Ghost Rider (2022) # 7

"Shadow Hunters"

Cover Date: December 2022; On Sale Date: October 2022

Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: Cory Smith; Inker: Oren Junior; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Kael Ngu

At the burned down bar where Johnny Blaze had a demon exorcised out of his body, the creature emerges with a new body all of its own. Calling itself Exhaust, it attacks a police officer and transforms him into a shadow creature under Exhaust's control.

While at a diner, Johnny drinks several cups of coffee, unaware that the person serving him drinks is a disguised Talia Warroad. Not realizing that he's been drugged, Johnny stops at a nearby motel and passes out. Talia sneaks into his room and handcuffs him to the bed, then performs a spell to find out what happened to him prior to his time in Hayden's Falls. She uncovers that while Blaze was the King of Hell he earned the ire of Blackheart, who wanted the throne for himself. Later, while Johnny was sleeping, Blackheart used the memory of Roxanne Simpson to trick Blaze into giving up control of the Ghost Rider, which is how he was imprisoned in Hayden's Falls to begin with. Johnny wakes up in the motel two days later and is introduced to Talia, who is looking for a new partner.

At Hell's Backbone, Blackheart delivers a speech to the bikers who finished the race before Blaze and Wolverine destroyed the path. Exhaust joins them and Blackheart states that the country will soon be his to control.

THE ROADMAP

This is Legacy # 250 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.

Johnny Blaze became the King of Hell in Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider (2018) # 1. He abdicated the throne back to Mephisto in King in Black: Ghost Rider (2021) # 1 as the result of plotting by Blackheart.

Johnny Blaze regained his memories and broke free of Hayden's Falls in Ghost Rider (2022) # 1.

CHAIN REACTION

Johnny Blaze finally crosses paths with Talia Warroad while the mystery of how he was trapped in Hayden's Falls is revealed.

I'm of two minds about the events of this issue and how Blaze's recent mysterious past is resolved. On the one hand, it's nice that Percy is referencing continuity with Blaze's stint as the King of Hell. There had been very little connective tissue to past storylines in this series up to this point, and seeing such a major past event as that being flagged up is refreshing. It is a bit confusing, though, since it seems to imply that Johnny was still the King of Hell when he was seduced by Blackheart and imprisoned, which was definitely not the case following the end of Ed Brisson's run on the series in the King in Black: Ghost Rider one-shot. Blaze in fact made a couple of guest appearances, such as in the Spirit Rider special and in Savage Avengers, after his rule in Hell ended.

On the other hand, it's all a bit anticlimactic, isn't it? I mean, we all knew Blackheart was responsible for imprisoning Johnny, it was the "how" that made the mystery compelling. But the answer, that he caught Johnny while he was asleep and ambushed him with a demon Roxanne, is a boring resolution. There was no grand battle, no major event that led to Blaze's defeat and the Ghost Rider's imprisonment, just a quiet ambush. It was simultaneously the most likely and least compelling resolution to the subplot that could have happened. Percy seems to want to take the easy way out with some of his ideas, like he writes himself into these corners and just wants out of them as quickly and as easily as he can get.

The other major players in the issue do at least have some oomph behind them, with Exhaust making his debut and Talia Warroad stepping up to take Johnny's side against Blackheart. I find Exhaust to be fairly interesting, the "shadow" side of Ghost Rider that uses smoke and fumes to corrupt people into demonic versions of themselves. Antitheses for Ghost Rider have popped up before, like Vengeance, but it's been quite a while since the trope has been wheeled out so it feels fresh again. Talia is finally starting to feel like a character of her own as well instead of just the Mulder half of an X-Files duo. I'm looking forward to where Percy takes the characters from here.

Cory Smith is back on full art duties this month and he continues to ground the book in this gritty atmosphere that is honestly the series' strongest hook. Exhaust and his birth at the start of the issue is appropriately horrific with an excellent character design that fuses muscle and bone with chrome engine parts. It looks appropriately nasty and continues the strong visual imagery that this title has maintained even Smith himself has been absent.

Despite its exceedingly strong start, Percy's series continues to misfire for me. I want to love it, but the shortcuts the writer takes are continuing to leave me cold.