Writers: Nick Spencer & Donny Cates; Artist: Szymon Kudranski; Letterer: Travis Lanham; Colorist: Szymon Kudranski; Editor: Nick Lowe; Assistant Editor: Kathleen Wisneski; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Rod Reis
Prior to the trip to Las Vegas, Wong has a conversation with Johnny Blaze about his role in the plan to defeat Mephisto. Blaze states that he can feel Mephisto's power growing and that he'll do whatever it takes to stop him. Later, the Midnight Sons attempt to keep Blade alive under the possessed Thor's hammer while Wong confronts the possessed Doctor Strange. The ghost dog, Bats, realizes that since Strange doesn't have a soul at the moment he can possess him, taking control of the doctor's body.
The possessed Avengers attack again and Wong reunites with the Midnight Sons. While the battle rages, the Ghost Rider makes his way up the side of Mephisto's tower on his hellcycle. When he reaches the penthouse, he confronts Mephisto for their final battle. Mephisto, however, just blows out the Ghost Rider's hellfire, lifting Johnny's curse. He then kicks Blaze out the window, allowing him to fall to his death.
"Damnation" was a crossover event in 2018. Other titles that featured tie-ins to the event were Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider, and Johnny Blaze: Ghost Rider. The event continues into Doctor Strange (2015) # 388, Iron Fist (2016) # 78, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider (2017) # 16, Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider (2018) # 1, and Doctor Strange: Damnation (2018) # 4.
 |
| Huh, that went well... |
CHAIN REACTION
"Damnation" continues to limp along and I find it pretty amazing that a comic with this plot turned out as boring and uninteresting as it did.
It feels like this series is spinning its wheels, trying to gain traction but unable to break free of the mire its dug itself into. Instead of bursting free and getting on with things, it just digs itself deeper and deeper. The characters act bored throughout, with none of them giving any signs that the events they're embroiled in are of any note at all. Only Blade gets a good showing, in all his Wesley Snipes lookalike glory. His scenes did remind me why I liked that character in the first place, and at least he has a role to play outside of comic relief (Moon Knight), snark (Bloodstone), and background (every other member of the Midnight Sons). The Midnight Sons and the Avengers are here as cannon fodder and they're not really entertaining even in that respect (the aforementioned Blade notwithstanding). All of the heavy lifting, the real interesting stuff, is being dealt with in the Doctor Strange tie-in issues, leaving this series an exercise in time wasting. Similarly, the next major point of the event will similarly happen in another tie-in, namely the Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider one-shot. If everything important is happening in the spin-offs, what's the point of even publishing this series?
Perhaps I'm being too harsh, because the series is at least giving some much needed attention to Johnny Blaze. Much like the Spirits of Vengeance mini-series from the year before, I wonder if this wouldn't have been a much stronger storyline if it had just focused on Dr. Strange and Ghost Rider, leaving aside all of the other window dressing characters. Johnny gets his big dramatic moment that's undercut with a striking (though continuity baffling) cliffhanger, but instead of being dramatic it doesn't elicit more than a shrug. Johnny Blaze dies and there's no emotion behind it at all.
It could be the problems with the artwork that saps the life out of this comic, because Szymon Kudranski is terribly miscast as artist. I wonder if he was drafted last minute when it became evident that Rod Reis wouldn't be able to illustrate all four issues? Kudranski's action scenes are stiff and static, with characters hanging in the air out of relation to their environment and even other characters. Look at that group shot at the end, with the Midnight Sons facing off against the Avengers, and tell me what the hell Wong is supposed to be doing in that mid-air pose. He also struggles dramatically with faces in this, because even though he produces an amazingly accurate Snipes Blade, his Johnny Blaze looks like a doughy alcoholic.
I'm still failing to see the point of this event, it's not at all exciting and skirts by with the barest of character development.
It feels like this series is spinning its wheels, trying to gain traction but unable to break free of the mire its dug itself into. Instead of bursting free and getting on with things, it just digs itself deeper and deeper. The characters act bored throughout, with none of them giving any signs that the events they're embroiled in are of any note at all. Only Blade gets a good showing, in all his Wesley Snipes lookalike glory. His scenes did remind me why I liked that character in the first place, and at least he has a role to play outside of comic relief (Moon Knight), snark (Bloodstone), and background (every other member of the Midnight Sons). The Midnight Sons and the Avengers are here as cannon fodder and they're not really entertaining even in that respect (the aforementioned Blade notwithstanding). All of the heavy lifting, the real interesting stuff, is being dealt with in the Doctor Strange tie-in issues, leaving this series an exercise in time wasting. Similarly, the next major point of the event will similarly happen in another tie-in, namely the Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider one-shot. If everything important is happening in the spin-offs, what's the point of even publishing this series?
Perhaps I'm being too harsh, because the series is at least giving some much needed attention to Johnny Blaze. Much like the Spirits of Vengeance mini-series from the year before, I wonder if this wouldn't have been a much stronger storyline if it had just focused on Dr. Strange and Ghost Rider, leaving aside all of the other window dressing characters. Johnny gets his big dramatic moment that's undercut with a striking (though continuity baffling) cliffhanger, but instead of being dramatic it doesn't elicit more than a shrug. Johnny Blaze dies and there's no emotion behind it at all.
It could be the problems with the artwork that saps the life out of this comic, because Szymon Kudranski is terribly miscast as artist. I wonder if he was drafted last minute when it became evident that Rod Reis wouldn't be able to illustrate all four issues? Kudranski's action scenes are stiff and static, with characters hanging in the air out of relation to their environment and even other characters. Look at that group shot at the end, with the Midnight Sons facing off against the Avengers, and tell me what the hell Wong is supposed to be doing in that mid-air pose. He also struggles dramatically with faces in this, because even though he produces an amazingly accurate Snipes Blade, his Johnny Blaze looks like a doughy alcoholic.
I'm still failing to see the point of this event, it's not at all exciting and skirts by with the barest of character development.
No comments:
Post a Comment