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| Cover Art: Steve Lightle |
Original Price: $1.50
Title: "The Walking Wounded, Part 1: Soulfeast"
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Steve Lightle
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Steve Lightle
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
SYNOPSIS
Daniel Ketch experiences a "waking nightmare", during which the Ghost Rider is confronted by Typhoid Mary. The woman tells Ghost Rider that "Dusk is falling" and that he should give up his human side in favor of the monster. Later, in upstate New York, Danny arrives a shopping mall to try and clear his mind. Inside the mall, a group called the Women's Action Movement are holding a demonstration for shoppers about the women's liberation movement. Danny stops and talks to one of the group members, a pregnant girl named Eve, about how both sexes face challenges in life. They're joined by Mary Walker, another group member who excuses herself quickly after a few minutes of debate. In the bathroom, Mary is confronted by her other personality, the twisted Typhoid Mary, who uses Mary's desire for Danny as a way to take control of their shared body once again.
ANNOTATIONS
Ghost Rider made his last appearance in Nightstalkers (1992) # 7.
Danny's inability to sleep stems from his last encounter with Nightmare in Ghost Rider (1990) # 30.
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine, She-Hulk, and Master Man.
REVIEW
The Typhoid Mary team up arc begins in Marvel Comics Presents and you're either going to love this story or really hate it.
So, up front, I love this arc on just about every level. I consider it the best Ghost Rider story that ran in Marvel Comics Presents by a pretty wide margin, and that Steve Lightle artwork is beautiful. Its a story, even in this opening chapter, that challenges the reader and makes them work to figure things out, but not tobthe point where its obtuse or confusing. Its about the closest the character has come to a really mature, Vertigo style approach, and it forces you to pay attention to it.
Now, all that being said, this is also a comic designed to piss people off. Ann Nocenti had a very fondly remembered run on Daredevil and created Longshot, both of which she used to preach some fairly liberal viewpoints. Typhoid Mary, who she created in her Daredevil run as probably her most enduring creation, was very much Nocenti's mouthpiece for the plight of women in modern society. I happen to think she makes some good points in this issue during the conversations with the Women's Action Movement, but she also does it with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. She beats her views over the readers heads and I could totally see that rubbing some people the wrong way.
Her scripting outside of the soap-boxing is very strong, and when combined with Lightle's artwork it combines into some shockingly strong storytelling. The opening page, which features Danny Ketch's face being pulled off by a demonic bat to reveal the Ghost Rider beneath is chilling. Its a scene that's mirrored, no pun intended, with the confrontation at the chapter's end between Mary and Typhoid. Its a scary, claustrophobic comic that promises some great things to come.
Its a polarizing opening to a story that I really enjoy, I recommend it as long as the preachy tone doesn't turn you off.
Grade: A+
ANNOTATIONS
Ghost Rider made his last appearance in Nightstalkers (1992) # 7.
Danny's inability to sleep stems from his last encounter with Nightmare in Ghost Rider (1990) # 30.
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine, She-Hulk, and Master Man.
REVIEW
The Typhoid Mary team up arc begins in Marvel Comics Presents and you're either going to love this story or really hate it.
So, up front, I love this arc on just about every level. I consider it the best Ghost Rider story that ran in Marvel Comics Presents by a pretty wide margin, and that Steve Lightle artwork is beautiful. Its a story, even in this opening chapter, that challenges the reader and makes them work to figure things out, but not tobthe point where its obtuse or confusing. Its about the closest the character has come to a really mature, Vertigo style approach, and it forces you to pay attention to it.
Now, all that being said, this is also a comic designed to piss people off. Ann Nocenti had a very fondly remembered run on Daredevil and created Longshot, both of which she used to preach some fairly liberal viewpoints. Typhoid Mary, who she created in her Daredevil run as probably her most enduring creation, was very much Nocenti's mouthpiece for the plight of women in modern society. I happen to think she makes some good points in this issue during the conversations with the Women's Action Movement, but she also does it with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. She beats her views over the readers heads and I could totally see that rubbing some people the wrong way.
Her scripting outside of the soap-boxing is very strong, and when combined with Lightle's artwork it combines into some shockingly strong storytelling. The opening page, which features Danny Ketch's face being pulled off by a demonic bat to reveal the Ghost Rider beneath is chilling. Its a scene that's mirrored, no pun intended, with the confrontation at the chapter's end between Mary and Typhoid. Its a scary, claustrophobic comic that promises some great things to come.
Its a polarizing opening to a story that I really enjoy, I recommend it as long as the preachy tone doesn't turn you off.
Grade: A+
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