Cover Date: September 2023; On Sale Date: July 2023
Writer: Benjamin Percy; Artist: Chris Campana; Inker: Oren Junior; Letterer: VC's Travis Lanham; Colorist: Bryan Valenza; Editor: Darren Shan; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Bjorn Barends
At different time periods, three Ghost Riders: Robbie Reyes, Danny Ketch, and Johnny Blaze, all pick up a mysterious hooded hitchhiker. The hitchhiker eventually takes control of the vehicles each man is driving through supernatural means, and it is revealed that within his bag is a collection of skinned faces. The hitchhiker claims the faces of the three men, which also grants him the powers of their individual Spirits of Vengeance.
The hitchhiker uses the power of the Ghost Rider against his own kind, the skinless workers of the Church of the Flayed, destroying their bases of operation in Los Angeles, New York, and Maine. The hitchhiker wants to be the only remaining member of his kind and has been using the Ghost Riders as his weapon against them. When his missions are over he allows the hosts to reclaim their Spirits of Vengeance, then the hitchhiker disappears into the night.
Meanwhile, at FBI Headquarters, Director Crux meets with Father Pike of Orchis, who is requesting information on Infernal Labs. Father Pike plans on restarting the Weapon Plus program with what he calls "Project Hellfire".
THE ROADMAP
This is Legacy # 259 of the ongoing Ghost Rider series.
Robbie Reyes' appearance "three years ago" likely takes place prior to Avengers (2018) # 1. Danny Ketch's appearance "two years ago" likely takes place before Ghost Rider (2019) # 1.
Johnny Blaze appears next in Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Alpha (2023) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
Percy and Campana turn in a one-shot story focusing on the three modern Ghost Riders and their encounter with a malevolent hitchhiker.
This is a story with a good hook behind it, spanning three different time periods to tell a tale of three different Ghost Riders. Percy again, however, falls into the trap of being a good idea man without the ability to follow-up with logical storytelling. The identity of the hitchhiker is the big mystery of the comic, and only the barest glimpse of a backstory is given to him as he goes about his work against the Church of the Flayed. They apparently worship a demonic god of some sort, but what exactly their purpose is is unknown. Why the hitchhiker wants to be the only member of the church is left unknown. Why he chooses to use Ghost Riders and how he's able to co-opt their powers is, you guessed it, left unknown. We'd just finished a story about a Ghost Rider losing its agency to a sinister villain, and the idea is repeated here again.
Percy excels at setting mood for his stories, with his brooding narration and the tone he sets up for his plots. I just wish he was able to produce comics without such head-scratching moments as the ones in this issue. It's like he comes up with a neat idea - "face stealing hitchhiker!" - and then has no idea where to take the idea once it's in play. It's disappointing, because the ideas are rock solid, he just needs to land the execution better.
Chris Campana's the fill-in artist for this issue, and his work isn't miles away from regular artist Cory Smith. He provides some visual congruency with his visceral take on the hitchhiker and his face stealing tendencies, though perhaps the gore is dialed down a notch than in previous issues. That's actually not a detriment at all, as it allows the art to tell the story without drowning it in blood and viscera. Campana does a good job differentiating each Ghost Rider from one another, which can be tricky for even the best of artists.
Ultimately this issue is a failure that relies too much on style over substance, leaving too many unanswered questions in its wake. It makes for a nice "urban legend" kind of story but doesn't fit in at all with the ongoing narrative.
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