X-Force (2008) # 9-10

"Old Ghosts, Parts 3 & 4"

Cover Dates: December 2008 & January 2009
On Sale Dates: October 2008 & November 2008

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Artist: Mike Choi
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Sonia Oback
Editor: John Barber
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Mike Choi

Outside Camp Verde, an abandoned Native American reservation in Arizona, the X-Force member James "Warpath" Proudstar is attacked by an immense supernatural force called "The Demon Bear". Warpath attempts to fight, but finds that he is unable to touch the creature - the Bear, on the other hand, easily swats Proudstar onto a nearby cliff-face. Ninety-seven miles away, traveling by motorcycle across a desolate highway, John Blaze hears the Demon Bear's roar. Blaze puts the breaks on and transforms into the Ghost Rider. Warpath continues his attempts to fight the Demon Bear, but is hopelessly outmatched. While pinned down between the beast's claws, he notices a skull-headed dagger sticking out of the Bear's shoulder. Before the Bear can kill the mutant, Ghost Rider speeds by, taking Proudstar along with him as he races towards the horizon.

Later that night, Proudstar wakes up in bandages, wondering why he is still alive. Sitting across from him on a fallen tree log is Ghost Rider, who tells Warpath to gather his strength. Tonight, he's going to show him how to kill a demon. Ghost Rider explains to Proudstar the history of his native people, who knew about the threat they face before they were all killed. Proudstar's birthright connects him to the spirit forces, but because he is no shaman he doesn't know how to access his power. Ghost Rider offers to show Proudstar how to touch the dead and fight spirits such as the Demon Bear. The Bear is filled with darkness so thick that Ghost Rider admits even he does not truly understand it, but they can still kill it. As he paints marks on Proudstar's face, Ghost Rider tells him that he will become the monster slayer, and that other tribes had a name for this religion - they called it the Ghost Dance.

Warpath and Ghost Rider confront the Demon Bear, who is mad with rage. The two heroes attack, and Proudstar finds that he is finally able to strike the Bear, unlike during his previous fight with the monster. The Demon Bear knocks the two heroes aside, and Ghost Rider comments that the beast fights like it is insane or in great pain. As the Bear attempts to devour Proudstar with its jaws, Ghost Rider sees a skull-headed demon blade stabbed into the Bear's hide - it has been wounded and poisoned by dark magic. While Ghost Rider binds the Bear with his chain, Warpath grabs the demon blade and pulls it free. The Demon Bear transforms into its true form, the Spirit Guides, Gods of the Apache. The knife had corrupted them, driving them mad with magic. The spirit gods rush forward and show Proudstar a vision of their suffering and the face of their enemy.

Later, Proudstar reunites with his X-Force teammates at the Angel's home in Colorado. He tells them that Eli Bard is responsible for digging up and taking his tribe, including the body of his brother. James doesn't want to be a killer, but now he has no choice.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 28

"Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance, Part 1"

Cover Date: December 2008
On Sale Date: October 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarubia
Assistant Editor: Sebastian Girner
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marc Silvestri

In the mountains of Tibet, a village in the Ngari Prefecture is under assault by a group of Chinese soldiers who are looking for the person responsible for firebombing their garrison the night before. The villagers say that the Khrag 'Thung, the Blood Drinker, is the one responsible, but the Chinese general refuses to believe in their superstitions. Suddenly, an old man on a mule enters the village and tells the soldiers that he is the Blood Drinker, the one who killed their men, and if they don't leave he will burn their souls to ash. When the general tells his men to kill everyone in the village, the old man transforms into a horse-mounted Ghost Rider and gives the general "the stare of a thousand Buddhas" - his version of the Penance Stare - which kills him and causes his men to flee in terror. The Blood Drinker returns to his human form and travels back to his abandoned temple, unaware that Daniel Ketch is there awaiting his return.

Moments later, Johnny Blaze and Sister Sara arrive at the temple and find the old man dead. Johnny recognizes him as a Spirit of Vengeance, and Sara explains that there is a Ghost Rider for every part of the world. This one, whose name was Nima, was modeled after a wrathful deity of Tibetan Buddhism. Sara tells Johnny that the Spirits of Vengeance are dying one by one, murdered by Blaze's brother Daniel. Zadkiel is using Ketch to bleed the Ghost Riders of their power, and once he's drained them all Zadkiel will have the power to conquer Heaven. Whether he wants to or not, Sara says, Johnny will have to kill his brother.

Later, Sara has made a fire in the temple, while Johnny returns after a fruitless search for his brother. While Blaze warms himself by the fire, Sara goes to another room to sleep. She's awakened by Daniel, who is immediately jumped from behind by Blaze. Danny runs out of the temple, but is quickly caught by Johnny. The two argue over what Danny's doing, with Ketch telling his brother that the Ghost Rider is a gift that he doesn't deserve. Blaze figures that his brother wants the Ghost Rider power back, and he refuses to give it back to him. Danny smiles and tells him that he doesn't need Johnny's Ghost Rider. He bursts into blue flame and transforms into a Spirit of Vengeance - he has his own Ghost Rider now.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 27

"The Former Things, Part 2: Requiem for a Caretaker"

Cover Date: November 2008
On Sale Date: September 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

Three years ago, Sister Sara trains as one of the nunchuck nuns of The Sacred Heart Convent for the Sisters of the Holy Sepulcher. In the present, Sara pleads with Johnny Blaze to help her find her grandfather, who she dreamt about despite having never met him. A truck driver that had assaulted Sara puts his hands on her, but she swiftly disables him with her martial arts training. She tells Blaze that her grandfather is the Caretaker of a nearby cemetery, which convinces Johnny to help her. They arrive at the Caretaker's shack that's burning to the ground, and find the Caretaker himself bleeding to death against a headstone. He greets Sara as his granddaughter and thanks her for answering his call after apologizing for leaving her at the Convent as a child for her protection. Sara is the last of his bloodline and must continue his work on Earth. Blaze demands answers about Zarathos, Noble Kale, Zadkiel, and the Medallion of Power; answers that are to be found in the caves beneath the Caretaker's burning shack.

In the catacombs, Dan Ketch and Blackout find a large library containing hundreds of books. Each volume is imprinted with a name of a former Ghost Rider, including Johnny Blaze, Michael Badilino, Noble Kale, and others. Ketch tells Blackout to keep Blaze away from him as he sets fire to the Book of Daniel Ketch. Outside, Blaze asks Caretaker how to get into the tunnels. He's then attacked by Blackout, who slams him through the ground with a stone grave marker. Blackout jumps into the cavern after Blaze, leaving Sara and Caretaker above. He tells Sara that she has to get in the tunnels and stop them before they destroy everything he's worked to preserve; he's dying and she has to be the Caretaker now. She leaves for the tunnels, and the Caretaker finally dies after apologizing to her.

Sara finds the library before the fire completely consumes the books. She touches one of the books, and suddenly the information contained within the library - the knowledge of every Ghost Rider throughout history - floods into her mind. Terrified, she runs into the nearest room and finds a warehouse of guns, knives, shovels, clothing, and motorcycles. Elsewhere, amidst a room of doors that lead to various mystical points on Earth, Blackout and Ghost Rider have their showdown. Blackout causes the lights to go out, but a few moments later the lights turn back on - Blackout is unconscious in Blaze's arms.

Moments later, Blaze, now human again, rides through the burning library. Through the smoke and flame he sees Danny, his long-lost and thought-deceased brother. Before Johnny can catch him, Dan runs through a door labeled "Tibet". Sara stops Blaze from following, saying that all of the answers he seeks about the Ghost Rider are now locked inside her mind. She's the Caretaker now, and if he wants his answers she has to ride with him. Johnny agrees, and the two ride his bike through the door to Tibet.

Meanwhile, the Caretaker awakens in a white room. He is in Heaven, surrounded by a host of angels with black wings. Caretaker says that he and his lies served Heaven and he demands his eternal reward. Zadkiel removes his flaming sword and severs the Caretaker's soul into pieces to scatter to the four corners of Heaven; and wherever he screams will know the name of Zadkiel.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 26

"The Former Things, Part 1: The Second Coming of Daniel Ketch"

Cover Date: October 2008
On Sale Date: August 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

At a church called the Sacred Heart Convent for the Sisters of the Holy Sepulcher, a nun named Sister Sara is leaving for the first time in her life. She tells her Mother Superior that she had a dream last night of her grandfather, that he's in trouble and she has to go to him. The Mother Superior tells her that she was an orphan who has lived in the convent her whole life, to which Sara replies that its all the more reason for her to go and then asks “which way is Tennessee?”.

Three days later, at a small shack in rural Tennessee, former Ghost Rider Danny Ketch arrives with four of his former enemies at his side. He has contracted Blackout, Doghead, Death Ninja, and the All-New Orb to work for Zadkiel, and their mission is to capture the man living in the shack. The villains advance on the shack's front door, and after the door is kicked open from the inside Doghead has his head blown off by the Caretaker, who is in possession of Blaze's old hellfire shotgun. Caretaker goes back into the shack with Death Ninja and the Orb following, while Blackout decides to sneak in the back way. Inside the shack, Death Ninja and the Orb find an impossibly long hallway filled with doors. They pick a door at random and enter a room that's filled with items from the Ghost Rider's past - a room that's been booby-trapped. After tripping a wire, a board with nails sticking out is fired onto the Orb's face, blinding the giant eyeball he has for a head. Caretaker comes into the room firing the shotgun, and though he's stabbed by his sword he manages to kill the Death Ninja. The lights in the room blink out, and Caretaker is stabbed by Blackout's claws. He returns the favor by stabbing Blackout in the groin with Death Ninja's sword. Before Blackout can kill the Caretaker, he's stopped by Danny, who repeats that Zadkiel wants the old man alive. Danny talks with the Caretaker, saying that he was supposed to have been his mentor and all he received was lies about the Ghost Rider's origins. Caretaker tells him that the truth is that Danny was an accident, he only became the Ghost Rider by mistake. Danny denounces it as a lie, but Caretaker tells him that he knows its true, just like he knows what will happen once the real Ghost Rider gets there. After this, Danny sets fire to the shack, burning all of the items inside, and goes back outside to meet Blackout. Danny says that they have to wait for the house to burn down, what they want is underneath it. Ketch stops mid-sentence, then tells Blackout that he just sensed a presence - “he's here”.

Not far away, Sister Sara arrives at the road to Caretaker's shack, having hitched a ride with a trucker. Since she's unable to pay for the ride, the truck driver tries to force her into sex, prompting Sara to fight her way free and run into the road - where she's nearly run down by the motorcycle of Johnny Blaze, who claims to have business in the hills.

Ghost Rider (2006) Annual # 2

"A Town Called Mercy"

Cover Date: October 2008
On Sale Date: August 2008

Title: "A Town Called Mercy"
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Mark A. Robinson
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Raul Trevino
Editors: Daniel Ketchum & Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Mark Texeira

In the snowy town of Mercy, Idaho, Johnny Blaze is approached at a local bar by a young deputy who mistakes him for a “gloomie”, a person who's come to the town to commit suicide. Blaze points to a newspaper that talks about an angelic monster that's suspected of being responsible for a rash of “suicides” in the town. The deputy lies when asked if he's seen the creature and orders Blaze to leave the town. The town's sheriff asks if there's anyone else new in town, not noticing a young girl sitting by a window.

Later that night, Blaze is given a nightmare vision of an angel that offers him a silver key. When he wakes, he sees the girl from the bar wandering into the forest. Blaze follows the girl and in turn is followed by the deputy, who fires a warning shot just as Johnny sees a winged being flying above the trees. Blaze disarms the deputy, but is stopped at gunpoint by the sheriff. Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and leads the cops to the body of the girl, who dies in the deputy's arms. Obviously not a suicide, Blaze comments that they interrupted the creature before it could finish its job.

The next day, the sheriff puts together a hunting party to track the creature. The deputy tells Blaze that the town attracts “sad folks” that are later found dead. The first victim was the town's original sheriff, who hung himself in a barn. When the deputy discovered the body, he caught a glimpse of the angel responsible. Blaze and the two cops re-enter the forest, but the deputy realizes that his pistol is empty of ammunition. The sheriff sends his deputy back to re-arm, allowing Blaze to have a conversation with the man. He tells the sheriff that the deputy's pistol was loaded before they set out, and the night before when the sheriff appeared he'd had blood on his hands. Blaze turns and transforms into the Ghost Rider, only to find that the sheriff has undergone a transformation of his own into a terrifying angelic monster. The angel attacks, declaring itself to be a rebel from Heaven, and nearly kills Blaze before the deputy returns to stop the fight. When the angel hesitates, Blaze burns him down with a blast of hellfire. The crippled angel explains that he was once the gatekeeper of Heaven who was able to grant access to any mortal he so chose. When Zadkiel began his war against God, the Gatekeeper kept to himself until he found a point of argument - he believed that suicide should not be considered a sin. Zadkiel's host struck the Gatekeeper down and exiled him to Earth, but did not take away his ability to grant mortals access to Heaven. Since then he has drawn the suicidal to Mercy and murdered them, granting them paradise. He tells Blaze that when he dies his soul is forfeit to Hell, and only the Gatekeeper's power could have sent him to Heaven to confront Zadkiel. Blaze then demands that the angel kill him to grant him access to Heaven, but the angel explains that the rules force him to resist and fight as hard as he can - otherwise it would be considered suicide. The angel attacks, and Blaze is forced to kill him, leaving him and the deputy alone in the forest.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 25

"God Don't Live on Cell Block D, Part 2"

Cover Date: September 2008
On Sale Date: July 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdevic

Bob, the prison guard who is also a servant of Zadkiel, has released the murderous Deacon from his cell with orders to kill the Ghost Rider. To help him, Bob gives the Deacon a vial containing the Elixir of the Rock of Etam, one sip of which will grant him the strength of Samson, and a pair of giant golden daggers.

On Cell Block D, Blaze speaks with the preacher responsible for gunning down his parish. The preacher tells him he had been recruited by the First Church of the New Dawn, which he later learned was brainwashing people to serve in the army of Zadkiel. When he discovered this, the preacher took out a machine gun during a Sunday sermon and killed everyone inside. Blaze tells him he's there because a group of Satanists he roused in Denver gave him the preacher's name. The preacher admits that he made a deal with the Satanists; the Devil gets his soul and in return he's granted protection from Zadkiel's assassins and when he dies he won't have to go to Heaven. The preacher tells Blaze that Zadkiel is working to consolidate the powers of the Spirits of Vengeance, then realizes that Blaze himself is one of the Spirits. Before the preacher can say anything else, the Deacon comes up from behind and decapitates him. The Deacon makes quick work of the Satanists, then turns his attention to Blaze, who has transformed into the Ghost Rider. The two begin to fight, and Blaze is immediately injured by the Deacon's golden daggers. The Deacon gets the upper hand and throws Blaze through a wall into the prison's chapel; but when he gets close enough, Blaze grabs the Deacon and gives him the Penance Stare. Unbelievably, the Stare has no effect on the man, and he promptly stabs Blaze in the stomach. He explains that the Stare didn't work because he doesn't feel guilty for any of the lives he's taken; sin deserves to be punished and sinners must be made to repent. Blaze, nearly defeated, lays on his back and grabs the object nearest to him as a shield: the chapel's large, hard-bound Bible. The Deacon stops and demands Blaze to drop the book, saying “the Bible is not a weapon”. Johnny then uses the heavy book to hit the Deacon in the face, and continues to beat the madman senseless with the Bible. As he pummels his enemy, Blaze shouts over and over for the Deacon to tell him how to get to Zadkiel, until he finally notices that he's beat the man into unconsciousness. Blaze turns to leave, not noticing Bob the guard looking on, gun placed to his head in order to join his master Zadkiel.

Blaze staggers through the prison, unable to change back to his human form because his massive injuries would kill him. That means the Ghost Rider is calling the shots now, the Spirit of Vengeance crying out for the blood of the innocent to be avenged. At that moment, the Ghost Rider enters into a large group of rioting prisoners.

Eight minutes later, when the guards in riot gear break into the prison block, they find all of the prisoners laying on the floor and a huge hole blown out of the ground. In the cemetery outside, Ghost Rider blasts out from underground on his motorcycle and silently rides away toward the sunrise.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 24

"God Don't Live on Cell Block D, Part 1"

Cover Date: August 2008
On Sale Date: June 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Editors: Aubrey Sitterson & Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

Two years ago, police raid the First Church of the New Dawn after getting a report of shots fired. When they enter the church they find the entire congregation slaughtered in the pews. The man responsible is the church's priest, who tells them its not his fault - that the angels made him do it.

In the present, at Waxahachie Maximum Security Prison, a prisoner named Moss is put into a solitary confinement cell by the guards. To the surprise of all, Moss points out that there's someone else in the cell with him: Johnny Blaze. While the guard try to get the door open, Moss threatens Blaze, who Johnny points out is a murderer and rapist. He grabs Moss's face and engulfs him in hellfire, burning the killer's soul. When the startled guard enters the cell, Blaze tells him that its taking every bit of willpower he's got to keep control over the Spirit of Vengeance, which would like nothing more than to send every inmate in the prison to Hell. He tells the guard to go get the warden, otherwise he may just have to let go of the reins on the thing inside him. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the prison, a guard named Bob talks with an unseen spirit and uncovers the mark of Zadkiel on his chest.

Back in the cell, the prison's warden arrives to talk to Blaze. Johnny asks the warden if he's read the Bible much, then asks if he knows how many people God kills in the Bible. Adding up all of the floods and plagues and fires, God kills millions while the big scary Devil's body count comes to a paltry ten. That raises a big question: between Heaven and Hell, which one should they really be afraid of? The warden then says that any man crazy enough to break into his prison ought to be welcome to stay there, and they lock Blaze in the cell. Elsewhere in the hospital, Bob the guard goes into the control room and incapacitates two of his fellow guards, then by order from Zadkiel he opens all the cells in the prison.

Blaze busts down the door of his cell, tapping into as little of the Ghost Rider's power as possible for fear of the Spirit of Vengeance taking control and burning everything around him to the ground. It would be so easy for him to be the Ghost Rider and nothing else, but to do so would kill whatever's left of Johnny Blaze's soul. When he enters the prisoner ward, he sees a full blown riot taking place. After getting directions from an inmate, Blaze makes his way to Cell Block D, where he's confronted by a group of Satanists who want revenge on Blaze for his earlier defeat of their master Lucifer. Before they can do anything, a voice tells them to back off - their leader recognizes Blaze as someone who has had his life destroyed by the angels. The inmate takes down his hood and reveals himself to be the priest responsible for the church massacre two years earlier. He tells Blaze that if he's here seeking his help against Zadkiel then he's a fool who's likely doomed them all to a horrifying death.

In another part of the prison, specifically Cell 17 of Solitary Confinement, Bob the guard comes up on two coworkers who are guarding a very special prisoner. Bob kills his fellow guards and unlocks the door. Inside is a massive brute of a man known only as the Deacon, who asks Bob if he is a disciple of the New Dawn. When Bob replies that he is, the Deacon asks for his rifle and the names of those who need to be killed.

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 5

"Addict, Part 5: Chase the Dragon"

Cover Date: April 2009
On Sale Date: February 2009

Title: Addict, Part 5: "Chase the Dragon"
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Clint Langly

While Danny Ketch, as the newly re-powered Ghost Rider, battles Verminous Rex, the crow named Mister Eleven that has acted as Danny's guide is beheaded by Rex's son, the rat-creature Albinus. Ketch sees Eleven die, which sends him into a murderous rage. Meanwhile, Albinus leaves the nest and arrives on Earth, where he goes to the apartment of Danny's friend Mary LeBow. Albinus attacks Mary, and while fighting him she puts on her spirit-goggles, which reveals that Mister Eleven is possessing Albinus' body. Mister Eleven can jump from body to body, a fact he neglected to tell Dan. Eleven explains that he's a free agent who is working for Zadkiel to spare his own life. But what Zadkiel wants is Dan, and he doesn't want Mary to interfere - so Eleven is there to kill her.

Back at the nest, Ketch manages to gravely wound Verminous Rex; and while he lays dying, Rex taunts Danny into absorbing the power that Verminous stole from the other Spirits of Vengeance that he murdered. Unable to take the taunts, Dan leeches all of the power from Verminous Rex, which immediately sends him into an overdose. He returns to Earth and rides to Mary's apartment, pleading for her to exorcise him again before the power destroys him. But he finds Mary dead in her home, which pushes Ketch over the edge.

In the spirit realm, the ghosts of Eleven and Mary watch as Danny overdoses. Eleven tells Mary that he'll show her how to find a new body; he may have killed her, but he's not going to make her go to Heaven. Back on Earth, Danny is finally approached by Zadkiel himself, who tells him that the only way to save his soul is to give it up to the angel. He offers to save Dan's soul and keep it pure while, in return, Dan will hunt down the remaining Spirits of Vengeance to take their power and save their souls from destruction.

In the spirit realm, Eleven explains to Mary how he and Zadkiel set Danny up from the very beginning by restricting the amount of power he received with each "dose", stringing him along like a junkie. He tells Mary that Zadkiel is trying to overthrow the throne of Heaven for himself, and the power of the Ghost Riders is the only thing that will end the stalemate. Suddenly, the ghost of Verminous Rex appears in the spirit realm to demand his reward for helping Zadkiel. Eleven answers that the reward has already been given when Rex's race was rebuilt. Verminous refuses to accept this, but when he tries to attack Eleven and Mary the rat-creature is dropped down into Hell. Eleven and Mary depart the spirit realm, with Eleven warning her that people like them need to prepare for the fallout of Danny's actions.

Back on Earth, Danny has accepted Zadkiel's offer. The archangel informs Ketch that he can now "medicate" at will with his full power while he searches for the other Spirits of Vengeance. Zadkiel tells Danny that his ultimate goal is to liberate his brother from his curse. Ketch transforms into the Ghost Rider, now with blue flame, and he rides off to find Johnny Blaze in the name of Zadkiel and the Black Host.

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 4

"Addict, Part 4: The Jones"

Cover Date: March 2009
On Sale Date: January 2009

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Clint Langly

Night after night, Danny Ketch and the crow Mister Eleven search the tunnels beneath a parking garage for any sign of Verminous Rex. Despite slaying numerous rat-creatures, Danny is unable to find any trace of Rex. While they hunt at night, Eleven leaves Dan to rest during the day; but when Mary LeBow tracks Dan to the parking garage she finds him going through withdrawals while waiting for his next "fix". Despite his protests, Mary drags Danny to a diner where she tries to talk to him about Eleven. When Dan says that he knows he's working for Heaven, Mary replies that she's learned that Heaven is under siege. At that moment, Eleven crashes through the window and tells Danny that they have to leave right then. Dan apologizes to Mary and leaves with the crow.

Danny and Eleven arrive at his apartment, where they find Shoba Mirza - the Hindu woman that was also a Spirit of Vengeance - convulsing on the floor while her hellfire blazes out of control. Eleven explains that Shoba escaped from Verminous Rex but now her power is overwhelming her, causing her to overdose. The only way to keep her soul from being devoured is for Dan to leech her power away, which Shoba begs him to do. Dan absorbs Mirza's power, which kills her, but he is only able to hold it in with the help of Zadkiel restricting the power's flow. When the ordeal is over, Eleven congratulates Danny on his new career for life, which prompts Ketch to demand answers about who he's really working for. Eleven explains that Zadkiel was there when the Spirits were first sent out and was there when the first overdose happened. The war in Heaven doesn't matter to them, what's important is the Ghost Rider hosts who need to be saved from themselves before their souls are destroyed forever. This job has now fallen to Danny, who realizes that by accepting the job he'd have access to as many free doses of power that he wants.

Dan and Eleven re-enter the dimensional tunnels, with Shoba's memories telling them where to find Verminous. They enter the nest and find Verminous Rex transformed into a giant-sized Spirit of Vengeance, surrounded by his rat-creatures. Ketch attacks Rex, but finds that he doesn't have enough power to defeat him. Dan loses his power before Rex can drain it from him, causing Verminous to toss him aside as worthless. Danny tells Eleven that he doesn't need another dose, he needs full control of the power if he's to have any hope of beating Rex. Eleven contacts his boss, who agrees to the conditions - Danny explodes with hellfire, transforming him into a vastly more powerful Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 3

"Addict, Part 3: Pest Control"

Cover Date: February 2009
On Sale Date: December 2008

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Clint Langly

From a nearby rooftop, Danny Ketch and the supernatural crow named Mister Eleven watch as another Spirit of Vengeance - a Hindu woman named Shoba Mirza - is attacked and overpowered by a party of demonic rat-creatures. Danny asks for another dose of the power so he can help her, and in return is transformed once again into the Ghost Rider, this time for only five minutes. He jumps into the alley and begins slaughtering the rat-creatures, but is so consumed with vengeance that he doesn't notice the monsters' leader Albinus, who defeats and kidnaps Shoba right behind Danny's back.

The next morning, Danny is woken up in his apartment by a telephone call from his friend Mary LeBow. Before he can answer, the phone on both his and Mary's ends are destroyed by Eleven. The crow conjures a “seerstitch”, a globe that can see into other realms. Using this, Mister Eleven shows and explains to Danny the real history of the Spirits of Vengeance, that they were weapons created by Heaven; parasitic entities that were designed to self-improve with the strongest of them killing and absorbing the weakest. The Spirits use “memeforms”, which tune into the spiritual and psychological legends of their individual regions; as examples, Danny is shown visions of several different Ghost Riders in different areas of the world all operating in the present day and specifically designed to their region's customs. Eleven then tells Danny that the Spirits are under threat, and that Heaven is willing to partially restore his Ghost Rider powers if he helps them.

Meanwhile, after the incident with the phone, Mary turns on a device and enters a digital dream world, where she confers with several technological spirits. When she asks for their assistance with Danny, an angel appears and boots her out of the dream realm, telling her to mind her own business. Elsewhere, Eleven has led Danny into an underground parking garage and tells him about the Berev'ha Dentii, a race of warrior mystics from between dimensions. These were the rat-men they saw last night, and the last of their kind was supposedly killed in 1917 before being resurrected by Blackheart; his name was Verminous Rex. Now Rex has repopulated his race and is stealing power from the Spirits of Vengeance. Eleven opens up a mystical portal, which transports them to a cavern in Antarctica that was once a civilization called Thule. There, chained to a wall, is a Ghost Rider, screaming and completely insane. Eleven explains that this is the reason his boss won't give Danny full access to the power, that the addiction can lead to the Spirits overdose and burn out the hosts mind. Danny is given another dose of power, turning him into the Ghost Rider, and before he can go after Eleven he's ordered to take care of the mad Spirit. As an act of mercy, Ketch kills the Spirit and absorbs his power for himself. Later, at the Nest, Albinus is informed that there are intruders in their tunnels just before he's attacked by the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 2

"Addict, Part 2: Whose Face Gives no Light"

Cover Date: January 2009
On Sale Date: November 2008

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Clint Langly

After becoming the Ghost Rider again for a brief minute, Daniel Ketch finds himself powerless once more as one of the criminals he'd been fighting holds a shotgun to his head. Before the criminal can shoot, his cell phone rings. When he answers it, a girl says "tell Danny to duck", which he repeats out loud. Suddenly, a bolt of energy shoots from the cell phone to a streetlight, which releases a lightning spitting demon. When the rest of the criminals get up to check on their leader, Mary LeBow pulls up on her scooter and releases a horde of pixies that attach themselves to the men before exploding. Mary scoops Danny up, but he pushes her away and rides off on his bike.

The next morning, a very hung-over Dan is visited at his run-down apartment by Shoba Mirza, the Hindu woman who rebuked his drunken advancements the night before. She tells him to drop the loser façade, as she can taste his recently-used power. The others have been speaking of him as a great warrior; something is killing their kind and she needs his help to stop them from being slaughtered one by one. When Dan tells her that he has no idea what's talking about, she blows him through the apartment's door and leaves to face her stalkers alone.

That evening, Dan and Mary meet at a diner so he can apologize for the way he acted the night before. He tells her what happened, getting a taste of the power again only for it to go away and leave him craving more. She says that she hasn't seen him this bad since the week after the exorcism, when he tried to set himself on fire in Times Square. She offers to test him with an electronic séance to find out what's wrong, and goes into the diner's bathroom to prepare the spell. While she's gone, a man bumps into Dan's table and spills his coffee. When the man gives Dan attitude, he stabs his hand with a fork and punches him in the face. The mysterious talking crow arrives and teases Danny with another dose, prompting him to get on his bike and follow. When Mary comes out of the bathroom, Danny has left her behind.

Danny and the crow, who says his name is Mister Eleven, stop on a rooftop overlooking an alley. Walking down the alley is Shoba Mirza, who is attacked by a group of humanoid rat creatures. Dan begs Eleven to give him another dose of the power so he can help her, but Eleven says that its not up to him, he has to convince the "boss" that he's good for it. Dan yells that the girl "needs the Rider!", but a flash of light proves that she already has one: Mirza has transformed into a four-armed Spirit of Vengeance atop a flaming elephant!

Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 1

"Addict, Part 1: How the Mighty are Fallen"

Cover Date: December 2008
On Sale Date: October 2008

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Clint Langly

In Brooklyn, New York, a sinister black crow lands on a motorcycle and observes the people in the Rune Stone Pub through its window. The crow narrates about the life of Daniel Ketch, who once upon a time had been a Ghost Rider. There had been a Medallion of Power and a hellfire shotgun, a family curse and a long-lost brother, an ancestor's ghost and a demonic marriage, and other complicated and strange events in the boy's life. What matters is that Danny Ketch hated the power he had but always kept it under control Now, a drunken Ketch is involved a brutal bar fight, which he wins through luck and cowardice. A Hindu woman at the bar rebukes Daniel's drunken advancements and insults him, though also comments that she can tell he is a nice man with too much damage behind his eyes. She leaves and when Dan tries to follow he is interrupted by the black crow, who allows the woman to disappear.

Later, a young English woman named Mary LeBow gets a phone call from a drunken and distraught Daniel. Mary is a technomage who, several years ago, successfully exorcized the Spirit of Vengeance that was possessing Ketch. Now, though, he is once again begging her to reverse what she did. Hearing the pain in his voice, Mary tells Dan to stay put while she comes to find him, but he leaves the phone hanging and drives off on his bike, followed by the crow.

The crow flies ahead and causes a van filled with bank robbers to crash in the street, which also causes Danny to crash his cycle. The crow lands next to Ketch and begins to talk, telling Dan that he hasn't got much time, so he shouldn't waste it. Dan is then transformed back into the Ghost Rider, though instead his skull is surrounded by black smoke instead of flames. The crow tells Dan that “the first ride's for free, take it or leave it”. The men from the van approach, thinking Dan caused them to wreck. Dan attacks the gun-toting men, reveling in the Ghost Rider power being his once again. As he fights the men, he notices he no longer has his Penance Stare - so Dan decides to take his time beating on his assailants. However, with only one criminal left standing, the Ghost Rider power disappears, leaving Ketch as human again. The crow tells him that the dose was limited to a minute by orders of his “boss”, for Daniel's own good. The last criminal then comes up behind and points his shotgun at Danny's back, ready to kill him.

Ghost Rider (2006) # 23

"Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound, Part 4"

Cover Date: July 2008
On Sale Date: May 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

As he rides toward a crossroads in the middle of New Beulah with the boy Lucas at his back, Johnny Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider just as a three-way car wreck happens ahead of him - a wreck between the cycle nurses of Zadkiel, a police car driven by the cannibal Wojciehowicz with Deputy Kowalski captive in the backseat, and a passenger bus containing the innocent nurse Naomi that had worked unaware for Zadkiel's minions. As the crash happens, Blaze rides his motorcycle straight through the middle of the bus - but emerges out the other side sans Lucas, who fell into the bus onto a seat next to Naomi. Recognizing Naomi as one of the nurses from the hospital where he'd been held prisoner, Lucas runs away without listening to Naomi saying she'd quit that horrible place. When he runs into a nearby alley, Lucas is confronted by a mysterious man who has come to talk with the boy about his future.

 

In the aftermath of the wreck, the Head Nurse sees Ghost Rider walking toward her, burning her remaining girls with hellfire as he approaches. He binds the Head Nurse with his chain and asks what other surprises Zadkiel has waiting for him in the town. As if on cue, the cannibal Wojciehowicz crawls out of the wreckage with the bound and gagged Kowalski. Blaze tells them to wait and he'll come back to them in a minute, then turns his attention back to the Head Nurse and asks her where Lucas is. Reaching into the wrecked police car, Lucas takes a gun and holds it to his head. Blaze begs him not to do it, but Lucas tells him that he can't beat Zadkiel and that they'll be safer in Hell - then he pulls the trigger, killing himself to escape the angels. When Blaze lifts up the Head Nurse and demands answers from her, she begins to crumble into dust, her master having called her home. Blaze, enraged by what's happened, turns to the cannibal and starts to drag him away by his chain. Deputy Kowalski attempts to stop Blaze, saying that Wojciehowicz cut off his hand and tried to eat him - he's a cannibal that's the key to breaking the curse of Highway 18. Kowalski then stabs Blaze's arm with a knife, making the Ghost Rider even more furious. Sensing the sin on the Deputy's soul, Blaze gives Kowalski the Penance Stare and then tosses him to the side. Later, Blaze travels down the haunted Highway 18 with Wojciehowicz dragging behind him; as the ghosts tear the cannibal apart, the curse that binds them to the road fades and soon their souls will finally be free.

 

The next morning, Blaze rides out of New Beulah past the gas station he'd stopped at on the way into the town. Inside the store, the owner who first told Blaze about the boy Lucas talks with the mysterious man who has been acting as Zadkiel's lieutenant. When the old man asks what he should do if Blaze comes back for him, the biker tells him to call him if it will make him feel better - his name is Danny Ketch, and he knows a thing or two about dealing with the Ghost Rider.

Raises the stakes a little, eh?

THE ROADMAP

Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18. He has been searching for a way to get to Heaven since Ghost Rider (2006) # 20.

 

Danny Ketch made his first appearance in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1  and was revealed to be Johnny Blaze's younger brother in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 16. Danny hasn't been seen since Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1990) # 93, where he re-merged with Noble Kale to become Ghost Rider once again.  The events that led to Danny becoming an agent for Zadkiel are told in Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 1-5.

 

Deputy Kowalski returns in Ghost Rider (2006) # 30.

 

CHAIN REACTION

Okay, I can honestly say that I didn't see that ending coming AT ALL.

 

For years, Ghost Rider fans had been clamoring for the return of Danny Ketch, the star of the 1990s Ghost Rider series that ended back in 1998. When Johnny Blaze took up the flaming skull once again, things admittedly looked bleak for Dan ever making a comeback - writers didn't seem interested in bringing up his time as Ghost Rider, let alone using him in their stories. But for a whole generation of readers, Danny WAS Ghost Rider, and the requests to see him return had been flooding in since the start of this newest series.

 

And along comes writer Jason Aaron, who - just when it looks like Dan would never make a return appearance - brings the character back in one hell of a twist ending to his first story arc. It was an incredibly smart move, giving the readers what they wanted just when they thought it would never happen. With that final page, Aaron and the editors validated an entire decade's worth of the character's history, and I couldn't be happier to finally see it happen.

 

Outside of Ketch's return, Aaron also gives us the conclusion to "Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound" with all of the characters and plots quite literally crashing into one another for a fiery resolution. The cycle nurses, Lucas, the cannibal ghosts, Deputy Kowalski, and even poor Naomi from the first chapter get closing sequences for their character and plot arcs with everything tying up neatly into one bad-ass package. Despite being the arguable "winner" of the story, Blaze is denied everything he'd been trying to achieve throughout the story, with Lucas committing suicide and the Head Nurse disintegrating in his hands. This turns into a bad situation for Kowalski, who is the only one left to feel the wrath of the Ghost Rider that shows that Johnny Blaze can be just as vengeful a spirit as any supernatural entity. Unfortunately, its Deputy Kowalski that provides the one nagging negative point to this issue; when he's given the Penance Stare, I couldn't help but think that Johnny had just punished an innocent man. Of course he wasn't innocent, as Aaron had given a few subtle hints in earlier issues that Kowalski had been responsible for some bad things in his career as a city cop, but I think it was perhaps handled too subtly without enough set-up for the Penance Stare pay-off. But with all the pieces falling into place, its obvious to the reader that Zadkiel has manipulated every aspect of this confrontation, leaving Johnny with the very appropriate feeling that he's been "played for a sucker". He really has no idea, does he?

 

Roland Boschi finishes up the arc with his last issue on artistic duties, and I'm so sad to see him leave the book. His work on this arc has been nothing short of phenomenal, providing some vicious examples of violence and horror along the way. These are evil, ugly people committing evil, ugly acts of murder and torture, and Boschi revels in the destruction in every single panel. Witness the first two pages of this issue that shows Blaze transforming into Ghost Rider in a series of transitional panels, it looks breathtaking as the flames overtake Johnny and burn away his humanity. His work is stylized enough to give the art a uniqueness that sets it apart from other books, yet doesn't go so far that it has to be an acquired taste.

 

Reading this arc puts a huge smile on my face, and I'd go so far as to say its probably one of the best Ghost Rider stories ever told. THIS is how the Spirit of Vengeance should be, thank god someone finally got it right. Absolutely recommended, this arc is a "must-read" for all Flamehead fans.

 

Mission statement!

Ghost Rider (2006) # 22

"Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound, Part 3"

Published: June 2008
Original Price: $2.99

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

Johnny Blaze thinks back to the first time he saw a dead body, when the Quentin Carnival folk discovered the body of a vagrant that had died from exposure. When Barton Blaze and Crash Simpson pick up the body to bury it, a black book marked with a red pentagram falls from his coat for Johnny to find, marking the start of his history with the occult.

 

In the present, the Ghost Rider rides down the haunted Highway 18, cutting a swath of destruction through the horde of ghost cannibals that haunt the roadway. Hanging on the back of Blaze's motorcycle is the boy Lucas, who Blaze is attempting to keep alive for information on Zadkiel. On a frontage road overlooking the highway, the nurses of New Beulah that serve Zadkiel watch the Ghost Rider's rampage and decide to follow into town to retrieve Lucas. Blaze continues his ride, but is knocked off his bike by a ghost with a shovel. While the Ghost Rider crashes into a nearby barn, Lucas is thrown onto the road, where the ghosts start to drag him away. Blaze approaches with a wheat scythe in hand and warns the ghosts to let the boy go. When they refuse, Johnny gets on his bike and starts cutting his way through them while a horseman spirit carries Lucas away.

 

Nearby, the Head Nurse receives a phone call from another agent of Zadkiel who she addresses as her lord's lieutenant. This mysterious man then asks how Blaze looks, to which the nurse replies that he's “hell on damn wheels” and asks if all the Ghost Riders were like this. The lieutenant answers “no, they're definitely not” before hanging up and walking back to his motorcycle.

 

Blaze pursues the ghostly horseman and Lucas, with a horde of cannibal ghosts between them. Instead of riding through them, the Ghost Rider arcs his cycle onto the mountainside on the road's left side, bypassing the ghosts and horseman before blocking the road on the other side. Blaze lets loose a massive blast of hellfire that incinerates the cannibals but leaves Lucas unharmed. Meanwhile, inside the town limits, Deputy Kowalski is loaded into the trunk of his police cruiser by the cannibal Wojciehowicz, who has cut off the deputy's hand and plans on making a meal of him when they reach his house. The nurses arrive in town just as a bus begins to pull away, carrying the girl Naomi who had worked as a nurse in the hospital without being aware of her coworkers true motives. Blaze & Lucas, the nurses, Wojciehowicz, and Naomi are all heading toward a crossroads in the center of town.

Shovel to the face!

THE ROADMAP

Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18. He has been searching for a way to get to Heaven since Ghost Rider (2006) # 20.

 

The identity of Zadkiel's lieutenant is revealed in Ghost Rider (2006) # 23.

 

CHAIN REACTION

“Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound” continues with an issue-long running battle between the Ghost Rider and a horde of cannibal ghosts on a haunted highway - man, I love being able to write sentences like that when describing this series.

 

It's difficult to pull off an issue that's nothing more than a single fight sequence and still give the reader the feeling that they've gotten their money's worth. Luckily, Aaron gives us enough variation during the battle that it never becomes boring - and truthfully, having Ghost Rider fight his way down an endless road of ghosts could very easily have become repetitive and dull in a lesser writer's hands - and still manages to fit in some subplots along the way. If anything, though, I think that maybe he tried to fit too much into this opening arc, as the Kowalski subplot gets but one page to advance it after the set-up last issue and Nurse Naomi returns in one panel after disappearing in the first chapter. Don't get me wrong, the arc still reads amazingly well, and Aaron certainly came out of the gate swinging for the fences. I'd much rather read a story with too much plot than not enough, which was a problem with this series before he took over as writer.

 

There is one thing that Aaron is obviously a master at, and that's taking the time to give us at least one moment per issue where you look at the page and mumble “bad ass!” under your breath. Here, it's the image of Ghost Rider cutting through the evil ghosts with a giant reaper's scythe, which looks cool as shit drawn by Boschi.

 

When it comes to Roland Boschi's artwork, I'm amazed at how well he's drawing this story, making the running battle across the highway both intensely frightening and full of energy and excitement. There's little doubt that this is an action series, but at the same time the artist doesn't shy away from making it a true horror title at the same time. That's a hard line to toe without going too far in either direction, and Boschi does a perfect balancing act. And I absolutely love the way he draws the Ghost Rider's motorcycle as this monstrous piece of machinery that looks nothing like bikes in the real world - because honestly, why WOULD the Ghost Rider's motorcycle look just like a regular bike?

 

This issue's last page teases the arc's conclusion perfectly, with all of the various plots and characters quite literally on a collision course for what promises to be one fiery resolution.     

 

Mysterious!

Ghost Rider (2006) # 21

"Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound, Part 2"

Cover Date: May 2008
On Sale Date: March 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

The New Beulah police investigate the site of a horrific car wreck on Highway 18, where the bodies of the deceased couple are found mangled and dismembered. Deputy Kowalski, new to the town's police force by way of a transfer from a larger city, doesn't understand how the bodies could be so horribly mutilated. The Sheriff replies that it must have been coyotes and alludes to the fact that Highway 18 is known for its terrible auto “accidents”.

 

Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze sits at a camp fire and greets the awakening Lucas, who had been unconscious since his rescue from the New Beulah Hospital. Blaze asks about the strange marking on the boy's chest, which Lucas says is the mark of Zadkiel. During his near-death experience, Lucas was taken to Heaven only to find it under siege by the armies of the rogue angel Zadkiel, who has enslaved all of purgatory to do his bidding as he attempts to claim the throne of Heaven for himself. When Lucas was revived back on Earth, Zadkiel sent his earthly minions to find him and keep him quiet. Blaze gets up to return to the hospital, to confront the nurses that had kept Lucas prisoner, but the boy stops him by saying that the war for Heaven is deadlocked - that Zadkiel can't win without the power of Heaven's greatest weapons, the Spirits of Vengeance. Before Johnny can ask another question, Lucas is shot by the approaching nurses, who have come to recapture their prisoner. Blaze is prepared to fight, but Lucas begs him to keep him alive and away from Heaven. Blaze reluctantly agrees, and the Ghost Rider makes his way across the countryside with Lucas hanging on for dear life. The pursuing nurses take another shot with their rifle, striking Blaze and unexpectedly causing him to wreck. The nurses attack and quickly bring Blaze to his knees with their weapons that have been forged from the paving stones of Heaven's holy city. The Head Nurse approaches and prepares to inject him with a needle containing the fiery rain that Zadkiel himself used to napalm Sodom and Gomorrah. She orders her nurses to find Lucas and sink Blaze's motorcycle in the nearest lake - to which the Ghost Rider replies “nobody touches my bike” before releasing a massive blast of hellfire that scatters and decimates the group of nurses. Blaze finds Lucas and puts him back on the bike to find medical attention for his gunshot wound.

 

Elsewhere, Deputy Kowalski talks on the phone with the Sheriff as he approaches the Wojciehowicz Funeral Home. He tells the Sheriff that he's done some investigating on the Highway 18 murders and ignoring his superior's commands to stop he knocks on the funeral home door to ask the owner questions about the cursed road.

 

Night has fallen. Blaze and Lucas turn onto Highway 18 with the nurses in close pursuit with their jeeps. Suddenly, the nurses stop and Lucas sees the sign for Highway 18, causing him to frantically tell Blaze to get off the road. Johnny stops the bike, not noticing several ghostly hands coming out of the road beneath him. Back at the funeral home, Kowalski tells a man named Wojciehowicz his theory behind the deaths on Highway 18. In 1845 a group of settlers were snowbound and after several months resorted to murder and cannibalism to survive. When the rescue party alive, only one survivor out of 78 remained alive, Wojciehowicz's ancestor. This grisly incident happened on the exact same ground that Highway 18 now runs over. When Kowalski says that he thinks there's a connection between the cannibals and the high number of deaths on the road, Wojciehowicz pulls out a large butcher's knife and hacks off the deputy's hand, intending on eating the man's flesh.
 

Back on Highway 18, Blaze and Lucas are surrounded by the knife-wielding cannibal ghosts. He transforms into the Ghost Rider and takes a knife from a nearby ghost, setting it alight with hellfire before gunning his engine and starting his path through the army of ghosts.

Cannibal morticians, sure, why not?

THE ROADMAP

Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18. He has been searching for a way to get to Heaven since Ghost Rider (2006) # 20.

 

Lucas mentions other Spirits of Vengeance besides Blaze, the first of which is shown in Ghost Rider (2006) # 28.

 

CHAIN REACTION

New series writer Jason Aaron continues his opening arc on the series and wastes no time teasing out elements for the rest of his run.

 

I've read reviews of this arc that compare it to a great 70's style Grindhouse movie, and I'm hard-pressed to think of a more apt description. This is Ghost Rider by way of a heavy Tarantino influence, and I can't believe its taken a writer this long to apply such a natural concept and style to the character. Where Aaron succeeds is that he doesn't treat the small-town backwoods people of New Beulah as stereotype Deliverance knockoffs; they're real characters just as much as the outsider Blaze and the angel-worshiping nurses.

 

Speaking of the nurses, Aaron's packed this arc to the gills with some fantastic antagonists that one wouldn't necessarily think to be much of a threat for ol' Johnny. The batshit crazy ideas keep spinning out effortlessly, from the origins of the Highway 18 curse to the nurses' weapons being forged from Heaven's paving stones (seriously, that idea is effing rad, lol). Something else that I failed to mention in last issue's review is how well Aaron writes Blaze himself; writing him as a haggard cycle bum from the midwestern wasteland without descending into the realm of caricature (to see how that looks, take a gander at Blaze as written by Garth Ennis or Daniel Way). Blaze may not be book smart, but he's savvy and crafty despite being incredibly headstrong; he's far from the imbecile that previous writer Dan Way made him out to be.

 

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find flaws in these issues, but there is one nagging trend that creeps up here and in later issues of Aaron's run: a failure to give his characters names. The Head Nurse remains nameless throughout the arc, though that's something I didn't even realize until I sat down to write the synopses for the issues. It's a tiny annoyance, but its there all the same.

 

Artist Roland Boschi continues to impress the hell out of me with his work here, providing a gritty and stylized look that perfectly matches the tone of the wild ideas that Aaron's script demands. I live in a rural area of the country myself (Kentucky, for those wondering), and Boschi really captures how such an environment needs to look. Backwoods but not backward, I suppose. I also need to give some credit to colorist Dan Brown, who gives the art an eerie watercolor-like palate with lots of faded reds and yellows. I love it when an art team gives us nighttime scenes that actually look like they're taking place at night with appropriate shadows and color to distinguish from the daylight scenes.

 

We're really getting some great stuff here, people. Read this as soon as you possibly can.

 

Evil nurses, angels, cannibals, and now ghosts? What a town!

Ghost Rider (2006) # 20

"Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound, Part 1"

Cover Date: April 2008
On Sale Date: February 2008

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Marko Djurdjevic

In an empty church late at night, a priest hears the confession of a man who tells him an incredible story of how he sold his soul to Satan and then beat the Devil back to Hell. Johnny Blaze has just come from burying his friend Dixie, the latest in a long string of loved ones that have died because of him. All this time, Blaze believed his power to be a curse from Hell, but has recently learned that he was cursed by the angel Zadkiel. He asks the priest how he could get to Heaven, and the Father tells him that he is speaking blasphemy. Blaze begins to burn with hellfire and tells the priest to get on his Heavenly hotline and tell Zadkiel that vengeance is coming from him. The confessional bursts into flames, and the terrified priest sees the Ghost Rider racing out of his church.

 

Two weeks later, Blaze is still riding across the country, trying to think of a way to get into Heaven. He enters the outskirts of New Beulah, Montana and stops for supplies at a small gas station. The attendant there strikes up a conversation on religion and mentions in passing that there's a boy in the local hospital that had a near death experience and came back terrified of angels. Blaze leaves the store and goes looking for this boy named Lucas. He finds him at the New Beulah Hospital , where he bullies past a young nurse named Naomi before being confronted by the large and haggard Head Nurse. The Head Nurse commands him to leave, and after a vicious fantasy of burning the woman alive, he turns and walks outside. The Head Nurse and Naomi walk through the hospital...and then the Ghost Rider bursts through the doors and races to Lucas's bedside. Lucas agrees to tell Blaze everything he knows about Zadkiel as long as he gets him away from the hospital; so the two ride off, leaving the destroyed hospital in their wake. The Head Nurse gathers her fellow nurses and unlocks a cache of weapons, revealing all of them but Naomi as servants of Zadkiel.

 

Elsewhere in New Beulah, on the deserted Highway 18, a young couple drive along lost at night. A ghostly hand emerges from the road and claws out their tire, causing them to flip their vehicle into a horrific crash. The girl, ejected from the car through the windshield, is then approached by a group of knife wielding ghosts.

Johnny's confessions never go well for the priest.

THE ROADMAP

Blaze discovered that the Ghost Rider curse was given to him by the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Rider (2006) # 18.

 

Blaze's friend Dixie was killed as a result of his final battle with Lucifer in Ghost Rider (2006) # 19.

 

CHAIN REACTION

The torch is passed as new series writer Jason Aaron takes over from Daniel Way , whose last story-arc revealed the bombshell bit of knowledge that the Ghost Rider is an angelic entity instead of demonic. Needless to say, this “revelation” wasn't well-received by fans, ensuring that Aaron very much has an up-hill battle while following up this plot.

 

I certainly admit a great deal of trepidation concerning how the “Ghost Rider as angel” idea would play out. I wasn't necessarily against the idea - it makes a lot of sense, actually, considering the whole Spirit of Vengeance angle - even if it threw into chaos the entire story of Blaze and Zarathos from the original series. But where would you take such a story in the long-run? We'd already had a highly repetitive uber-arc with Blaze hunting down Satan, and I was afraid that we were going to see a repeat of that with Johnny hunting down an angel. Thankfully, Jason Aaron came into this fully prepared and with his guns locked and loaded.

 

This issue gives us a complete 180 degree turn from Daniel Way 's work on the book, turning what had been a 20-second-read-per-issue series into one stocked to the gills with razor sharp dialogue and some fantastic nods to past continuity. And just look at the crazy-ass ideas that Aaron's throwing into this story: gun-toting nuns, ghost cannibals, killer angels, and a fantastic heaven-based conspiracy theory. Its absolutely NUTS, and I love every word of it.

 

Speaking of things I love, let's talk about artist Roland Boschi. I was completely unfamiliar with the man's work before reading this issue, and I'm absolutely floored by his interpretation of the Ghost Rider. It's unique and thoroughly appropriate for the scary horror aspect that this series needs so badly. Hell, just look at the guy's redesign of the Rider's motorcycle, completely monstrous and massive like a chopper that's forged in Hell's cycle shop.

 

In one issue, Aaron and Boschi have elevated Ghost Rider from a padded and plodding series to a fabulous must-read book. Absolutely recommended.

 

Unleaded or synthetic?

Ghost Rider (2006) # 19

"Revelations, Part 6"

Cover Date: March 2008
On Sale Date: January 2008

Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.

Johnny Blaze's partner, truck driver Dixie, is held up inside a motel room with a body.  When the police attempt to enter the room, she fires a pistol at them, telling them to come back in half an hour, "it'll all be over by then!".  Elsewhere, Ghost Rider returns to the bridge where he had left the now-last Lucifer avatar chained.  He arrives to find that Lucifer has escaped and is in full demonic form, ready to fight.  Back at the hotel, the police attempt to use tear gas to flush Dixie out of the room, but wind up gassing themselves instead.

Ghost Rider and Lucifer have a brief fight, with the Devil seemingly getting the upper hand.  Blaze lets loose a massive blast of hellfire that strikes Lucifer in the chest.  The police bust into the motel room and find Dixie waiting beside the unconscious demonic body, a gearshift sticking out of its head.  She tells the cops that the body is that of the Devil.  Back on the bridge, the hellfire has started to eat away at Lucifer's body, and Ghost Rider explains that the Devil is only half as powerful as he thinks he is.  Dixie attempts to explain to the cops that the body on the bed is braindead, but still alive and containing half of Lucifer's power.  In two minutes she needs to kill it in order to save the world.  On the bridge, Johnny explains to Lucifer that he left one of the avatars braindead but alive, so Lucifer couldn't sense it, in order to siphon away half of the Devil's power.  Ghost Rider kills Lucifer with his chain, which causes the comatose body in the motel to wake up screaming.  The cops open fire in the room, killing both the Lucifer host and Dixie, who is caught in the crossfire.  Johnny Blaze, unaware of her death, has now set his desire for vengeance on the angel Zadkiel, who was responsible for cursing him to become the Ghost Rider.

"Are too!" "Am not!" "Are too!"

THE ROADMAP

After a very long search, Johnny will finally get to confront the angel Zadkiel in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6.

 

Johnny captured the brain-dead Lucifer host at the beginning of this arc in Ghost Rider (2006) # 14.

 

CHAIN REACTION

"Revelations" ends, bringing to a close Daniel Way's extremely hit-or-miss run on the series.  This one is a "miss", by the way.

To say that I've not been kind to "Revelations" would be a massive understatement, but at least the previous issues have had a few redeeming qualities, few and far between they may have been.  This issue, though, is terrible from start to finish and it all falls on Daniel Way's inability to write characters as anything but bumbling incompetents.  The scenes with the police at the motel are some of the most cringe-worthy panels this series have ever seen, and that's saying something.  "Ah done read through the manual one time when I's on the turlet."  That's how a Dan Way character talks, everyone, right before gassing the assembled police force with tear gas.  I can't tell if he's trying to ape Garth Ennis (who does this type of thing so much better) or is trying for parody of the same, but it fails spectacularly.  It's not funny, it's stupid and it wastes valuable comic space.

Though so little happens in this comic that "wasting space" may very well have been what Way was going for.  Johnny has an anticlimactic fight with Lucifer and his "big plan" is revealed and executed without Ghost Rider's participation, leaving the one sympathetic character, Dixie, in the lurch for character execution.  Johnny's plan isn't bad, but it's been telegraphed since issue # 14 and isn't the surprise that I'm sure the writer intended it to be.  It's painfully obvious what's going on, even from that that first issue of the arc, and letting it be Johnny's "a-ha!" moment doesn't feel particularly earned.  As for Dixie, our Johnny Blaze got her killed, there's no other way to look at it.  He left her alone to murder the Devil, brain damaged or not, in a small motel room.  A bullet to the chest is about the best outcome she could have had.  Even the final fight with Lucifer is spent with pages and pages of talking, with two whole pages devoted to the Devil saying "you're dumb!", Johnny replying "am not!", and the Lucifer continuing with "are too!" for what seems like a million panels. 

The artwork doesn't even seem particularly inspired this time, though like last issue the Saltares/Palmer team does a serviceable job.  They do a particularly great two-page splash of Ghost Rider hitting Lucifer with hellfire, that looks fantastic.  But when given such uninspired stuff to draw, page after page of redneck doofus cops and the Devil acting like a first grader, how can anyone expect them to bring their A-game?  The Saltares/Palmer art team will be back for the Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch mini-series about a year later, and it's amazing how much better they look when given a good story to work on.

I wasn't much of a fan of Dan Way's run on this series as it was being released, but upon re-reading it recently I've come to appreciate it a whole lot more.  The series started out with the nigh-unreadable "Vicious Cycle" arc, but issues 5 through 13 were good to even great at times (seriously people, that "World War Hulk" tie-in arc is amazing!).  The series ends even worse than it began, though, with a story arc that could have seriously damaged the character irreparably had a lesser writer than Jason Aaron came on board to follow-through on the angel backstory.   

 

If it wasn't for that damn awful Mangaverse one-shot, this would easily be my pick for worst Ghost Rider comic of all time.  It's so bad I actually feel personally insulted for having to review it at all.   

 

Dixie is the real hero of this story!