Cover Date: March 2023; On Sale Date: January 2023
Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: Cory Smith and David Cutler; Inker: Oren Junior; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Bjorn Barends
In the Chicago subway system, Ghost Rider uses a flaming chainsaw to destroy a group of demons that had been slaughtering innocent humans. Meanwhile, Blackheart's plan to demonically possess humans of influence in America continues. Blackheart is confronted atop Hell's Backbone by Zeb and the other two remaining members of the Night Magicians.
Back in Chicago, Ghost Rider finishes off the last demon and descends further into the subway, where he finds Exhaust and the corrupted Talia Warroad. Johnny Blaze regains control of his body and attempts to talk Talia out of her corruption, which she shakes off just in time to save Johnny from Exhaust. The two partner up and use their magic and hellfire in a final stand against Exhaust. At Hell's Backbone, Blackheart has defeated the Night Magicians and is preparing to kill Zeb when the Ghost Rider and Talia arrive on a new motorcycle made from the body of Exhaust. Ghost Rider opens up a portal to Hell above Hell's Backbone and floods the area with hellfire, sending Blackheart back to Hell.
Later, at FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C., Talia walks away from her job when her boss, Director Crux, shuts down her division for lack of prosecutable evidence. Talia meets up with Johnny in a park and the two decide to continue hunting down the shadows released across the country by Blackheart. Director Crux makes a call to a Dr. Diyu of Infernal Labs, who is about to perform an experiment on their newest subject: Danny Ketch.
THE ROADMAP
This is Legacy # 253 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.
Blackheart was revealed to be the source behind the Shadow Country in Ghost Rider (2022) # 5 and has been working out of Hell's Backbone since that issue.
Exhaust was the demon exorcised from Johnny Blaze by Wolverine in Ghost Rider (2022) # 6. He gained his current form in Ghost Rider (2022) # 7 and has been on Johnny and Talia's trail ever since.
Dr. Diyu's plan for Danny Ketch will be revealed in Ghost Rider (2022) # 13.
CHAIN REACTION
Ghost Rider has his final confrontation with Blackheart as the "Shadow Country" arc finishes up in a highly unsatisfying way.
Ben Percy's writing on this series has a serious pacing problem. This is an extra-sized issue that was supposed to be the culmination of the story so far and it comes across as absolutely anti-climactic. The comic starts off incredibly strong with the Ghost Rider's chainsaw fight against the demons, which is exactly the type of visceral action that I love seeing in this series. Everything goes downhill slowly after that sequence, though, because of the aforementioned pacing problems.
So much time and page space is wasted on things like Blackheart's slow take over of America and the Night Magicians' futile last stand that the important bits that need to be there are shunted off to the side. This issue promises the final battles with both Exhaust and Blackheart, and both are truncated and, even worse, happen off panel. That's a pattern to Percy's writing that I've noticed, he likes to cut away at the start of fight scenes and not pick them up again until after the fight is over. We never get to see the fight against Exhaust because it cuts away literally right when the punching is about to happen. It's not enough to just say "Ghost Rider wins" with an aftermath scene, readers want to see the actual struggle and resolution! Similarly, the final fight with Blackheart is over way too quickly, and I would have much preferred to see an extended sequence between him and Ghost Rider over the cannon fodder of the Night Magicians.
Cory Smith, with an assist by David Cutler, turns in yet another fantastically brutal art job, though. Honestly, the artwork is the saving grace of this comic, because it completely captures the tone that Percy is going for. I may not be a fan of some of the plotting choices here, but the artwork really sells what Percy and Smith are offering up in terms of ambiance. The opening splash page of Ghost Rider with the chainsaw is perfection, it gets a chef's kiss from me.
I've come to the decision that Percy's run so far is an experiment of style over substance, and it makes the series weaker because of it. For every aspect that I love about the comic there's another that I can't stand. This one is almost the one that breaks the camel's back, but we'll see where things go now that the Blackheart plot is out of the way.
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