"The King of Hell, Part 1"
Cover Date: December 2019
On Sale Date: October 2019
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Aaron Kuder
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jason Keith
Editor: Chris Robinson
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski
Cover Artist: Aaron Kuder
In Hell, a group of demons loyal to Mephisto open a portal to Earth. They are attacked by Johnny Blaze, the King of Hell, and his demon soldiers, but some of the escaping demons make it through the portal to possess new human bodies. Leaving his lieutenant D'Kay behind to guard the portal, Blaze travels to Earth himself to hunt down the escapees.
In Brooklyn, at the Fadeaway Pub, Danny Ketch gets in a fight with two men, which is interrupted by a visit from his ex girlfriend, police detective Stacy Dolan. Danny tells her not to worry about him, and after she leaves he goes out back and transforms into the Ghost Rider. He finds not only a giant rampaging demon but also his brother, Johnny Blaze. Danny kills the demon by riding down its throat and turning it inside out. Meanwhile, back in Hell, D'Kay is killed by Lilith.
At the Fadeaway, Johnny asks Danny to help him round up the escaped demons. Danny refuses, saying he just wants to be left alone. Blaze notices one of the patrons leaving, then chides Danny before leaving the bar himself. While Danny goes to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave and get drunk, Blaze follows the man from the bar back to his apartment. Johnny attacks the man, revealing him to be a demon before sending him to He'll. Danny is visited by his mother's ghost, who tells her son that Johnny has been corrupted by Hell and must be stopped.
"The Caretaker Chronicles"
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Juan Frigeri
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jason Keith
Editor: Chris Robinson
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski
Sister Sara, the granddaughter of the Caretaker and inheritor of his mantle, rides through the desert, following a psychic summoning. She arrives at a cave, where she finds a library of books similar to her grandfather's. She touches one of the books and experiences a vision of things to come involving the Ghost Riders.
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| Danny is perpetually having "one of those days". |
THE ROADMAP
Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider made his last appearance in Absolute Carnage: Symbiote of Vengeance # 1, when Johnny Blaze asked him to help Alejandra Jones. Danny failed and Alejandra was killed by Carnage during the events of that issue.
Johnny Blaze became the King of Hell in Damnation: Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider # 1 and last appeared in Avengers (2018) # 25.
Stacy Dolan, Danny's ex-girlfriend, first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1 and was a regular supporting character throughout that series. She last appeared in Marvel Comics Presents (2007) # 12. Danny's mother, Audra Ketch, also first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1 and she made her last appearance in Ghost Rider (1990) # 90. She apparently died not long before this issue.
Blaze's lieutenant in Hell, D'Kay, first appeared in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 116. He last appeared in Iron Fist (2017) # 80. He is killed in this issue by Lilith, who first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 28 and appeared last in Witches (2004) # 4.
Sister Sara first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 26 and became the new Caretaker in Ghost Rider (2006) # 27 when she touched her grandfather's books about the history of the Spirits of Vengeance. She last appeared in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6.
This issue also has a "Legacy Numbering" that factors in all previous issues of Ghost Rider through various reboots over the years, with this issue clocking in at # 237.
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| Those chains look freaking PAINFUL. |
CHAIN REACTION
Danny Ketch rides back into his first ongoing series since the 1990s and it is a glorious sight to behold.
To say that this comic was eagerly anticipated by Ghost Rider fans is a bit of an understatement, and it's a rare case of Marvel hedging their bets and actually providing some excitement and buildup for Danny Ketch's return. With all of the focus on Johnny Blaze over the last 20 years it seemed like Marvel had forgotten that Danny Ketch's 1990s series was the most successful that the Ghost Rider character has EVER been. Now, I'm sure no one expected this series to sell like its predecessor, which was one of the most popular comics of its time, so allowing the creators to slowly build interest in the series over the previous year was very smart. With the Avengers series doing a concurrent Ghost Rider story and the previous appearances of Ketch throughout the Marvel Universe (Absolute Carnage, Punisher, etc...), it looked like Marvel was really serious about making this book a success. It was a huge sea change from when Marvel cancelled the last Ghost Rider series after five issues, with its sixth already solicited and never published. Marvel was confident about Ghost Rider, and specifically Danny Ketch, as a character again.
They also couldn't have picked a better writer to handle this series than Ed Brisson (other than Howard Mackie coming back, of course), who has guided Danny through his appearances in the prior year and made him a compelling lead character. Brisson's first issue of this series is brimming with nods to past Ghost Rider continuity, just as his previous stories were, and it's like a nod toward everyone else who grew up with the 1990s Ghost Rider. He's also writing a Danny Ketch that's spot-on, updating him from his 90s personality by incorporating the slightly dodgy stuff that Jason Aaron and Simon Spurrier did with him in 2008. Nothing has been disregarded, Brisson's Ketch is a fascinating integration of those two interpretations of the character. He's put upon and downbeat, and in comparison to his more successful (I say in quotes) brother he's not really much of a Ghost Rider at all.
Which is where this newest look at Johnny Blaze comes into play as the King of Hell. We've seen Johnny in this role during the previous year, specifically in the "Challenge of the Ghost Riders" arc in Avengers that was eagerly painting him as a villain. It's a natural consequence to ruling Hell, I'd assume, that he'd go just a little corrupt. At least here he seems to have pure motives until the end, but his bullying toward Danny is pretty par for the course considering their tumultuous history as brothers. In fact, it's an interest inversion of their last major encounter, when Danny was the one that had been corrupted and overpowered by Zadkiel. So having Johnny be the one in power and looking down on Danny is a great role reversal that I'm sure Brisson will likely flag up in coming issues.
The artwork for this comic, oh sweet Jesus the artwork, is by Aaron Kuder. I'm familiar with Kuder's work in passing for his Guardians of the Galaxy and Action Comics runs, but not because I read those titles, just from cover art alone. I wasn't prepared for how much I enjoyed his art here, it is absolutely on point for every panel of every page. His work reminds me a lot of a toned down Frank Quitely, with his lanky and haggard figures and texture of the environments. His panel compositions and action staging is impeccable, especially the pages with Ghost Rider fighting the giant demon.
Overall, I could not be more satisfied with this comic. It absolutely lived up to my expectations and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Highest possible recommendation.
