Cover Date: May 1992; On Sale Date: March 1992
Writer: Scott Lobdell; Artist: Jim Lee; Inker: Jim Lee & Art Thibert; Letterer: Tom Orzechowski; Colorist: Joe Rosas; Editor: Bob Harras; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Jim Lee
The Ghost Rider/X-Men crossover continues into Ghost Rider (1990) # 26, X-Men (1991) # 9, and concludes in Ghost Rider (1990) # 27.
Writer: Scott Lobdell; Artist: Jim Lee; Inker: Jim Lee & Art Thibert; Letterer: Tom Orzechowski; Colorist: Joe Rosas; Editor: Bob Harras; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Jim Lee
At the X-Mansion, Professor X and Storm introduce the newest member of the team, Bishop, to the rest of the X-Men. Bishop is a time-traveler from a future where the X-Men were betrayed and murdered by one of the team. When he sees Gambit, he accuses him of being the murderer due to him being the lone survivor of the future attack. Xavier breaks up the tense scene by ordering the team to relax at the lake that's on the X-Mansion's property.
At the lake, Rogue and Gambit's picnic is interrupted by Bishop, who claims that he knows Remy LeBeau as the monster who raised him after "the great betrayal". Gambit and Bishop begin fighting, which is eventually stopped by Rogue, who convinces Bishop to accept Gambit for who he is now and not who he may become. Suddenly, they are all attacked by a young woman that fires energy blasts, who Gambit says is his wife. Later, all of the X-Men are listening to the woman's story: her name is Bella Donna, and while she is a member of the New Orleans Assassins Guild, her "husband" Gambit is a member of the Thieves Guild. The two clans are now at war with one another, and it's all because Gambit killed Bella Donna's brother in a duel. In order to keep the peace between the groups, Gambit was exiled, but now that the truce has been broken it's his responsibility to put a stop to the bloodshed. The other X-Men volunteer to go with him, despite his protests that he can handle the responsibility alone. While the X-Men prepare to leave, on the outskirts of New Orleans a sheriff's deputy attempts to pull over a speeding motorcyclist. When he stops the biker, though, he finds that it's actually the Ghost Rider on his way into the city.
At the lake, Rogue and Gambit's picnic is interrupted by Bishop, who claims that he knows Remy LeBeau as the monster who raised him after "the great betrayal". Gambit and Bishop begin fighting, which is eventually stopped by Rogue, who convinces Bishop to accept Gambit for who he is now and not who he may become. Suddenly, they are all attacked by a young woman that fires energy blasts, who Gambit says is his wife. Later, all of the X-Men are listening to the woman's story: her name is Bella Donna, and while she is a member of the New Orleans Assassins Guild, her "husband" Gambit is a member of the Thieves Guild. The two clans are now at war with one another, and it's all because Gambit killed Bella Donna's brother in a duel. In order to keep the peace between the groups, Gambit was exiled, but now that the truce has been broken it's his responsibility to put a stop to the bloodshed. The other X-Men volunteer to go with him, despite his protests that he can handle the responsibility alone. While the X-Men prepare to leave, on the outskirts of New Orleans a sheriff's deputy attempts to pull over a speeding motorcyclist. When he stops the biker, though, he finds that it's actually the Ghost Rider on his way into the city.
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| A game of Pie Face gone wrong? |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 25. He is on his way to New Orleans to locate John Blaze, who he believes can help with Danny Ketch, whose throat was torn open by Blackout just prior to his transformation into Ghost Rider.
The Ghost Rider/X-Men crossover continues into Ghost Rider (1990) # 26, X-Men (1991) # 9, and concludes in Ghost Rider (1990) # 27.
CHAIN REACTION
The Ghost Rider/X-Men crossover begins, even though Ghost Rider himself is relegated to an end of issue cameo appearance.
If there was any question that Ghost Rider had hit the heights of popularity in the early 1990s, this crossover answered it definitively. Jim Lee's X-Men was the highest selling comic book of ALL TIME, and here it was not just guest-starring Ghost Rider but participating in a full-blown 4-issue crossover. That kind of thing is unthinkable today, because while the X-Men aren't the sales juggernaut they used to be they're still one of Marvel's big guns. Could you image a crossover between Extraordinary X-Men and the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider series? But back in 1992, the two properties were near equals in terms of sales and popularity, and that makes me wonder if this crossover was a result of marketing synergy instead of a creative desire to mix the two titles.
If anything, at least the X-Men's motivation for participating in the story is legitimate, since it springs from the back story of one of the regular cast. Gambit's origin story, told here along with his real name for the first time, gives the X-Men a clear reason to travel to New Orleans. Ghost Rider, on the other hand, has a more coincidental role, in that he's just there looking for John Blaze to help resolve a completely unrelated plot. Ghost Rider's involvement feels very forced and tangential, even in the issues of his own comic that serve as parts 2 and 4 of the crossover.
This issue, which is thought of as Part 1 of "Brood Trouble in the Big Easy" but really just serves as a prologue, takes up much of its time with the Bishop/Gambit conflict. The Gambit connection between that plot and the New Orleans stuff makes them tie together a little, but it does seem like two issues worth of story were just bolted together haphazardly, especially when Bishop makes no further appearances throughout the crossover. Also, like I said this issue gives Gambit's back story, and this was when the sheen started to come off of the character. The whole Guild nonsense weighed Gambit's character down like an anchor after it was introduced here, and it killed his mystique almost instantly. Gambit was one of the most popular X-Men at the time, and this story effectively ended that.
The artwork by Jim Lee is, of course, solid work. The man made his name on the X-Men, and his take on the characters are understandably definitive for a lot of fans. He's missing his usual embellisher, Scott Williams, and it certainly affects the art. Lee and Thibert add way too much crosshatching, there are lines everywhere, and it doesn't have the tightness that Williams usually brought to Lee's work. There's also the baffling decision by Lee to put Rogue in the skimpiest outfit ever for a lakeside picnic, showing more skin that Psylocke in her bathing suit earlier in the issue. That wouldn't be a problem, other than the fact that the slightest skin-to-skin contact with Rogue results in powerloss and falling into a coma. It's cheesecake artwork based around an inappropriate character, but that was sadly par for the course in 1992. Lee's Ghost Rider, who appears at the issue's end in appropriately dramatic fashion, isn't that great. He excels at drawing superheroes, but his Ghost Rider doesn't really work when taken out of the gritty atmosphere of his own series.
This crossover was a HUGE deal when it was being released, but this was at most just a tease for what was to come. You could probably skip this chapter and go straight into Ghost Rider # 26 without much confusion.
If there was any question that Ghost Rider had hit the heights of popularity in the early 1990s, this crossover answered it definitively. Jim Lee's X-Men was the highest selling comic book of ALL TIME, and here it was not just guest-starring Ghost Rider but participating in a full-blown 4-issue crossover. That kind of thing is unthinkable today, because while the X-Men aren't the sales juggernaut they used to be they're still one of Marvel's big guns. Could you image a crossover between Extraordinary X-Men and the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider series? But back in 1992, the two properties were near equals in terms of sales and popularity, and that makes me wonder if this crossover was a result of marketing synergy instead of a creative desire to mix the two titles.
If anything, at least the X-Men's motivation for participating in the story is legitimate, since it springs from the back story of one of the regular cast. Gambit's origin story, told here along with his real name for the first time, gives the X-Men a clear reason to travel to New Orleans. Ghost Rider, on the other hand, has a more coincidental role, in that he's just there looking for John Blaze to help resolve a completely unrelated plot. Ghost Rider's involvement feels very forced and tangential, even in the issues of his own comic that serve as parts 2 and 4 of the crossover.
This issue, which is thought of as Part 1 of "Brood Trouble in the Big Easy" but really just serves as a prologue, takes up much of its time with the Bishop/Gambit conflict. The Gambit connection between that plot and the New Orleans stuff makes them tie together a little, but it does seem like two issues worth of story were just bolted together haphazardly, especially when Bishop makes no further appearances throughout the crossover. Also, like I said this issue gives Gambit's back story, and this was when the sheen started to come off of the character. The whole Guild nonsense weighed Gambit's character down like an anchor after it was introduced here, and it killed his mystique almost instantly. Gambit was one of the most popular X-Men at the time, and this story effectively ended that.
The artwork by Jim Lee is, of course, solid work. The man made his name on the X-Men, and his take on the characters are understandably definitive for a lot of fans. He's missing his usual embellisher, Scott Williams, and it certainly affects the art. Lee and Thibert add way too much crosshatching, there are lines everywhere, and it doesn't have the tightness that Williams usually brought to Lee's work. There's also the baffling decision by Lee to put Rogue in the skimpiest outfit ever for a lakeside picnic, showing more skin that Psylocke in her bathing suit earlier in the issue. That wouldn't be a problem, other than the fact that the slightest skin-to-skin contact with Rogue results in powerloss and falling into a coma. It's cheesecake artwork based around an inappropriate character, but that was sadly par for the course in 1992. Lee's Ghost Rider, who appears at the issue's end in appropriately dramatic fashion, isn't that great. He excels at drawing superheroes, but his Ghost Rider doesn't really work when taken out of the gritty atmosphere of his own series.
This crossover was a HUGE deal when it was being released, but this was at most just a tease for what was to come. You could probably skip this chapter and go straight into Ghost Rider # 26 without much confusion.
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| Officer Cletus is about to have a bad night. |
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