Cover Date: March 2022; On Sale Date: January 2022
Writer: Jason Aaron; Artist: Aaron Kuder and Carlos Magno; Inker: Scott Hanna, Roberto Poggi, and Cam Smith; Colorist: Guru-EFX; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Assistant Editor: Martin Biro; Associate Editor: Analisse Bissa; Editor: Tom Brevoort; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Aaron Kuder
Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes is a prisoner of Earth 818's Black Skull, who is an expert in torture. After days of sawing, the Black Skull is finally able to remove Robbie's right foot from his leg. Ghost Rider attempts to escape but is easily subdued by the Skull, who throws him back into his cell alongside the captive Deathlok that transported them to this alternate Earth.
The Black Skull continues his torturous interrogations of Robbie, who keeps attempting to escape. On one occasion he is brought down by Norman Osborn, the Ghost Goblin, who is the Skull's teammate on the Multiversal Masters of Evil. Osborn tells the Skull that Robbie is an anomaly among Ghost Rider and warns that they should just kill him and add his head to the Goblin's collection of Ghost Rider skulls. Deathlok attempts to keep Robbie going by reminding him of his life on Earth 616 with his brother, Gabe, unaware that the Skull is listening through his symbiote infected cockroaches inside the cell with them. Robbie is led to a large room that contains as many alternate earth variants of himself that could be found, who have all been driven insane through torture. The alternate Robbies all kill one another, leaving Ghost Rider the last one standing. This breaks Robbie's will, and when he's thrown back into his cell Deathlok recognizes that the Skull will soon learn all he needs to learn from them. Deathlok attempts to smash the cockroaches in the cell and discovers that Tony Stark, the Ant-Man, has come to rescue them.
THE ROADMAP
Robbie Reyes was transported by Deathlok to Earth 818 in Avengers (2018) # 50.
CHAIN REACTION
Robbie Reyes takes over as the de facto lead of Avengers Forever in this spotlight issue.
I'll give it to Jason Aaron, the man knows how to write suspenseful Ghost Rider stories, even if they're seemingly a million miles away from what should be appropriate for the character. Multiverse hopping shenanigans, even ones as dark as this, aren't the types of stories one typically associates with Ghost Rider. I've also not always been sold on the way Aaron has appropriated Robbie Reyes into the Avengers titles in the past, seemingly divorcing him from what made the character so engaging in the first place.
This comic, even with all of the above things working against it, is a masterpiece of a character study on what makes Robbie tick as a hero and as a Ghost Rider. Making him the heavy of the piece, when he's been downplayed as the team rookie for so long, made the last issue work so well. This one takes all of that bravado and bluster and scorches it down to bare bones, revealing Robbie to be as tough as nails while still making him sympathetic. The torture scenes, coupled with Robbie's narration boxes, are difficult to get through even with the outrageousness of the Black Skull and his symbiote. Sawing off the foot he uses to drive his car is particularly harsh, and is apparently meant to be a permanent maiming given the use of the chains as a prosthetic limb near the comic's end. This is not an easy comic to get through, more for the psychological torture that Robbie is subjected to throughout, threatening to rub away everything that makes him a human being and not just a vengeance-fueled machine.
Aaron Kuder, paired with Carlos Magno on the prison cell pages, does a great job in selling the desolation and desperation of this alternate Earth. His artwork, usually bright and crisp, is brought to some dark places as he imagines Jason Aaron's plot, and his Ghost Rider looks more and more haggard and craggily as the comic progresses. I'm always impressed when an artist can believably make the Ghost Rider's skull emote like a muscled face without it looking ridiculous, and Kuder sells those expressions during the pages with the multiple Robbies killing one another. Top notch stuff here.
After so long in the background it's refreshing to read some solo spotlight tales on Robbie Reyes as the Ghost Rider, even with all the questions they raise about the creators' intended end point for the character. This one, on its own merits, is definitely a success and is a recommend read for Ghost Rider fans.
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