Cover Date: May 2023; On Sale Date: March 2023
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: Bjorn Barends
Johnny Blaze and Talia Warroad arrive on the outskirts of Savannah, where they are stopped by two police officers who tell them the city is locked down. Johnny is sprayed in the face with mace by one of the cops and in turn he transforms into the Ghost Rider, who occupies one of the police cars and heads into the city. Talia, refusing to be left behind, puts a spell on the cops and follows Ghost Rider into Savannah.
The city is almost completely on fire, with the bodies of both humans and demons littering the streets. Ghost Rider follows the path of destruction to Colonial Park Cemetery, where he encounters one surviving demon that is slowly dying from its wounds. The demon claims that the Ghost Rider had already been there, slaughtering his way through the city, and he raises the dead of the cemetery to attack. Ghost Rider grabs onto a cross of a tombstone and uses it as a flaming sword to destroy the undead, then eats the sin of the final demon as its dies, revealing a vision of a green-flamed creature that destroyed the city.
Later, Johnny and Talia gather supplies for a spell to uncover the identity of who or what destroyed Savannah. Checking in to a motel, Talia uses a hot tub and a drop of Johnny's blood to experience visions of his brother, Danny Ketch, as the person responsible for killing all of the people and demons in the city.
THE ROADMAP
This is Legacy # 255 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.
Danny Ketch last appeared as the host for the Spirit of Corruption in King in Black: Ghost Rider (2021) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
Danny Ketch returns in an unexpected way as Percy and Smith produce the best issue of the series in quite a while.
Every time I think I've checked out on this series, that the plot contrivances and overwhelming angst are just too much for me, Percy and Smith come along and produce an actual great comic. This is one of those, with its laser-like focus on the plot and absolutely killer action sequence all leading up to a great last page reveal. I mean, it's not much of a surprise to see Danny back in this capacity, given the cliffhanger ending of issue # 10 that showed him as a the subject of a sinister lab's experiments, but it's still a visceral gut-punch to see the character returned in such a capacity.
The real meat of the comic comes from the battle inside Savannah, a location not usually utilized in superhero comics (probably for the best, considering the city's condition here). Percy and Smith definitely sell the devastation wrought on the city, with the buildings on fire and fountains literally spouting blood, though it beggars the question as to why no else like Dr. Strange has noticed a bunch of dead demons and a major American city destroyed by a Ghost Rider. I mean, I'm fine with this series being kind of divorced from the main Marvel Universe, otherwise we get crap like the Hell's Backbone race and Dr. Doom on a motorcycle, but Savannah is now an unlivable hellscape and that's kind of a big deal. Still, for the scale that the creators are playing with it works, especially with previous issues kind of building up Savannah as the "most haunted city in America" and all that as part of Blackheart's shadow country play.
The best part of the comic, once again, is the artwork by Smith and Junior. The narration can talk about Savannah's destruction all it wants, but it's the artwork that captures the sheer destruction and brutal details. The action scene with Ghost Rider fighting the zombies in the graveyard is sheet perfection, with the fantastic visual of the flaming cross being used as a sword. That bit leads in to the money shot splash page, which this series desperately needs more of on a consistent basis. Whenever Percy allows things like that, and the flaming chainsaw bit from issue # 10, to be unleashed it instantly elevates the enjoyability of the reading.
After this issue I'm fully invested in where Percy is heading with the plot, particularly in where he's taking poor ol' Danny Ketch, but I'm also wary given his track record of not being able to stick the landings on his stories. Here's hoping this one bucks the trend.
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