Ghost Rider (2022) # 6

"The Exorcism of Johnny Blaze"

Cover Date: November 2022; On Sale Date: September 2022

Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: Brent Peeples; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Kael Ngu

At a roadhouse bar outside of Hell's Backbone, Wolverine carries in the demonically possessed Johnny Blaze. Wolverine tells all of the patrons to get out, including the bartender who pulls a gun on him, and only one passed out patron remains. Using liquor and fire, Wolverine goes to the scar on Johnny's head and begins to cut the demon out. Meanwhile, at the Unknown Cemetery, the head of the Night Magicians, Alabaster, is met by the demonic Agent Whilmer, who has brought the unconscious Zeb and Talia Warroad. Revealing himself to be working for a mysterious master, Alabaster tells Whilmer to return to the FBI while he prepares to kill Talia.

At the bar, Wolverine is unsuccessful in cutting the demon out of Johnny, as the cancerous being has infected Blaze's entire body. Johnny begs Logan to kill him while a piece of the demon that was cut out and discarded makes its way to the passed out bar patron. Possessing the patron, he attacks Wolverine, who swiftly cuts the man's legs off and then kills him. Realizing that he can't do the job himself, Wolverine speaks directly to the Ghost Rider, telling him that he has to emerge to save Johnny even though the two hate one another. At the cemetery, Zeb wakes up in time to save Talia, who he tells to run and find the Ghost Rider while he fights Alabaster.

Ghost Rider uses his power to lace Wolverine's claws with hellfire, telling him to cut the demonic infection out. Wolverine does so, killing the creature in the process. Johnny wakes up and realizes that while they make thing the other to be a curse he needs the Ghost Rider. The scar on the back of his head now gone, Blaze is helped out of the burning bar by Wolverine, neither of them realizing that the demonic creature still lives inside the body of the bar patron killed by Logan.

THE ROADMAP

This is Legacy # 249 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.

The previously untold story of how Johnny Blaze and Wolverine first met is told in Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance (2023) # 1.

CHAIN REACTION

Wolverine steps in to perform some back-alley supernatural surgery on Johnny Blaze in a story that improves upon what's come before it.

I think it's safe to say that a Wolverine guest-appearance was inevitable, given that Benjamin Percy also writes the ongoing Wolverine and X-Force titles. What wasn't expected was just how integral he would wind up being to the ongoing storyline for this series. Wolverine doesn't just bop in for a quick team-up, he essentially carries the weight of the issue on his back and resolves one of the long-simmering subplots. I honestly didn't mind this turn of events, though, because Percy has a great handle on Logan as a character and his presence breathes some life back into this series.

Of course, that also means that Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze essentially become background characters in their own series. Yes, the story is about what's happening to Blaze, but poor Johnny has no agency or control over the resolution. Ghost Rider may step in at the climax and provide a little hellfire boost, but it's still Wolverine who resolves everything with a lot of hack n' slash. It is at least interesting to read, which is more than I can say for the interludes with the Night Magicians and their internal backstabbing.

Brent Peeples, who had been contributing to the artwork in various ways in past issues, steps up to illustrate the whole thing and turns in work that fits in seamlessly with what Cory Smith produces as the ongoing artist. The gore and horrific imagery is still there in spades, particularly with the insect-like creature emerging from inside Johnny as Wolverine attempts to cut it out. There's more artistic shades of John Carpenter's The Thing in the design of the demonic parasite, particularly how part of it is cut away and still crawls off to possess someone else.

I'm a little surprised still that such an important part of the ongoing story is resolved by a guest-star, but it does at least bring the quality of the series back up to par. Here's hoping the uptick continues.