War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 3-5

Cover Art: Valerio Schiti

Published: July 2019 through September 2019
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Chapter Three: Overseers of the Community"; "Chapter Four: Near the Mulberries"; "Chapter Five: The Daughter of Odin"
Writer: Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, & Travis McElroy
Artist: Andre Lima Araujo
Letterer: Clayton Clowes
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Assistant Editor: Will Moss
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

SYNOPSIS
A group of heroes, including Miles Morales, Kate Bishop, and Wonder Man, have been assigned to protect Laussa, the infant daughter of Odin, from the Queen of Cinders. They have taken to the road in a Winnebago amd make a stop at a seemingly abandoned western town. While there, Morales and the Asgardian dog Thori are attacked by the ghost of Carter Spade, the Old West Ghost Rider, and several other spirits of western heroes. The ghosts communicate with one of the heroes, sorcerer Sebastian Druid, and reveal that Laussa is half demon and sister to the Queen of Cinders.

Later at the town the heroes and the ghosts are joined by Kushala, the Demon Rider, who leads the western ghost heroes off to fight in the War of the Realms. Eventually, the heroes are found by Ares, who is hunting Laussa for the Queen. When the Queen of Cinders appears, however, she reveals herself to actually be Kushala impersonating the Queen under orders from the infant Laussa as a way to father an army to fight in the War of the Realms.

ANNOTATIONS
The spirit of Carter Slade last appeared in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6.

Kushala, the Demon Rider, first appeared in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) # 1.  She is the the direct predecessor of Carter Slade in the lineage of the Spirit of Vengeance and she was brought to the present day in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) # 12.

REVIEW
An unlikely War of the Realms tie in miniseries takes some relatively deep dives into Ghost Rider lore while telling a fairly entertaining story.

I'm not familiar with the McElroy brothers but they seem to know their way around Marvel continuity and are capable of writing an engaging series with characters whose names were seemingly drawn at random out of a hat. Why this collection of characters were placed together may just be happenstance, but the writers are able to get enough dynamic interactions out of them to keep it from feeling forced. The real selling point for me, though, was the Phantom Rider appearance that actually references his status as a Ghost Rider and gives him a prominent presence throughout issue # 3. I really dug when the Slade brothers get to make out of nowhere appearances, and this one made good use of him for the main characters to play off of. Also coming out of nowhere was Kushala, a character I doubted we would ever see again. She, of course, was the Apache Spirit of Vengeance from the Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme series from a few years back, and seeing her in a fairly prominent role here was a really nice touch.

The artwork by Andre Lima Araujo was really solid as well, giving the series a rough almost unfinished quality. It fit perfectly for this series about characters on the fringe of a crossover event, the mood felt more indie than blockbuster. There's a quirky aesthetic to the story and Araujo captures that mood. His splash page of the western Ghost Rider was pretty sweet too.

This isn't a series that Ghost Rider fans should feel compelled to pick up, but if you do I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Grade: B+