Cover Date: April 1994; Publication Date: February 1994
Kody, strongman for the Quentin Carnival turned bestial creature, hunts through the woods in Bucks County, Pennsylvania for another beast-man. Their savage fight is interrupted by John Blaze, whose intervention allows the second monster to escape. Blaze demands answers and Kody clarifies that the other creature was his brother.
A week later, Kody has disappeared, and Blaze is wracked with guilt over not being able to help his friend. Clara has a vision of Kody in danger in New York City and offers to lead Blaze to him. Roxanne is upset, realizing that Clara has an attraction toward John and wants John to treat her and their children like family instead of like strangers. Blaze checks on Quinn, who is helping to heal and repair Steel Wind, who Quinn refuses to abandon. Not long after, Blaze and Clara leave for New York on John’s hellfire motorcycle.
In Manhattan, Kody is attacked by more beast-men, led by his father, Bern. They have come to bring Kody back with them, but he refuses to go. An hour later, when John and Clara arrive, Clara impulsively kisses Blaze. The jealous and lovelorn Kody attacks John and tries to flee with Clara but stops when Blaze says they are there to help him with his family. Bern and the beast-men attack, but when Kody chooses his human friends over his family, Bern exiles him from their clan. John, Clara, and Kody all talk about their feelings toward one another, and Kody agrees to return with them.
THE ROADMAP
Cody revealed the secret of his bestial heritage during an attack on the Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 10.
CHAIN REACTION
Spirits of Vengeance continues to wrap up its outstanding subplots with a story focused on Kody, the strongman turned werewolf-kinda-monster-man.
I feel like Mackie is providing short-term resolutions to plots that he had long-term plans for. Last issue’s send-off for the Quentin Carnival and retrieval of Steel Wind bypassed that by providing some necessary closure, but this one feels a bit rushed. It’s obvious that Mackie had some long-simmering ideas for the characters introduced in the first year of the series, and it’s nice that he’s taking the time to provide some answers before he’s off the book, but it does feel a little like he’s just ticking off the boxes on his plot checklist before turning out the lights.
Kody was probably the least interesting of the Carnival supporting cast, shown as a coward with a dark secret in the beginning before he was forced to transform into his beast-man persona. He’s like a werewolf but not really, since this issue introduces his beast-man family, a clan of monsters who have been hidden from the world of man for who knows how long. It’s not the most interesting of backstories, but there is at least some through line for the ongoing Quentin Carnival wrap-up. Having Blaze surrounded by a found family who provide him with a supporting cast but also encroach on his relationship with his actual family is interesting, if slight.
The best thing about this issue is the artwork by Henry Martinez and the colors by John Kalisz. This was right at the onset of Marvel’s attempts at digital coloring, and it makes the comic pop right off the page. It’s not garish, as later attempts at computer coloring will look, and it enhances the artwork instead of distracting from it. Martinez again continues to improve by leaps and bounds, his body language being the most noticeably improved here. The ending shot of Blaze, Clara, and Kody walking away sells the moment perfectly.
I’m not as altogether sold on Kody as a character, but at least his backstory is wrapped up, freeing him for use by the incoming writer to do with as they will.
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