Spirits of Ghost Rider: Mother of Demons (2020) # 1

"Mother of Demons"

Cover Date: April 2020; On Sale Date: February 2020

Writer: Ed Brisson; Artist: Roland Boschi; Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna; Colorist: Dan Brown; Editor: Chris Robinson; Senior Editor: Jordan D. White; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Phillip Tan

Lilith, coveting the throne of Hell, attempts to manipulate Johnny Blaze, the current ruler, but is cast aside with hellfire. She then travels to Limbo and visits Belasco, that realm's ruler, and makes a deal with him that will leave them both as the sole rules of a unified Hell. Back in the true Hell, Lilith frees the spirit of the Jack O' Lantern and sends him back to Earth. Her body failing from her expenditure of power, Lilith births herself a new body, one more befitting of a queen.

Johnny Blaze sits on the throne of Hell, contemplating how his time as ruler was supposed to be temporary. He quells an uprising of demons led by his enemy the Deacon, then spends time sending more former enemies such as Hellgate, Ripper, and the Jack O' Lantern deeper into the bowels of Hell. As he spends what he perceives to be centuries as Hell's ruler, he realizes that Dr. Strange and Wong won't be coming to rescue him, forcing him to accept his position as the king of Hell.

Danny Ketch returns from Limbo where he was bound with the Spirit of Corruption by Belasco. Sister Sara, the Caretaker, admits that she knew that was what would happen and that it was for the greater good. Danny leaves and goes to a nearby liquor store, where he's confronted by the resurrected Jack O' Lantern, who has been sent by Lilith to kill Danny. Pulling the sword of Necrosis from his body, Danny transforms into the Spirit of Corruption and forces Jack O' Lantern to tell him about Lilith's plan. Danny then kills Jack O' Lantern, sending the villain back to Hell, and goes off to find his brother, Johnny.

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 Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6

"Heaven's On Fire, Part 6: If You Can't Lower Heaven, Raise Hell"

Cover Date: March 2010
On Sale Date: January 2010

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Consulting Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Christian Nauck

Johnny Blaze and Daniel Ketch have finally reached Heaven and have confronted the angel Zadkiel. Unfortunately, the battle is decidedly one-sided, and the Ghost Riders lay defeated within moments. Zadkiel, however, is unable to kill the two men despite his growing Godly powers. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Sister Sara confronts the Deacon, who slaughtered Sara's fellow nuns weeks before.

 

In Heaven, Johnny is visited by the spirits of his wife, Roxanne, and their two children. She tells him that he's not alone, the others have been watching him and are just waiting for someone to lead them. Johnny collects his brother, Danny, and the two go off to confront Zadkiel once again. Zadkiel is growing into his new power, but he is taken off guard when a legion of dead Ghost Riders erupt from the ground beneath him and drag him to the earth. Only God can create a Ghost Rider, and only God can destroy one...all the Ghost Riders that Zadkiel killed are there in Heaven, wanting revenge. At that moment, Kid Blackheart appears in Heaven with his army of demons, only to find Zadkiel laying defeated by a legion of Ghost Riders past and present. The Ghost Rider army quickly lays waste to the demons, turning Heaven into a battlefield once again.

 

Back on Earth, Sara fights the Deacon. With a stroke of her sword, she severs the villain's spine, leaving him paralyzed for life. Elsewhere, Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter embrace after their own battle with Hell's demons has ended with them victorious. In Heaven, the Ghost Riders report that Kid Blackheart has escaped while the demons have all been destroyed. Roxanne appears again and tells them that God has reclaimed Heaven again and wants to thank Johnny for his help. When Blaze asks to be freed from his curse, however, Roxanne tells him that he has too much work to do first. Johnny turns away and tells God to kiss his ass.

 

In various epilogues: the Deacon is hospitalized alongside the All-New Orb; Kid Blackheart is in a strip club with Master Pandemonium and Blackout; Vengeance is now the servant of the last living Gun Nun; and Zadkiel is being tortured by Satan in Hell. Blaze, Ketch, and Sister Sara stand in the desert, but despite defeating Zadkiel they don't feel different. The three ride off into the sunset, looking for a new adventure.

A bittersweet reunion.

THE ROADMAP

Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter joined the fight against Zadkiel in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 1.

 

Zadkiel won the war for Hell at the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

 

The All-New Orb first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 26. The new Vengeance first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 21, but didn't gain his newfound power until Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

 

Master Pandemonium previously appeared in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 2 as the go-between for Danny Ketch and Satan.

 

The Deacon slaughtered Sister Sara's former convent in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33.

 

The Ghost Riders that appear during the fight for Heaven were previously introduced throughout Jason Aaron's run, most specifically in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33. Also included in the Ghost Rider army is Carter Slade, the western "Phantom Rider" who first appeared in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 1. This the first time that Slade has been shown as an actual Spirit of Vengeance, though the character was also featured in the 2007 Ghost Rider feature film as played by Sam Elliot.

 

Blaze and Ketch appear next in Deadpool Team-Up # 897. Vengeance makes his next appearance in Secret Avengers (2010) # 21.1 as part of the new Masters of Evil alongside Princess Python and Whiplash. 

 

This issue reprints the second half of Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 12.

Knuckles O'Shaughnessy, don't ever change.

CHAIN REACTION

We've reached not only the end of the "Heaven's On Fire" mini-series, but also the end of writer Jason Aaron's run on Ghost Rider. Everything's wrapped up in a neat little bow, but unfortunately it's a case of too many characters and side-plots fighting for space.

 

In the review for the previous issue, I complained that Aaron had included more characters and plots than were necessary in this series. I wasn't sure just how he would be able to give closure to all the plates he was spinning in the air. Most of the space is given over to the fight with Zadkiel, which is how it should be, but the other characters are given at most one page and at the less one panel to wrap up their stories. I ask again, what was the point of including Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter other than to have them take up space that was desperately needed for Johnny's own story? Why go to the trouble of introducing a new Vengeance when he gets just one panel to wrap up his subplot? Sister Sara, at least, gets a few pages to resolve her conflict with the Deacon; but characters like Kid Blackheart, Blackout, Master Pandemonium, and the Gun Nuns are shuffled off in a one page epilogue. Aaron included everything but the kitchen sink in this series, and a lot of it was unnecessary.

 

But the main story is the Ghost Riders fighting Zadkiel. After two years of build-up, I couldn't help but feel disappointed with the outcome. Zadkiel is defeated in one page, which is a bit anti-climactic. Again, had Aaron left off the Kid Blackheart plot he could have given more pages over to the real important battle with Zadkiel. Granted, I loved the return of the past Ghost Riders and their uniting in battle, especially since it allowed us to see a final look at the Hellbilly and Shark Rider, among others (and hey, that's the Phantom Rider!). But it's all over far too quickly, which boggles my mind considering they had six whole issues to take care of this plot. It almost seems like Aaron hadn't planned on having to wrap things up so quickly, with the first issues of this mini-series intended to be regular issues of the canceled ongoing series.

 

Roland Boschi's art, however, is far from disappointing. After a bit of a poor showing last issue, Boschi is back up to par here with his rendering of the Ghost Rider army and their fight against Hell's demons. Boschi has quickly become one of my favorite Ghost Rider artists, and his swan song here is a good example of why.

 

Sadly, the Jason Aaron run ends on a disappointing note. It's certainly not bad, in fact its very well written, but there's just way too much going on and it costs the resolution of the important plots the space they desperately needed. 

Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 5

"Heaven's On Fire, Part 5: Sole Reigning Holds the Tyranny of Heaven"

Published: February 2010
On Sale Date: December 2009

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Consulting Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Greg Land

In the ruins of Heaven, with a trail of dead angels at his feet, Zadkiel sits on the throne of God. His power is growing as time passes, and already he is able to tamper with reality. Soon, he will have the power to eradicate, to unmake the world and destroy everything. All who live will beg him for mercy, and his reply will simply be a laugh while he watches them burn.

 

On Earth, Vengeance and the Orb lead their army of zombie bikers against the Gun Nuns, who are guarding the last known gateway into Heaven. As the villains advance, the Orb gets his hand shot off by the Mother Superior. Outside the caverns, John Blaze and Dan Ketch arrive, deciding that they must have come to the right place after all.

 

Meanwhile, Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter free themselves from the mind control placed upon them by Madcap and the Scarecrow. The two switch opponents - Jaine against the Scarecrow and Hellstrom against Madcap - and easily make short work of them. Elsewhere in the town, Blackheart the Anti-Christ has turned on Sister Sara with the help of Master Pandemonium, who holds the gateway to Hell in his chest. Pandemonium opens the gateway and begins releasing demons onto Earth while Blackheart converses with the restrained Sara. He tells her that there was a reason her grandfather had her hidden away in a nunnery all those years. Blaze and Ketch have been running around looking for a door to Heaven, not knowing that there was one right beside them the whole time. He whispers an angelic phrase in Sara's ear, and she herself is revealed as the gate to Heaven.

 

Back at the Gun Nuns' tunnels, the Orb runs screaming after his hand was shot, and is immediately knocked unconscious by Blaze. The brothers spot Vengeance, and though they know its not the Vengeance they're familiar with they realize they still need to work together to stop him. Blaze and Ketch transform into the Ghost Riders and attack Vengeance as a team. The Gun Nuns continue to fight off the zombies, when suddenly the lights blink off. Blackout has arrived...

 

While Master Pandemonium keeps the gateway to Hell open, demons flood through him and into the gateway opened by Sara; an army led by Blackheart to capture Heaven itself. Jaine and Hellstrom break into the church, and Blackheart flees through the Heaven gate. Sara struggles to control the portal opened within her, and with a surge of strength she manages to close it, causing her to disappear along with it. This leaves Hellstrom and Cutter alone to face the horde of demons let loose by Pandemonium.

 

In the tunnels, Vengeance falls down, broken and defeated by the Ghost Riders. Blackout, too, is driven off when he is shot repeatedly by the Gun Nuns, who were using bullets dipped in holy water. The Mother Superior tells the Ghost Riders that they've been waiting for them to arrive, and that they can't hope to beat Zadkiel in open combat. She tells them that they have to remember how to be brothers, and that the Ghost Rider will never die. She opens the door to Heaven, and the Riders race through it. Immediately after, the Nuns are attacked by the Deacon, who massacres them all until only the Mother Superior is still alive. Before he can kill her, Sister Sara arrives through the Heavenly door, and she instantly recognizes the Deacon as the one who killed her fellow Nuns not long ago.

 

Finally, in Heaven, the Ghost Riders arrive in the ruins of the Golden City. Zadkiel hovers above them, and challenges them to do their worst...

Master Pandemonium, everyone!

THE ROADMAP

Zadkiel won the war for Heaven at the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

 

The All-New Orb first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 26. The new Vengeance first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 21, but didn't gain his newfound power until Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

 

Master Pandemonium previously appeared in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 2 as the go-between for Danny Ketch and Satan.

 

The Deacon slaughtered Sister Sara's former convent in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33.

 

CHAIN REACTION

We're at the penultimate chapter in Aaron's final Ghost Rider story, and as I'd silently feared while “Heaven's on Fire” was released he simply has way too much going on to give the really important parts adequate screen time. Three villains in this issue were dispatched with little fanfare, one of whom after a measly two panels. What was the point of creating a new Vengeance, or involving Blackout, when their sole contribution to the story at the end is to be shuffled off like they were? Yes, the real important “fight” to this story has always been the confrontation with Zadkiel, which I assume we'll be getting in the next issue. And yes, I pretty much assumed that the Orb would be dispatched in a way similar to his fate in this issue, he was more of a joke character than a true villain. But Vengeance has been built up since the first arc, and he's taken out off-screen by the Ghost Riders! Blackout has been a key villain that created the “Ghost Rider Revenge Squad”, and he runs off after being shot. This was not what I expected when I started to read this issue, and it was page after page of disappointment on just about every level. When the cliffhanger to the previous issue promises us a battle with Vengeance, the Orb, and a horde of zombie bikers, that's what I expect, not to see the end of the battles after the fights have taken place off-camera.

 

Aaron wasted time and page space by including Hellstrom and Cutter, yet another one of his numerous side plots that has to be tied up before the end of the series. Kid Blackheart, the Deacon, Sister Sara, Master Pandemonium, Scarecrow and Madcap (who also suffer from inglorious defeats; I'm sorry, the Scarecrow is not a joke villain to me, not after the way he was presented in the 90s series), the Gun Nuns, Zadkiel... Jesus, that's just way too much shit going on! Now, I would much prefer a comic to have too much story rather than not enough (see Daniel Way's run), but with this many plots demanding resolution in such a short span of time, it means that the majority of them get shuffled off into last-minute, one-panel climaxes that disappoint readers who wanted to see them fully realized. Next issue's conclusion should be allowed to focus on the Ghost Riders' confrontation with Zadkiel, but how much room will they have with all these other minor subplots crowding the pages?

 

I hate to say it, but even Roland Boschi's artwork disappointed me this month. Following a beautiful 3-page sequence of Zadkiel on the throne of Heaven with a trail of dead archangels littering the streets, the rest of the comic seemed sloppier or rushed in comparison to the stellar work he produced on previous issues. I think it may in fact be due to the way the script jumps scenes and characters every other page, as it doesn't allow Boschi to get into a solid groove of penciling a coherent sequence. I can't begin to guess, maybe its just deadlines creeping up on him?

 

After four fantastic issues, “Heaven's On Fire” stumbles in the home stretch. Here's hoping Aaron and Boschi will be able to score a final home run with next issue's conclusion.

 

A face only their momma could love.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 4

"Heaven's On Fire, Part 4: Here Comes Hell"

Cover Date: January 2010

On Sale Date: November 2009

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Consulting Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Dustin Weaver

At the Jasper County Sheriff Station, the police talk about two strangers in funny costumes whom they arrested the night before and locked in with a group of rowdy, drunk brothers. When the cops go to check the cells, everyone inside has been brutally murdered by the two “funny costumes”, the Scarecrow and Madcap.

Two days later, Daimon Hellstrom, Jaine Cutter, Sister Sara, and the Antichrist ride through the countryside on motorcycles. They eventually arrive at a graveyard, which was supposed to be a deconsecrated church that served as a gateway to Hell. Zadkiel, who is becoming more powerful the longer he controls Heaven, has become able to change and move the landscape - he moved the church to another location. Hellstrom, tired of the games, wants to just kill the Antichrist himself, but he's stopped at gunpoint by Jaine. Then the foursome go off in search of the gateway to Hell that's been moved.

Hellstrom leads them to Jasper County , where he senses the gateway to be close. However, the entire town seems to be empty. They split up, and Cutter goes into a store in search of beer. There she's confronted by Madcap, who asks her if she believes in God. At a nearby town carnival, Hellstrom comes across the Scarecrow, who has already killed several people and displayed their bodies on the carnival rides. Hearing the sound of screams, Sara and the Caretaker begin searching for any sign of life in the town. Sara hopes that Johnny and Danny are doing better than they are, unaware that the two brothers are on the side of a desert road fighting with one another. Sara and the Antichrist find the townspeople in the park; they've all gone mad and are attempting to kill one another. When they see Sara and the boy, they start chasing after them. Sara and the Antichrist take refuge inside a building, which they discover is actually the moved Satanic church.

Back in the store, Madcap attempts to have a theological discussion with Jaine, who has the Breathing Gun aimed at his face. Madcap pulls his own gun, which fires bubbles at her, and she responds by punching him in the face and kicking him across the store. Madcap continues his insane rambling, unable to feel any pain from her savage beating. So Cutter fires the Breathing Gun, and the sentient bullet chases Madcap out of the store. She follows him into an alley, where she finds Madcap holding the whimpering bullet - he'd used his hypnotic stare to drive the sentient bullet crazy, just like he did to everyone else in the town. Then, he turns his stare on her.

At the carnival, Scarecrow and Hellstrom have a brief fight until Daimon is distracted by the villain's mentally-controlled flock of crows. Scarecrow uses the opportunity to stab Hellstrom in the back with his pitchfork, which also poisons Daimon with fear toxin. Hellstrom begins to hallucinate, seeing himself as the lord of Hell just like his father. Madcap and Scarecrow reunite, and Madcap uses the enslaved Jaine to shoot the hallucinating Hellstrom with her Breathing Gun. Back at Satan's church, Sara looks around and decides that the gateway isn't there. The Antichrist tells her she's wrong, right before she's hit in the back of the head. The gateway isn't a place, it's a person - Master Pandemonium!

Elsewhere, the Gun Nuns are armed and ready to protect their gateway to Heaven from the ones that are coming. Outside their home stands Vengeance and the All-New Orb, in command of a legion of undead zombie bikers!

I mean, it's a legitimate question considering the circumstance.

THE ROADMAP

Zadkiel won the war for Heaven at the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

The Scarecrow was a recurring villain in the 1990s Ghost Rider series, starting with Ghost Rider (1990) # 7, and last appeared in the series as a prisoner of Blackheart in Hell in Ghost Rider (1990) # 86. He was next seen years later back on Earth in an issue of Geoff Johns' Avengers run.

Madcap first appeared in Mark Gruenwald's run on Captain America, and fought Dan Ketch exactly one time in Ghost Rider (1990) # 33.

Master Pandemonium last appeared in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 2 as the go-between for Danny Ketch and Satan.

CHAIN REACTION

So I suppose its time to eat my foot after referring to this series as “The Hellstorm and Jaine Cutter Show” in the review for # 2, eh?

Nine times out of ten, I hate it when a comic doesn't feature the character its named after. If I put down $3.99 for an issue of Ghost Rider, I damn well expect the Ghost Rider to actually be IN the issue. Normally, this bugs the shit out of me. But damn it, this issue here was so well-done that I just can't stay mad at it. While its true that neither of the titular Ghost Riders appear outside of a one-panel (and quite funny) cameo, the story DID have a lot to do with the character's history. Specifically, it brings back two villains from the book's previous long-running incarnation, Madcap and the Scarecrow.

Madcap was a character I always had a fondness for, and when Howard Mackie used him in a single issue of his Ghost Rider run it seemed as if the villain might have finally found an appropriate home. Alas, after setting up a suitable reason to have Madcap as a recurring foil, he failed to make another appearance in Ghost Rider. Its nice to see that rectified here. The Scarecrow, on the other hand, was established as a core Ghost Rider villain all throughout the book's second volume, and some pretty dodgy stuff was done to him during that time. In fact, I'll just go ahead and say that by the time he made his last appearance during Ivan Velez's run the Scarecrow was absolutely nothing like the character was at his creation. Again, its nice to see the “classic” incarnation of the Scarecrow is what we get in this issue.

So while it may not be the Ghost Riders those two antagonists come up against, their presence was enough to keep this Ghost Rider fan happy. And oh, what a story that was concocted around them. Unlike last issue's rather laughable Big Wheel and Trull the Inhuman, these two are actually pretty formidable and horrific on their own, let alone when paired together. Just the opening scene alone establishes this, with the two villains lounging in a jail cell amidst a number of corpses. Hellstorm and Jaine Cutter are pretty tough, but its obvious that they had no idea what they were in for when Zadkiel set Madcap and Scarecrow after them. Bonus villain: Master Pandemonium! Nice to see he's being used outside of the humorous joke appearance a few issues ago.

When I said earlier that Madcap and Scarecrow are horrific characters, this is illustrated perfectly by Roland Boschi. Madcap in particular looks great, a grinning maniac who believes in nothing and feels no pain. Side note: has anyone ever considered a story that pairs up Madcap and Deadpool? Seems like a story that would write itself, to me anyway.

In all honesty, while this wasn't really a Ghost Rider story at its core, it felt like I was reading a new issue of Warren Ellis' classic Hellstorm series, and there's nothing wrong with that. Next issue, teased fantastically by that final splash page of Vengeance and the All-New Orb, looks to be promising another Ghost Rider fight-fest. I, for one, can't wait to see it.

Brotherly love

Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 3

"Heaven's On Fire, Part 3: The Brothers Ghost Rider"

Cover Date: December 2009
On Sale Date: October 2009

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Consulting Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Das Pastoras

On a small mountain road in South America , Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch get into an argument that results in Blaze punching Ketch in the face. Johnny followed Danny, who was told by Satan that the gateway to Heaven is somewhere nearby. Blaze decides he wants no part in all this, but before he can ride away Danny is run over by the monstrous vehicle of the villain called Big Wheel. Johnny runs to Danny's side and finds his brother alive; immediately after, the two brothers stand transformed into the Ghost Riders.

 

Two days before, Danny stands in front of the assembled Blaze, Sister Sara, Daimon Hellstrom, Jaine Cutter, and the Antichrist on Wall Street in New York City . Ketch explains that he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for helping them defeat Zadkiel. If they get the Antichrist to safety then Satan will give them the keys to enter Heaven.

 

In the present day, the two Ghost Riders give chase after the Big Wheel, who eventually manages to catch both Riders in the claws of his vehicle's arms. Big Wheel steers his vehicle across a bridge above a large ravine, then after saying its not personal but for a paycheck he drops the two brothers off the bridge. As they fall, Blaze's bike rides down the side of the mountain and catches him, allowing him to race back up to catch their foe. Ketch, meanwhile, isn't so lucky - he falls all the way to the bottom of the jungle and lands with his bike waiting for him. Back up top, Blaze catches up to Big Wheel as he tears through a construction site, and dares the villain to play chicken with him.

In the jungle ravine, Danny is attacked by the alien named Trull, who has taken possession of a massive steam shovel. Trull attempts to crush Ketch, but instead is picked up and thrown across the jungle to land in another construction zone. Trull is able to jump from mechanical form to form, and he possesses yet another piece of construction equipment with which to attack the Ghost Rider. Blaze, meanwhile, finishes his battle with Big Wheel by crashing straight through his vehicle, completely destroying it. The surviving Big Wheel attempts to talk his way out, but Blaze grabs him and gives him the Penance Stare.

 

Back in the construction zone, Ketch has defeated Trull by destroying every piece of mechanical equipment in the area. Once he's finished, however, Danny turns his attention toward the workers hiding around him. He attacks them, yelling that he's going to melt their souls and burn our their sins, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder from the now-human Blaze. Later, the brothers find an ancient Indian temple that serves as a doorway to Heaven; they just don't have the key to open it. The brothers decide that there are other gates, they just have to find the right one. As they leave, Blackout watches from the top of the temple, the key to the gateway held in his hand.

 

Elsewhere, a group of nuns have received a prophetic dream that people are coming to access their doorway to Heaven. The Gun Nuns break out their armory of weaponry and prepare themselves to kill the ones who are coming.

God bless you, Trull the Inhuman.

THE ROADMAP

Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch first met in Ghost Rider (1990) # 13, but didn't learn that they were brothers until Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 16.

 

Zadkiel won the war for Heaven at the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

 

The Big Wheel first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man # 182 and Trull the Inhuman first appeared in Tales to Astonish # 21.

 

CHAIN REACTION

"Trull yet lives! Prepare to lose mass quantities of your bodily fluids!"

 

After my complaints that the previous issue didn't feature the Ghost Rider enough, Aaron and Boschi give us this all-action issue with the “Brothers Ghost Rider” facing off against two very unlikely villains.

 

I'll say this much about the villains in this story - Trull the Inhuman is absolutely fucking hilarious. He's a formless alien that possesses a giant steam shovel and talks in nothing but exclamation pointed Silver Age villain monologues. That right there is comic book gold these days, no doubt about it. The Ghost Rider Revenge Squad has its opening salvo in this issue with Trull and the Big Wheel, who are obviously the group's benchwarmers. They pose such little threat to the Ghost Riders, it makes me wonder why Zadkiel would have bothered recruiting them in the first place. Still, I applaud Aaron for choosing them; he has a wonderful knack for taking obscure villains, such as the Highwayman a few issues previous, and making them completely awesome. I'm still not much sold on Big Wheel, but after this issue I absolutely want to see more of Trull the Inhuman!

 

Also, after two issues of set-up, we get our first “all-action issue” of the series. Aaron and Boschi give us a spectacular running battle with the two Ghost Riders and their enemies. They even throw in a unique setting for the fight with the South American jungle and construction sites. Future writers take note, THIS is how you write an action issue of a comic book series. Aaron doesn't scrimp on the characterization either, as we get our first extended look at the relationship between Blaze and Ketch since the war for Heaven concluded. The writer gets both of these characters down, especially in their dueling inner monologues that bring up their individual thoughts on suddenly learning they were brothers a few years ago. Good, good stuff.

 

In fact, the only problem I can find in this issue is with the artwork. Roland Boschi, of course, turns out yet another fantastic issue here, don't get me wrong. This story actually brought back fond memories of Boschi's first Ghost Rider arc and the running battles it contained with the nurses and ghost cannibals. He's amazing when it comes to showing motion in his action sequences, something that's pretty essential for Ghost Rider. No, the problem comes with the story requiring both Ghost Riders to be involved at the same time. While they have different designs, Boschi's interpretations makes them look far too similar to one another, so much so that I had trouble keeping track during the fall sequence. There needs to be something to set these two Riders apart aside from Ketch's longer coat.

 

Honestly, this was probably my favorite issue so far of “Heaven's On Fire”. I would say that Aaron and Boschi have their work cut out for them when it comes to topping this one, but then I remember who I'm talking about and all my worries fade away.

You're on a slippery slope there, Danny.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 2

"Heaven's On Fire, Part 2: Are You There, Devil? It's Me, Danny."

Cover Date: November 2009
On Sale Date: September 2009

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Roland Boschi
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Dan Brown
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Consulting Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Artist: Phil Jimenez

Three days ago, at a seedy desert motel, former villain Master Pandemonium is being abused by the demons that have taken the place of his hands. Inside his stomach is a gateway to Hell, where more demons emerge to torment and ridicule him. Suddenly, someone kicks in his door and breaks his demon hands with a baseball bat. His attacker is Danny Ketch, who tells Pandemonium to open his gateway to Hell and get a message to Satan. Danny's there to make a deal...

In New York City, the Antichrist tries to wake up the unconscious Jaine Cutter before they're attacked by Zadkiel's approaching minions. Before she can wake up, the Antichrist is confronted by Daimon Hellstrom, who is there to kill the boy as well. At this point Cutter awakens and threatens Daimon with her Breathing Gun, the bullets of which can kill demons, and while the two former lovers argue neither one notices Zadkiel's forces surrounding them until they attack. Hellstrom and Cutter temporarily join forces to fight back the angelic assassins and protect the Antichrist, bickering at one another throughout the battle. During the confusion, neither one of them notice that the Antichrist has disappeared. The boy has escaped, and he runs head-on into Danny Ketch.

Outside the building, Blaze and Sister Sara have tracked down the whereabouts of the Antichrist as well. Suddenly, they witness Hellstrom and Cutter fall out of the skyscraper's window, fighting Zadkiel's minions as they fall. After they crash to the ground, Hellstrom is saved by Blaze, who has transformed into the Ghost Rider. Sara approaches Jaine, whose second skin of demonic armor has emerged, and the human-once-more Blaze keeps Cutter from hurting his Caretaker. While the four of them argue amongst each other, Danny approaches with the Antichrist and apologizes for letting himself by manipulated by Zadkiel and now he's got a plan to take the angel down for good. Ketch made a deal with Satan, if he protects the Antichrist and sends him home to Hell, the Devil will give them the keys to Heaven to get their one shot at revenge against Zadkiel. All it cost Danny was his soul.

Meanwhile, Blackout, the Deacon, and the All-New Orb walk into a dive bar and finds everyone inside dead. Sitting at the bar is the man they've come to find, Kowalski, who has become the newest incarnation of Vengeance. Blackout approaches him and Kowalski agrees to help them kill the Ghost Riders. Blackout leads them outside and introduces Vengeance to the rest of their "Ghost Rider Revenge Squad", which is populated by numerous villains from Blaze and Ketch's past.

Nice to see you, too, Daimon.

THE ROADMAP

Danny Ketch was last seen in Ghost Rider (2006) # 34.

Zadkiel won the war for Heaven at the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

Blackout and the Deacon were last seen in Ghost Rider (2006) # 33, choosing candidates to help them kill the Ghost Rider. The full list of villains in the "Ghost Rider Revenge Squad" is Blackout, the Deacon, Big Wheel, Trull the Inhuman, the Scarecrow, Madcap, Vengeance, and the All-New Orb.

Kowalski first appeared in Ghost Rider (2006) # 21, was given the Penance Stare by Blaze in Ghost Rider (2006) # 23, and became the new Vengeance in Ghost Rider (2006) # 32.

Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, first appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 1, the second half of which is reprinted in this issue. Jaine Cutter first appeared in Hellstorm (1993) # 13 . Daimon and Jaine were lovers throughout the Hellstorm series but have since parted ways until their reunion in this issue.

 

Master Pandemonium made his first appearance in West Coast Avengers (1987) # 4 and has since remained an enemy of the Scarlet Witch. He last appeared in 2007's Young Avengers Presents # 3 and he makes a return appearance in Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 4.

 

CHAIN REACTION

"Heaven's On Fire" continues with this second issue of The Hellstorm and Jaine Cutter Show, leaving the Ghost Riders little to do in their own book.

 

I kid, of course, but it does annoy me a bit that Blaze takes such a back-seat role in this issue in order to spotlight Daimon Hellstrom and Jaine Cutter. Don't get me wrong, I was a huge fan of the 1990s Hellstorm series, and seeing Jaine make her grand return to comics puts a big ol' smile on my face. I'd just like to point out that if the book's title is "Ghost Rider" I'd actually like to see more of the character than a couple of pages.

 

Regardless, this issue continues the conclusion to Jason Aaron's run on the series in a completely satisfying way, giving lots of spectacular monster action alongside some truly inspired uses of old continuity. Putting aside the Hellstrom/Cutter reunion, I couldn't believe we got to see Master Pandemonium in this issue (though he's certainly looking a lot worse than he did in his last appearance in Young Avengers). Master Panda Bear was always a favorite of mine in the old West Coast Avengers series, and seeing him at such a low point in his life really hits home how, well, how lame a villain he always was. The final page of the issue also brought a huge grin to my face with Blackout's Anti-Ghost Rider team filled with tons of familiar faces from Marvel history. Scarecrow, Madcap, the Orb, freaking Trull the Inhuman! I cannot wait to see this group throw down with the Brothers Ghost Rider, that's a fact.

 

We also get the long-awaited reunion between Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch since the end of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance", and I love the symmetry involved with Danny selling his soul to Satan to get revenge on an angel and how it mirrors the original deal that Johnny made all those years ago. Its obvious that Johnny sees his brother as a complete idiot, what with being so easily manipulated by Zadkiel and now this. Another nice touch came during the exchange between Ghost Rider and Hellstrom (those two have quite a bit of history as well), when the Rider says that "Johnny Blaze is in here, yes." Johnny's thirst for vengeance against Zadkiel gave him control for awhile, but now it looks like he's not so much in the driver's seat anymore.

 

Roland Boschi and Dan Brown produce yet another fantastic job with the artwork in this issue. I think Boschi turns in my absolute favorite rendition of Blaze that we've seen since the book's relaunch, close to how he looked in the 90s while still retaining the feel of the original 70's series. He doesn't look like a young kid, and truly looks hardened and haggard, as he should. Danny sure is looking rough though, isn't he, with the beard and all? Also, I never thought I'd be this happy to see Vengeance back again, but Boschi really cranks up the monster vibe in his rendition of the villain. Great stuff from cover to cover.

 

So even though I was left with a craving for more Ghost Rider action than we got this issue, I still can't deny how well done this mini-series is turning out to be. I have complete faith that Aaron and Boschi will keep the quality up through the series' end.

Seems like a Vengeance thing to do, sure.