Ghost Rider (2019) # 4

"The King of Hell, Part 4"

Cover Date: February 2020; On Sale Date: December 2019

Writer: Ed Brisson; Artist: Aaron Kuder & Juan Frigeri; 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

At the Caretaker's library in Brooklyn, Sister Sara opens up a portal to Limbo. She tells Danny that he must find Belasco and ask for the aid of Necrosis, a being powerful enough to defeat Johnny Blaze as the King of Hell. Danny steps through the portal and emerges in Limbo, told before he goes that Belasco will find him.

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, Blaze and Wong defend the Hotel Inferno from a horde of attacking demons that are determined to free Mephisto. When the demons are defeated, Blaze goes to get Mephisto himself but is stopped by Wong, who tells him that Mephisto cannot leave his prison. Johnny defeats Wong and gives him the Penance Stare before entering the hotel and finding Mephisto. Desperate for information about Hell and the escaped demons, Blaze frees Mephisto and wraps him chains, dragging him out of the hotel behind his motorcycle.

Back in Limbo, Danny finds Belasco and entreats on him for assistance. Belasco laughs and tells him that if he wants help from Necrosis he must first defeat the creature in battle. Danny fights valiantly but is quickly overwhelmed by Necrosis until Belasco intervenes, beheading Necrosis himself. Belasco then uses Necrosis' blood to infect Danny, transforming him into a new Spirit of Corruption.

THE ROADMAP

Mephisto became imprisoned at the top of the Hotel Inferno in Doctor Strange: Damnation (2018) # 4. He has made numerous appearances in other titles since then, most recently in Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider (2019) # 5.

This issue continues into Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons (2020) # 1.

CHAIN REACTION

Danny Ketch gets a new look and a new identity as the first story-arc kind of comes to an end, but not really.

You can tell that Brisson is playing the long game with his plotting, as this isn't really structured like a traditional story-arc and instead just reads as a chapter of an ongoing narrative. Nothing gets resolved, it's just another cliffhanger ending, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that. I appreciate that things aren't wrapped up with a neat little bow just because traditional comic standards dictate blocking issues off into trade paperback chunks. Brisson gets to move his pieces around, with Mephisto freed from the Hotel Inferno by Johnny and Danny having a rather eventful trip to Limbo, and it all serves the ongoing story.

Let's talk about Danny Ketch a little. I, like many fans of the 1990s series, was ecstatic to see a new Ghost Rider title seemingly headlined by Danny's version of the Spirit of Vengeance. The first two issues made this seem like it would be the case, but here Brisson saddles Danny with a new identity as the Spirit of Corruption. It's a little disappointing, I have to admit. While I still love Danny being front and center in the series, I wanted to see him as Ghost Rider, not as some other character. It's like the creators couldn't let Johnny Blaze be anything other than the de factor Ghost Rider, so Danny gets overhauled. Again, it's disappointing.

Aaron Kuder and Juan Frigeri split the art chores this issue, and it really is the best of both worlds to get their work together. They don't really mesh well, they have totally different styles, but by having Kuder handle Danny/Limbo and Frigeri on the Johnny/Mephisto scenes, it gives the comic a sense of artistic continuity. The colors are what really sell the Limbo sequence, full of bright greens and yellows contrasted against heavy blacks that really serve to highlight Kuder's detail-oriented artwork. Really good stuff from the entire artist creative team.

I appreciate what Brisson and company are doing with the characters, moving them forward for the first time in what seems like ages, I'm just not sold on some of the ideas. Maybe the Spirit of Corruption will win me over in future issues...