Cover Date: August 2023; On Sale Date: June 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
When Johnny Blaze and Talia Warroad approach the doors to Infernal Labs, a massive mystical explosion rocks the building. The two make their way through the ruined lab and find Danny Ketch, who is unconscious and near death due to being severed from the Spirit of Corruption. Talia absorbs the memories of the dying lab assistant and reveals Dr. Diyu's plan, to use the Spirit to power her mech suit and travel into Hell to retrieve her brother. Talia is able to keep Danny's body alive temporarily, but she tells Johnny that he's going to have to go to Hell to reclaim the Spirit or Danny will die. Johnny transforms into the Ghost Rider and enters the portal to Hell, where he is immediately besieged by demons looking to kill their former king.
Using the Spirit's power to fight her way through Hell, Dr. Diyu finally locates her brother's soul. At that moment, the Spirit rips itself out of the mech suit, leaving Diyu alone. Her brother tells her that he is in Hell because he belongs there and immediately murders her. Ghost Rider finds the Spirit of Corruption and offers to take it home to Danny. Ghost Rider emerges from the Hell portal back on Earth and returns the Spirit power to Danny. Ghost Rider transforms back into Johnny as Danny wakes up, allowing the brothers to be reunited.
THE ROADMAP
This is Legacy # 258 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. He was shown as the subject of Infernal Labs' experimentation at the end of Ghost Rider (2022) # 10.
Johnny Blaze appears next in the back-up story in Ghost Rider (2022) # 14. Danny Ketch appears next in Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt (2024) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
The Infernal Labs arc comes to a close as the brothers are reunited and Dr. Diyu gets her heart's desire.
Perhaps my expectations weren't appropriate, but am I the only reader who was assuming we were going to get a confrontation between Johnny and remote-piloted Danny as Ghost Riders in this arc? I think it was the cover art for the issues that really threw me off, because that scenario is assuredly not what we get with this issue's conclusion to the story. That's okay, though, because that sequence of events (Ghost Rider vs. Ghost Rider) has happened a couple of times before, so I credit Percy for trying something new with the brother dynamic.
What's not okay is that this issue doesn't give the plot enough time to breathe, and some natural consequences that should have happened just plain don't. While Dr. Diyu does get her comeuppance at the end, it's not because of anything the protagonists do; her plan would have failed regardless of Johnny Blaze. There really ought to have been some sort of confrontation between the two; I mean, how sweet would it have been to have a page or two fight between GR and the hell mech? This issue rushes through the conclusion when another issue (or, more fairly, less time wasted in the previous issue) was really necessary.
This issue does at least deliver some Ghost Rider action, which Cory Smith once again excels at. I truly believe that Smith is the saving grace of this series, when the plot leaves you scratching your head there's always a cool action sequence around the corner to remind you why this series exists. The design for the hell mech is interesting, the fight against the demons is thrilling, and the revelation of Dr. Diyu's brother is appropriately grotesque.
I really liked parts of this story, and even this issue had it's shining moments, but I don't think Percy sticks the landing as well as he could have. It's not the anticlimax of the Shadow Country storyline, it has more finality than that thank goodness, but it just doesn't have the impact I feel it should.
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