Ghost Rider (2019) # 2

"The King of Hell, Part 2"

Cover Date: January 2020; On Sale Date: November 2019

Writer: Ed Brisson; Artist: Aaron Kuder w/ Craig Yeung, John Lucas, & Luciano Vecchio; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Jason Keith; Editor: Chris Robinson; Senior Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Aaron Kuder

In New York City, Johnny Blaze finds and tortures a demon, demanding to know the whereabouts of the other escapees from Hell. At the Fadeaway Pub, Danny Ketch is awakened by Stacy Dolan, who is investigating the death of one of the bar's regular patrons and the eyewitness reports of a "man with a flaming skull". Danny insists that he wasn't responsible for the patron's death and Stacy asks him to help find out who killed him. In Hell, the demon tortured by Blaze is rescued from his punishment by Lilith, who applauds the demon for leading Blaze right where she wants him to go.

On a boat at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, Blaze is in the process of killing the Hell escapees, who have taken over the bodies of innocent people. He uses his Damnation Stare to send the demons back to Hell, but to everyone else it appears that he is just killing normal people. Stacy arrives with the police outside and calls Danny, who quickly transforms into the Ghost Rider and races to the cruise ship. He arrives in time to stop Johnny from killing another demon and the fight leads outside, where a demon has possessed the body of the SWAT Team leader. Sensing the demon's presence, Johnny kills the police officer and then rides off, pursued by Danny. Atop the Brooklyn Bridge, Johnny gets the upper hand over Danny and strips him of the Spirit of Vengeance before dumping his body in the river.

The Damnation Stare!

THE ROADMAP

Johnny Blaze became the King of Hell in Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider # 1.

This issue also has a "Legacy Numbering" that factors in all previous issues of Ghost Rider through various reboots over the years, with this issue clocking in at # 238.

CHAIN REACTION

Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze have a decidedly one-sided confrontation as "The King of Hell" soldiers on.

I don't know if my words can convey how happy it makes me feel to read a comic starring Danny Ketch after so many years of nothing. Granted, his Ghost Rider isn't the Spirit of Vengeance I'm used to from the 1990s series, as this one continues the trend of the Ghost Riders having the personalities of their hosts, but it's damn good nonetheless. Stacy Dolan is here being awesomely judgmental in her police role, as she should be (I still say she was the best developed character in Ghost Rider history outside of Blaze), and the subplot with Lilith is simmering along nicely. All in all, this comic has some real quality stuff on its side.

What kind of disappoints me is that Danny is having to share the spotlight with Johnny at all. Brisson dangles Blaze over the edge of this "antagonist/protagonist" dividing line, where you're not sure if you're supposed to root for him or not. I mean, yeah, the obvious plot is that the throne of Hell is corrupting poor Johnny, but he's also not really in the wrong. You've got demons begging him for a second chance and to be better than Mephisto, but these are DEMONS who have already killed innocent people for their chance on Earth. It's a little muddled just whether Brisson intends on Johnny being the hero or the villain of the series. It is interesting seeing the roles reversed between Johnny and Danny, who have been set against one another before during Jason Aaron's run. There it was Danny who was acting righteously while being duped by the bigger bad into being the villain; now he's the hero who has to fight his morally ambiguously motivated brother. 

The artwork this issue is handled by the Aaron Kuder Helping Hand Crew, who seemingly stepped in last minute to provide fill-in artwork for Kuder after a sudden health problem. While having fill-in art on the second issue of an ongoing series is never ideal, I think some grace can be given to Kuder in this case. He still produces several pages of jaw-dropping artwork, and the fill-in artists (Yeung, Lucas, & Vecchio) are all close enough to Kuder's style that things never look out of place or conflicting. There are some incredibly visceral panels here, especially in the use of the new "Damnation Stare" ability and the way some of the demons are dispatched. Still not sold on that new design for Lilith, though.

This series continues to live up to the promise of its first issue and ends on a suspenseful cliffhanger that looks to change the status quo significantly. Recommendation continued!

Finish him!