Cover Date: March 1994; Publication Date: January 1994
Blaze digs himself free of the avalanche he triggered to bury himself, Regent, and the Hidden. Thinking Regent is dead, Blaze heads to the nearby chalet to rescue his family, unware that Regent did indeed survive and is quickly freeing himself from the snow. At the fortress, the leader of the Hidden, Dark Design, tells the Blaze children that he and Regent will indoctrinate them into their ways. Blaze arrives and kills numerous members of the Hidden while the children are spirited away. Blaze confronts Roxanne, who he believes betrayed him, and she explains that Regent came to her when Johnny was still the Ghost Rider. She made a deal, her future children in exchange for Regent’s help freeing Blaze from Zarathos. Roxanne says that she tried to hide when Regent came after them but was unable to keep their children safe. Blaze forgives his wife and rushes to save his children. He kills Dark Design, but not before a self-destruct countdown is triggered. Regent returns with his minion, Blaze’s former friend George, who Blaze kills in revenge for his betrayal. Seer arrives and teleports the children away, allowing Blaze to shoot Regent and escape the fortress with Roxanne, just before it blows up.
Later, back at the cabin Pennsylvania, John plays with his wife and children before having a conversation with Seer. He thanks her for her help but warns her to stay away, saying that one day he’ll come for all the members of the Blood in a bid to keep his family safe from them.
John Blaze appears next in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 20.
Blaze blames the Blood for the death of Dan Ketch in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 18. (which was published after the release of this issue). John learned that he and Dan were brothers in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 16.
CHAIN REACTION
“Legacy of Blood” wraps up, ending on a happy note for the characters and the readers.
So, by this point, John Blaze was as far removed from his original stunt-riding Ghost Rider incarnation as he could possibly get. Gone was the idealistic but downtrodden champion, replaced with a grizzled everyman that smoked, carried a shotgun, and didn’t hesitate to kick some demon or ninja ass. It’s a major change in characterization, but Mackie took the time over the last few years to really sell the idea and make it not only work, but seem natural. The element that grounded this new version of Johnny Blaze the most was the emphasis on family, which fit the character perfectly.
John Blaze, at his core, had always been a character desperate to be accepted following the loss of not just one set of parents, but two. He spent years on the road completely alone as the Ghost Rider curse alienated him more and more from society, and it wasn’t until he discovered a new found family in the Quentin Carnival and reunited with his long lost love Roxanne that he was able to break free of that curse and live a happy life. It makes a lot of sense that Blaze would then become fiercely protective of his family; we’d seen his attempts to protect the Carnival over in Spirits of Vengeance, and this series was naturally all about his wife and children.
Regent, as the threat that wants to take those things away from him, makes him a villain on a personal level that was lacking in many of the antagonists introduced in this era. Compare Regent to the hollow version of Zarathos that had been stinking up “Siege of Darkness” and it’s no contest which one is more engaging and interesting. Sure, Regent might look like a normal dude with a moustache and bad haircut, but he’s ultimately more sinister as a schemer. If anything, I wish they’d left all the nonsense about the Blood out of the story and made Regent his own thing, but I can understand how the creators would want some synergy with the main titles.
The big problem squatting at the heart of this issue, and the story as a whole that hinges upon it, is the explanation of Roxanne’s deal with Regent. In theory it works, that Roxanne would make a deal with someone powerful to try and free Johnny from the Ghost Rider’s curse (an idea that will crop up again about a decade later with Roxanne and Zadkiel), but the narrative that Mackie gives doesn’t make sense if you think about it. Roxanne states that she made a deal to turn over her unborn children to Regent in exchange for him freeing Johnny from Zarathos. The retcon doesn’t work, though, because we all saw how Blaze separated himself from the Ghost Rider, and it had nothing to do with Regent. So Regent coming back wanting the kids, sure, he’s a bad guy and that’s what bad guys do, but making Roxanne culpable doesn’t accomplish anything but to paint her as an unlikely traitor. Now, it’s certainly more believable than Regent’s claim in the previous issue that he manipulated Crash Simpson into adopting Johnny as some kind of breeding experiment, so at least there’s that.
Wagner and Rourke continue their excellent work on the book’s art, cover the pages with huge swaths of black ink and scribbles everywhere. It’s rough and edgy, fitting the story perfectly. There’s some confusion when Seer appears, and Regent’s off-screen demise is both disappointing as it is predictable. Those are rare moments of the art lacking clarity, because for the most part it’s all spot-on.
“Legacy of Blood” is good; in fact, it’s really good. It’s a forgotten gem in the history of the character, providing a solid hook and intriguing melodrama. I recommend tracking it down, provided you can get past the whole “cyborg face” thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment