Cover Date: April 2023; On Sale Date: February 2023
Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: David Wachter; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Bjorn Barends
Johnny Blaze wakes up in a tent after suffering through nightmares of dying in various horrific ways. Talia Warroad is outside, sitting before a campfire where she is attempting a spell. The two then continue their journey across the backroads of America, fighting off the demonic taint spread by Blackheart as they go. Johnny also has a new motorcycle, created from the body of Exhaust, a demon that had previously possessed Johnny. The motorcycle seems to have a mind of its own, attacking innocent admirers and attempting to run Talia off the road with its thick exhaust fumes. Talia warns Johnny that he needs to get rid of the bike.
At a diner in Georgia, Johnny and Talia make plans to head to Savannah, one of the central focal points of Blackheart's demonic corruption of the country. When Talia leaves the diner she is attacked by the motorcycle, who wants to kill her and keep Johnny all to itself. Johnny saves Talia and gains control of the bike, crashing it in a construction site. The bike, transformed back into the mangled body of Exhaust, is buried on the construction site by Johnny and Talia. Later, when they get closer to Savannah, they see the outline of the city on fire.
THE ROADMAP
This is Legacy # 254 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.
Blackheart was revealed to be the source behind the Shadow Country in Ghost Rider (2022) # 5 and he was sent back to Hell by Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (2022) # 10.
Exhaust was the demon exorcised from Johnny Blaze by Wolverine in Ghost Rider (2022) # 6. He gained his humanoid form in Ghost Rider (2022) # 7 and was tamed and transformed into Ghost Rider's new motorcycle in Ghost Rider (2022) # 10.
CHAIN REACTION
The angst gets dialed up to eleven in this interlude issue that really goes "nowhere" fast.
A feature of Ben Percy's run to this point has been Johnny Blaze's first person narration, which often times reads heavy on the brooding and semi-philosophical musings of the main character. Sometimes the narration adds to the atmosphere of the story being told, where other times it's a big distraction from the comic's plot. How many times can we read about Johnny feeling like his life is a curse? Quite a lot, judging by this issue. The narration here drags this issue down into a mire that it just can't climb out of, it's too much angst, so much so that it changes the tone of the story from "dark" to "just plain depressing".
Ultimately, though, this is a story that didn't need to be told. What was the point of transforming Exhaust into Ghost Rider's new motorcycle (which was not clear at all from the reading of the previous issue, it was left very vague what happened to Exhaust and where the new bike came from) when an issue later it was going to be discarded? Percy has these great ideas, such as the sentient evil motorcycle, and then discards them too quickly, as if he gets bored of them and wants to move on to the next idea as fast as possible. Things in previous issues, like the Circus of Crime in issue # 4 and hell, Blackheart's whole defeat scene in the last issue, are rushed through without giving the ideas time to breathe. That's exactly what happens here with Exhaust; had the idea been allowed to simmer in the background for a few issues before being resolved I think it would have worked much better. Otherwise, we're left with a comic that has little point but to clear up a new plot development introduced just one issue before.
The artwork is by David Wachter, and it's not miles beyond what Cory Smith and Brent Peebles have been producing on previous issues. Unfortunately, Wachter doesn't get to draw much in the way of Ghost Rider here, as it's another issue where the title character is absent minus a few montage panels. He does a good job handling the death scenes of Johnny Blaze that open the issue, and I like the sheer weight and presence he gives to the Exhaust cycle. Everything is perfectly in line with the tone of the series, which is one of the saving graces here.
Ultimately, this issue is inherently skippable because it does nothing but resolve a plot that didn't need to be introduced in the first place. Hard pass from me.
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