's for two reasons: a) the disappointment I feel reading it based on my expectations and b) my inability to wrap my head around why the creators are making these decisions for a book that should have had a clear direction after Robbie's television exposure.  Any way you look at it, though, this series is quickly becoming a chore to read.