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| Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl |
Original Price: N/A
Title: "Slash Attack!"
Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: Karl Kerschl
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Scott Marshall
Editor: Glenn Herdling
SYNOPSIS
In another dimension, Zarathos watches the three Spirits of Vengeance - Ghost Rider, John Blaze, and Vengeance - and swears revenge on them for foiling his last attempt to conquer Earth. He decides that he will test them and chooses the Outcast to perform the first test on John Blaze. While taking a break from the Quentin Carnival, Blaze is attacked by Outcast, who slashes him repeatedly with his claws. Before he can kill Blaze, Outcast is distracted by the Caretaker, allowing John to stab Outcast with a knife formed out of hellfire. Outcast flees while Caretaker checks on Blaze, whose wounds are leaking hellfire. Caretaker places his hands on Blaze and covers his wounds with mystical armor, which will help him heal. Now back on his feet, Blaze vows to make Outcast pay.
ANNOTATIONS
This mini-comic was the eighth in a series packaged with Toy Biz's line of Ghost Rider action figures. This issue came with the Outcast figure.
There's really no place to fit this series into established continuity. It obviously takes place after "Siege of Darkness" and Ghost Rider (1990) # 50, but the relationships between Ghost Rider, Blaze, and Vengeance certainly don't fit the characters at the time.
If this follows the standard Marvel continuity (which is questionable, at best), then Zarathos was banished to another dimension at the conclusion of the "Siege of Darkness" crossover in Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 4.
In regular continuity, Blaze was injured by Centurious and received his cyborg enhancements in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 15.
REVIEW
A new semi-arc begins, though this one doesn't really bother with that pesky "plot" thing too much.
Outcast was such a bizarre choice for an action figure, even with the line pulling heavily from the Siege of Darkness era. The fact that they chose him over someone like Caretaker or Centurious really blows my mind, I guess it was because they wanted another big monster character to go along with Skinner from the first wave of figures. Unfortunately, while Skinner was an interesting character with a backstory, Outcast was just a bearded sasquatch without a personality.
With Zarathos somehow banished back to his exile dimension (how, we will never know, since issue # 7 was never released), his big plan is to send out minions to test the Spirits of Vengeance for weakness one by one. That does, of course, allow for some solo stories, but it also makes Blaze the de facto lead in a story that's supposed to spotlight a different character. Outcast jumps out of the trees, slashes Blaze up, then runs away. Not real compelling, even for a six-page story.
What does work is the artwork, which is some of the first published work by Karl Kerschl. It's almost unrecognizable from his work nowadays, there's a real echo of Jae Lee that I dig a lot. He makes Outcast's attack look scarier than it probably deserved, and for a toy tie-in that not many people read he does an admirable job.
These aren't supposed to be high art, but they could at least pretend to have a story. I suppose I can't blame the creators, though, since they had to frame a comic around Outcast, whose personality was nonexistent.
Outcast was such a bizarre choice for an action figure, even with the line pulling heavily from the Siege of Darkness era. The fact that they chose him over someone like Caretaker or Centurious really blows my mind, I guess it was because they wanted another big monster character to go along with Skinner from the first wave of figures. Unfortunately, while Skinner was an interesting character with a backstory, Outcast was just a bearded sasquatch without a personality.
With Zarathos somehow banished back to his exile dimension (how, we will never know, since issue # 7 was never released), his big plan is to send out minions to test the Spirits of Vengeance for weakness one by one. That does, of course, allow for some solo stories, but it also makes Blaze the de facto lead in a story that's supposed to spotlight a different character. Outcast jumps out of the trees, slashes Blaze up, then runs away. Not real compelling, even for a six-page story.
What does work is the artwork, which is some of the first published work by Karl Kerschl. It's almost unrecognizable from his work nowadays, there's a real echo of Jae Lee that I dig a lot. He makes Outcast's attack look scarier than it probably deserved, and for a toy tie-in that not many people read he does an admirable job.
These aren't supposed to be high art, but they could at least pretend to have a story. I suppose I can't blame the creators, though, since they had to frame a comic around Outcast, whose personality was nonexistent.
Grade: D+
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