Writers: Nick Spencer & Donny Cates; Artist: Rod Reis & Szymon Kudranski; Letterer: Travis Lanham; Colorist: Rod Reis; Editor: Nick Lowe; Assistant Editor: Kathleen Wisneski; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Rod Reis
The Midnight Sons, led by Wong, fight against the demons of Mephisto in Las Vegas, including the Avengers that are possessed by Spirits of Vengeance. Mephisto arrives on the Ghost Rider's motorcycle with Johnny Blaze's dead body in tow. Unknown to Mephisto, though, Blaze's death was all part of Wing's plan. Blaze has now claimed the throne of He'll and is able to free the soul of Dr. Strange and take control of the possessed Avengers. Mephisto opens a fissure in the ground and Wong falls into He'll. He's found by Blaze, who has been in Hell for far longer than has passed on Earth die to Hell's faster rate of time. Blaze uses his power to send the souls of the Avengers into Strange, who uses the power upgrade to defeat Mephisto. The devil escapes back to Hell, but Las Vegas and the Avengers are freed from the forces possessing them. In Hell, Mephisto us found by Blaze, who confronts him with a force of Ghost Riders from the past, present, and even other dimensions. Mephisto reappears in chains in front of Strange and Wong in Las Vegas, presented as a gift from Blaze. Wong imprisons Mephisto in a mystical cell inside the penthouse of the demonic casino left behind.
Later, Strange meets with Blade, Elsa Bloodstone, Brother Voodoo, and Moon Knight to make a plan to rescue Johnny Blaze from Hell. When Blade comments that no one else would willingly go to Hell with them, Strange produces photos of his candidates, including Scarlet Witch, Doctor Doom, and Daimon Hellstrom among others.
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| Somehow still better than Infinity Wars: Ghost Panther |
THE ROADMAP
"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.
Johnny Blaze appears next as the King of Hell in Avengers (2018) # 16. Mephisto appears next inside his Vegas penthouse prison cell in Thanos Legacy (2018) # 1.
Johnny Blaze appears next as the King of Hell in Avengers (2018) # 16. Mephisto appears next inside his Vegas penthouse prison cell in Thanos Legacy (2018) # 1.
Despite his declaration at the end of this issue, Doctor Strange never goes to Hell to rescue Blaze, which Johnny rightfully calls him on during their next confrontation in Ghost Rider (2019) # 6.
Mephisto's imprisonment ultimately proves short-lived, as he regains the throne of Hell in King in Black: Ghost Rider (2021) # 1.
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| This seems familiar... |
CHAIN REACTION
"Damnation" concludes with a rather surprising change in Johnny Blaze's status quo but doesn't offer anything very original.
If there's one phrase I think accurately sums up Damnation, its "been there, done that". As with the previous issues and really the whole Vegas becomes Hell concept, the events of this issue immediately bring to mind plot elements of past stories. Ghost Rider as the new King of He'll, that was done with Danny Ketch. The big bad having to face an army of Ghost Riders in the afterlife, that was the end of "Heaven's on Fire". Even having Doctor Strange powered up with the souls of the Avengers is familiar, its the old "combine your powers to beat the villain" trope. Its not an unsatisfying ending to the story, it all holds up pretty well, I just don't think this crossover had anything of its own to say.
"Damnation" as an event itself was the biggest mistake, because outside of Doctor Strange, Wong, and Johnny Blaze no other characters made any difference to the plot. Iron Fist and Scarlet Spider, the two characters whose titles actually had tie in issues, were barely background players. If anything, reforming the Midnight Sons and wasting them like this was teasing and redundant. Had this been strictly a Doctor Strange story with the Ghost Rider chapter as a tie in it would have allowed the writers to focus on filling the story out without meaningless padding. As it stands, its a series that somehow felt both rushed and slow at the same time.
Rod Reis is able to turn in a fantastic job with the artwork, invoking shades of Bill Sienkiewicz during Strange's fight with Mephisto. His splash page of the assembled Ghost Riders is amazing in its attention to detail. Its obvious he researched as many past Ghost Riders as he could because all of the ones pictured are easily identifiable. It sells the best moment of the issue perfectly and I really wish that Reis had been able to illustrate all four issues of the series.
So, while "Damnation" proved to be monumentally important for Ghost Rider and definitely a surprising place to leave Blaze, none of that makes it a particularly good series.
If there's one phrase I think accurately sums up Damnation, its "been there, done that". As with the previous issues and really the whole Vegas becomes Hell concept, the events of this issue immediately bring to mind plot elements of past stories. Ghost Rider as the new King of He'll, that was done with Danny Ketch. The big bad having to face an army of Ghost Riders in the afterlife, that was the end of "Heaven's on Fire". Even having Doctor Strange powered up with the souls of the Avengers is familiar, its the old "combine your powers to beat the villain" trope. Its not an unsatisfying ending to the story, it all holds up pretty well, I just don't think this crossover had anything of its own to say.
"Damnation" as an event itself was the biggest mistake, because outside of Doctor Strange, Wong, and Johnny Blaze no other characters made any difference to the plot. Iron Fist and Scarlet Spider, the two characters whose titles actually had tie in issues, were barely background players. If anything, reforming the Midnight Sons and wasting them like this was teasing and redundant. Had this been strictly a Doctor Strange story with the Ghost Rider chapter as a tie in it would have allowed the writers to focus on filling the story out without meaningless padding. As it stands, its a series that somehow felt both rushed and slow at the same time.
Rod Reis is able to turn in a fantastic job with the artwork, invoking shades of Bill Sienkiewicz during Strange's fight with Mephisto. His splash page of the assembled Ghost Riders is amazing in its attention to detail. Its obvious he researched as many past Ghost Riders as he could because all of the ones pictured are easily identifiable. It sells the best moment of the issue perfectly and I really wish that Reis had been able to illustrate all four issues of the series.
So, while "Damnation" proved to be monumentally important for Ghost Rider and definitely a surprising place to leave Blaze, none of that makes it a particularly good series.
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