Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 21

Cover Artist: Chris Sprouse

Published: Jan. 1996
Original Price: $1.95

Title: "Screaming For Vengeance"
Writer: Len Kaminski
Artist: Ashley Wood
Inker: Jim Daly
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor In Chief: Bobbie Chase

SYNOPSIS

After viewing a playback of his death at the hands of the Ghost Rider, the newly-awakened Vengeance - formerly a CSS officer named Cole Wagner - is greeted by the mysterious Kabal. Kabal informs him that in Wagner's absence crime has run rampant in Transverse City, and he has learned the location of the city's criminal mastermind. This person is being protected by the Ghost Rider, who Vengeance eagerly agrees to kill.

Elsewhere, the Ghost Rider watches a video transmission that relates the news of Doom's removal from the office of the United States President. After seeing this, Zero suffers a system crash that allows him to remember the hidden code that Doom and the Ghostworks had placed inside him. He sees the Ghostworks talking about editing his personality template to give the illusion of free will, proving that they did things to change him before releasing him. Unable to remove the Ghostworks' codes from his system, Zero heads to the Bar Code to beg Anesthesia for help. She tells him to get out, blaming him of selling out for a badge. Kabal picks this time to enter, accusing Anesthesia for being the informant that crippled the Undernet based on her association with the Ghost Rider. Despite her claims of innocence, Kabal opens fire on her. Before Zero can step in, he is confronted by Vengeance.

Meanwhile, in a secret vault that had recently been breached by a group of mercenaries, a number of cryonically suspended human heads begin to awaken due to damage to the chamber. As they awaken, a century of sensory deprivation has caused them to go mad. A hundred years of pent-up psionic energy is released, and the minds within the heads combine into a grotesque entity formed from pure psychosis. The entity passes through the chamber's walls into the unsuspecting world.

Back at the Bar Code, Vengeance continues to tear into the Ghost Rider, who mocks the more massive cyborg. Vengeance's hands begin to pulse with anti-matter, and he grabs Zero, burning him and causing him to cry out in agonizing pain.

ANNOTATIONS 

CSS Officer Cole Wagner was killed by the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 3.

Ghost Rider was made the Marshall of Transverse City by President Doom, who also entered in a piece of hidden code into his system, in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 14.

The Undernet infiltrated the Transnational Vault in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 18.

This issue also contained the first of a 2-part Heartbreaker back-up story by Kaminski and Wood.

REVIEW

While the storyline for Ghost Rider 2099 continues to build toward an incredible climax, this issue introducing the future version of Vengeance, the artwork continues its downward slide into awfulness.

One thing the 2099 incarnation of Ghost Rider pulled off well was its complete disconnection from the original Ghost Rider mythos, making it a book about technology instead of the more standard supernatural. The book went out of its way to keep itself separate from the modern-day version, but this storyline marks a first for the series: introducing a future version of an established Ghost Rider villain. Not surprisingly, that character is Vengeance, who in both incarnations is portrayed as Ghost Rider's antithesis and distorted mirror double. Like the modern Vengeance, this one is a man whose life had been destroyed by the Ghost Rider - in this instance, a CSS officer who had been slain by Zero back in the book's first year - and has traded in his humanity for revenge.

While most "upgrades" of established Marvel villains in the 2099 universe were laughable at best (looking at you, Venom 2099), Kaminski gives us just enough of a twist mixed with familiarity when introducing Vengeance. Bigger and badder than his counterpart, Vengeance is a former police officer who believes himself to be in the right during his battle with the Ghost Rider, unaware that Zero is now in fact the law himself. Vengeance isn't presented with much in the way of brains or self-awareness here, but that's to be expected considering he's just a tool for Kabal to use against Cochrane.

Unfortunately, the artwork continues to disappoint. Despite such a strong start on the series, Ashley Wood's work has degenerated into a near-incomprehensible mess. I theorize that this is due to two factors: the ever-increasing pressure of the monthly deadline and the addition of inker John Daly. Wood felt much more at home when he was inking his own work, and if anything Daly's inks seem to oversimplify Wood's scratchy, sketchy art. The work simply looks unfinished and highly amateurish. Compare the first image of Vengeance on the cover of # 20, by Wood solo, to his appearance here with Daly's inks.

Overall, while Len Kaminski continues to just rock out with the stories on this title, the artwork is quickly sucking the life out of it. Which is a damn shame.

Grade: C-

Ghost/Night/Phantom Rider Chronology

The chronology for the original Western Ghost Rider is not an easy task to work through, considering that it involves multiple characters using the identity, possessions by ghosts of previous users of the names, and a span of time ranging from 1967 to the present.  Oh, and the character changed names THREE TIMES, being called at various points the Ghost Rider, the Night Rider, and the Phantom Rider.

The first Ghost Rider was Carter Slade, a frontier teacher who was left for dead during a robbery and healed by a Native American shaman named Flaming Star.  The shaman believed Slade to be the fulfillment of a vision prophecy he'd received from his gods, and assisted Carter in becoming the white-garbed Ghost Rider.

The Ghost Rider (1967) # 1
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 3
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 4
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 5
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 7
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 8
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 9
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 10
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 11
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 12
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 13
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 15
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 16
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 17
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 18
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 19
The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 20
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 2
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 3
Ghost Rider (1973) # 50
Ghost Rider (1973) # 51
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 4
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 5
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 6
The Ghost Rider (1967) # 7
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 3
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 1
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 2
Giant-Size Kid Colt, Outlaw # 3
Avengers Forever (1999) # 6
Avengers (1963) # 141
Avengers (1963) # 142
Avengers (1963) # 143
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 4
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 5
Western Gunfighters (1970) # 6

Carter Slade died at the end of Western Gunfighters (1970) # 6, and the next issue of that series saw his brother, lawman Lincoln Slade, take up the Ghost Rider mantle.  Lincoln died in 1987's West Coast Avengers # 23, which took place in the late 1800s via time travel, after he brainwashed and raped the Avenger Mockingbird, who let him fall to his death.  Another Western gunslinger, Reno Jones, briefly took over the Ghost Rider identity in the Blaze of Glory limited series.

Western Gunfighters (1970) # 7
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 18
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 19
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 20
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 21
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 22
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 23
Blaze of Glory (2000) # 3
Blaze of Glory (2000) # 4

That marked the end of the Ghost Rider legacy until the modern day, when archaeologist Hamilton Slade (grandson of Lincoln and great-nephew of Carter) found a mystic urn that held the Ghost Rider costume and the spirits of his two ancestors.  Hamilton was possessed by both spirits, who took over his body without his knowledge to ride as first the Night Rider and later the Phantom Rider (which is the name the character is most associated with now).  At first the spirit of Carter had dominance, even joining the team of western superheroes called the Rangers.  When he encountered the Avenger Mockingbird, who was responsible for the death of Lincoln Slade, the evil Slade brother took control.  So all appearances in this time are for Hamilton, Carter, and Lincoln.

Ghost Rider (1973) # 56
Incredible Hulk (1968) # 265
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 8
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 29 (cameo appearance only)
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 31
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 32
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 34
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 39
West Coast Avengers (1985) # 41

At the end of his West Coast Avengers appearances, the spirit of Lincoln Slade was exorcised by Daimon Hellstrom, leaving Hamilton sharing his body with the spirit of the heroic Carter Slade.  There were very few appearances of the character in the following years, but during that time Carter's ghost was removed from Hamilton's body.  Hamilton retained the abilities and persona of the Phantom Rider while Carter's ghost appeared in the afterlife.  In one of those instances, during Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6, Carter Slade appeared as one of Heaven's Spirits of Vengeance, finally connecting him to the modern day Ghost Rider legacy.  Finally, a new Phantom Rider was created when Lincoln Slade's spirit possessed the body of his great-granddaughter, Jamie Slade.  During the attempt to free her from her possession, her father Hamilton Slade was shot and killed.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 102
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 2
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 3
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 4
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (2006) # 5
Avengers: The Initiative (2007) # 2 (cameo appearance only)
Avengers: The Initiative (2007) # 19
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6 (cameo appearance only)
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 1
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 2
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 3
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 4
Hawkeye and Mockingbird (2010) # 5
Mockingbird (2016) # 6
Mockingbird (2016) # 7
Mockingbird (2016) # 8
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 3
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 4 (cameo appearance only)
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery # 5 (cameo appearance only)

Ghost Rider (1990) # -1

Cover Artist: Javier Saltares

Published: July, 1997
Original Price: $1.95

Title: "Ember"
Writer: Ivan Velez Jr.
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Keith Aiken
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras

SYNOPSIS
Thirteen years ago, a young woman named Naomi Kale arrives at the Quentin Carnival, all the while telling herself that she shouldn't be there. She gasps when she finally lays eyes on her son, a young Johnny Blaze. She allows herself a few minutes to look at the son she never knew, but is interrupted when a carnival worker named Wolf, who tells Johnny to go take a break. Naomi ducks into the crowd, afraid that Wolf will recognize her, and ends up following Johnny. The teenage Blaze runs across a young Roxanne Simpson, who manages to rile two carnival-goers. When the two men try to assault Johnny, Naomi steps in and nearly beats one of them into unconsciousness. She is finally pulled away by Crash Simpson, who drags her back to her motorcycle. He tells her to leave, threatening to get his gun and make her. After she rides off, Crash tells Johnny that the woman was nobody worth worrying about.

Later, a very drunk Naomi rambles on about her family curse to an uninterested bartender. Her ancestor, Noble Kale, was tricked by Mephisto into betraying his wife and child, resulting in her being burned at the stake. Noble gets damned to Hell, but was saved from his fate by an angel, who demanded that the Devil relinquish the soul. The two beings compromised, transforming Noble into a Spirit of Vengeance, a creature that would roam the Earth avenging the spilling of innocent blood. This Ghost Rider would take possession of his descendants, the first born of each generation. Naomi refused to subject her children to that fate, so she left her family in order to save them. Later, after being kicked out of the bar, Naomi gets violently ill outside. The spells cast in order to spare Johnny the fate of becoming the Ghost Rider have taken their toll on her body, and she knows she is dying.

She then heads to Cypress Hills, a section of Brooklyn, where her other two children are being raised. The oldest of the children, Barbara, is celebrating her ninth birthday with her foster mother, Francis Ketch, and a few family friends. Barbara's brother, Daniel, looks across the street and sees Naomi watching them. The two smile at each other, bringing a tear to the mother's eye. She is then interrupted by a police officer, who notices her excessive coughing. She rides off, leaving the policeman, one Officer Dolan, to spend the afternoon with his daughter Stacy and the Ketch family.

Naomi rides through the city, and in her thoughts she says that she just wants to die. Suddenly, the demonic face of Mephisto rips through the ground, unleashing a horde of demons onto the street. Naomi attempts to lose the demons on her bike, but is eventually chased and captured by the monsters in Cypress Hills Cemetery. As the demons hold her, a tree twists into a monstrous face and speaks in the voice of Mephisto, who tells her that she cannot avoid her destiny...that she will transform into the Ghost Rider, even if it kills her. He knows as well as she, that one more change into the Ghost Rider will surely kill her. Mephisto threatens to send a group of demons to the Ketch home, and though he cannot harm her children, he can most certainly murder every friend they have. Reluctantly, Naomi gives into the change and transforms into the Ghost Rider, who quickly throws the demons away. The Rider is then wracked with pain, caused by his host body dying in the void. The Ghost Rider realizes that the power he exerts is slowly killing his host body, and sadly triggers the transformation back into Naomi. The woman collapses on the ground, content that her family is finally safe from the curse, and that she can now die in peace. At that moment, a mysterious man approaches her, a shovel in hand. He is Pastor Kale, Noble's father, who gained immortality by making a deal with Mephisto. He carries Naomi to a freshly dug grave, telling her that her spells worked, that Johnny will not become the Ghost Rider. He then reverses that statement, by saying "Doesn't mean he can't be A Ghost Rider."

Upon hearing this, Naomi Kale passes away, and is thrown into the grave by her ancestor. He continues speaking, saying that the curse will move to the next available host, meaning Barbara is destined to become the Ghost Rider. Mephisto's plans will continue, despite everything Naomi had sacrificed.

ANNOTATIONS 

This issue was part of the "Flashback" event that happened in July of 1997. Every series was replaced for the month by a "minus 1" issue, most of which taking place before the respective series began. It was published between Ghost Rider (1990) # 86 and Ghost Rider (1990) # 87.

Several points in this issue, which takes place years before Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider (1972) # 5, were retcons/contradictions of events in the Ghost Rider's life. These included: 

 --- Johnny Blaze, Crash Simpson, and Roxanne Simpson as workers at the Quentin Carnival. In the origin story in Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider (1972) # 5, it seemed that Crash Simpson's cycle show had been in operation for several years, and that Barton Blaze had been a part of it. According to Marvel Team-Up # 15, Simpson started the cycle show a few years before Roxanne was born, as told by The Orb, Crash's partner in founding it. Also, according to Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider (1972) # 10, Crash Simpson was a police officer that saved Linda Littletrees from being hit by a truck. According to Littletrees, Crash quit the force to start his cycle show. Where his time at the Quentin Carnival fits is unknown, and should be looked at as a retcon.

--- Mephisto's interest in the Ghost Rider has changed with each writer on the book. According to Ghost Rider (1973) # 77, Mephisto placed the spirit of Zarathos inside Johnny Blaze as a punishment for both Blaze and the demon. According to Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 16, Mephisto was interested only in the Medallion of Power shard that rested within Blaze, and used the boy to tap into Zarathos' power. The second Mephisto retcon came with Ghost Rider minus 1, which brought to light the fact that Mephisto was responsible for transforming Noble Kale into the first Ghost Rider. In this issue, Mephisto triggered the transformation that ultimately killed Naomi, in hopes that the Ghost Rider would remain in the void forever.

--- Wolf, who first appeared as a member of the Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 1, is seen in this flashback issue looking relatively the same age. As he was not seen working for the Carnival in the last eighteen issues of the first Ghost Rider series, when Johnny Blaze was an employee, this could be considered a retcon. Wolf, or one of his ancestors, also appeared in the flashback scene in Ghost Rider (1990) # 78.

--- Johnny Blaze, during his days as the Ghost Rider, took a job working for the Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider (1973) # 63, and stayed long after he was freed from Mephisto's curse, eventually becoming the owner. It's safe to assume that had Blaze truly grown up in the Carnival, somebody (including the Carnival's founder and original owner, Ralph Quentin) would have recognized him upon his return. The same could be said for Roxanne Simpson when she arrived at the Carnival in Ghost Rider (1973) # 79.

--- At the end of this issue, Naomi Kale's motorcycle was fused with the emblem of the Medallion of Power by Pastor Kale, and then dumped in a nearby junkyard for Barbara Ketch to find years later. This was retconned away in Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms # 3, which seemed to completely disregard the entire Noble Kale origin of the second Ghost Rider. In that issue, the spirit of Zarathos was brought to life by the Medallion of Power, causing a man named Max Parrish to become the Ghost Rider. The Medallion was ripped from Zarathos' motorcycle, reversing the transformation, and the scrapped bike and medallion were tossed into the Cypress Hills junkyard. If taken as canon, this implies that the second Ghost Rider was perhaps Zarathos all along.

Due to Naomi Kale's spells of protection, Johnny Blaze was spared the fate of hosting the Noble Kale Ghost Rider. However, Mephisto later tricked Johnny into being the host for another demon, Zarathos, in Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider (1972) # 5. The Kale curse passed to Barbara, who was mortally wounded in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1. This passed the curse along to the youngest sibling, Daniel.

Pastor Kale first appeared in flashback in Ghost Rider (1990) # 78. This was his only modern appearance, and it is unknown what happened to him after he buried Naomi in the unmarked grave.

Naomi Kale returns as a disembodied spirit in Ghost Rider (1990) # 89.

REVIEW

And here we are, destination Retcon City. Flashback Month was an ill-conceived gimmick that was spread across the entire line of Marvel books in 1997, and while some were better than others, they all were framed in the context of taking place before the beginning of the modern Marvel Age in Fantastic Four # 1.

The Flashback issue of Ghost Rider takes us back to Johnny and Dan's childhood, with their mother Naomi being the host for the Ghost Rider. I really want to like this issue, as it's very well written and the artwork is excellent...but my desire to enjoy it is marked by the way Ivan Velez stomped all over established points in the characters' histories.

I have always liked Velez's origin for Ghost Rider - Noble Kale and all that - but it's obvious, not just from this issue, that he simply did not understand the canon history of the characters. Every time he brought up events in the past, even recent ones, he got them wrong. From the status of Blaze's children to his use of Doctor Strange, it makes one wonder if Velez even read the previous 150+ issues of the series that came before his run. Regardless, the blame for this also falls on the shoulders of the book's editors, who really should have caught the numerous errors before they made print. But, I believe it also came from the fact that the editors of the book at this time were trying their best to make people forget that Howard Mackie's run on the book happened at all, and this was a lazy way of saying "all that stuff didn't matter".

What Velez DID succeed on, however, was making Naomi a fully rounded character in her first appearance. You feel sorry for her, but at the same time can't help but feel some degree of animosity toward her for abandoning her children (despite her reasonable excuses for doing so). Her tragic death at the issue's end was effectively depressing, and set up the cycle of misery that the Ghost Rider mythos so perfectly encapsulate.

This issue also marks the return of Javier Saltares as the regular artist for the first time since the book's first year (though he had made a few sporadic returns to the character over the years). His work is as wonderful as ever, but still fails to full recapture the magic of the Ghost Rider's early issues. I accredit this to the absence of inker Mark Texeira, who will make his return as well in a few issues' time.

While this is certainly a story with a good script and very nice, slick artwork, the revisionist attack on the characters' histories and lack of respect toward what has come before ultimately make this a disappointment. But, it's also definitely important to the ongoing story of the series' final year, so I do recommend readers to pick it up in order to understand later plot points.

Grade: C+

Agents of SHIELD Episode 4.02: "Meet the New Boss"

SYNOPSIS
A home in Pasadena, CA is visited by the ghost of a woman, the same ghost who escaped from the stolen box recovered by SHIELD.  At SHIELD HQ, Fitz and Simmons determine that the technology from the box is something they've never seen before.  Mack tells them that a man suffering from the same symptoms as the Chinese criminals was hospitalized in Pasadena, claiming to have seen a ghost in his house.  Reviewing the footage of the box's retrieval, they see the image of the ghostly woman.  Mack and Fitz leave to investigate the lab at Pasadena that could have been responsible for the technology of the box.

Meanwhile, in California, Daisy has tracked Robbie Reyes down to his workplace at Canelo's Auto, where he works as mechanic.  Claiming to be an old friend of Robbie's, she has a very tense conversation with him, ignoring his threats for her to leave.  When they are alone in the auto shop, Daisy threatens Robbie's brother, Gabe, which causes Robbie to attack her with a flaming wrench.  Due to her powers causing damage to her bones, Robbie easily breaks Daisy's arm and knocks her unconscious.  After tying her up and looking through her things for evidence that she deserves to die, the conversation stops when Daisy mentions the lab in Pasadena that the skinheads murdered by Robbie had stolen something from.  Recognizing the lab, Robbie races off in his car, shaking off the pursuing Daisy.

At SHIELD HQ, Coulson and May meet the new Director of SHIELD, Jeffrey Mace.  May continues to see visions brought on by her exposure to the ghostly woman, which slowly drives her insane.  Coulson attempts to talk her down, but she attacks him, believing that everyone she sees is infected or against her.  Before she can escape, Director Mace reveals himself to be an invulnerable and super-strong Inhuman and easily knocks May unconscious.

At the Pasadena lab, the ghostly woman goes into a room with a large reactor and other boxes like the one that had trapped her.  She frees three more ghostly men, who all blame her for an experiment that involved a man named Hugo and a book called the Darkhold.  Lucy, the female ghost, leads two of the ghostly men out of the lab to search for the book, leaving one behind to destroy the building.  Mack and Fitz arrive and are attacked by the ghost, who has turned the reactor on.  The ghost locks Mack inside the reactor and advances on Fitz, but is stopped by Robbie, who transforms into the Ghost Rider and destroys the ghost with hellfire.  Daisy arrives and frees Mack while Fitz turns off the reactor.  The Ghost Rider retrieves a photo of the lab scientists and leaves.  Mack and Fitz attempt to talk Daisy into coming with them, but she refuses and leaves as well. 

Later, Coulson learns that Mace has "taken care" of May, but the Director refuses to tell him where she is.  Strapped into a straight jacket, a psychotic May is being transported somewhere by jet.  Daisy is picked up by Robbie, who tells her that he thinks the thing connecting all of these events is him.  She gets in the car and the two ride away to find answers.

REVIEW
Robbie Reyes gets a spotlight and the Ghost Rider takes out an actual ghost in a really, really great episode.

After the conclusion of last week's season premiere, I was left ambivalent at best.  I really wanted to follow the Ghost Rider storyline, but the actual SHIELD stuff left me cold and bored.  Thankfully, the show does a much better job of combining those two elements in this episode, because even the SHIELD plots are pretty interesting.  Just to bull on through that section of the episode, we meet the new director of SHIELD (Jeffrey Mace, who in the comics was a character called the Patriot that operated in WWII, definitely not an Inhuman), and he's so bureaucratic you can see slime coming from his pores.  He's also a super-strong Inhuman, so there's that, I guess.  Jason O'Mara, who I predominately know as the voice of Batman in the latter day DC animated films, does a pretty good job of getting Mace's potential duplicitousness across.  Poor Coulson, though, a few compliments and he's ready to hike his skirt for the guy.  Agent May has a great episode, too, though that's not surprising since she's the best character in the show's regular cast.  Seeing her freak out and take out a whole room full of SHIELD agents was a fantastic scene, and it led into an unexpected reveal of Mace's powers and identity.

The A-plot of the episode, though, revolves around Daisy Johnson and Robbie Reyes throwing veiled (and not-so veiled in Robbie's case) threats at one another in an auto repair shop.  I'm not a big fan of Daisy's character, even if she's radically different than the one I remember from season one, but her stand off with Reyes is really tense and intriguing.  The true star of the episode, though, is Gabriel Luna as Robbie, that guy does an amazing job with the character.  He's not totally the Robbie from the comics outside of the core trappings, but he has this quiet, stoic take on the character that really makes you believe he's holding back something terrible.  Both his personality and the take on the Ghost Rider itself is almost like a clever amalgamation of the Blaze, Ketch, and Reyes versions; you get the mention of the deal with the devil and the Spirit of Vengeance.  It makes Robbie feel more like the traditional take on the Ghost Rider, which was nice to see.

The Ghost Rider himself is only on-screen for a few minutes, but god damn if he doesn't look amazing.  He has hellfire in place of the penance stare (presumably, anyway), and the special effects on the show look really great.  I was afraid that they'd blown most of the FX budget on the premiere, so I was glad to see that wasn't the case.  Ghost Rider and Robbie tie into what I assume will be the season's long arc, involving the "ghosts" of the scientists who played around with the Darkhold.  The Darkhold, of all things, is in this show!  That's awesome!

If every episode this season holds up the quality of this one, SHIELD will be on my must-watch list every week.  Ghost Rider fans, you really need to check this out whether you watch the show regularly or not.

Ghost Rider Chronology: 2009-2015

Recent years have seen a slew of Ghost Rider reboots, mainly focused on new hosts for the Spirits of Vengeance in place of Johnny Blaze.  The 2011 relaunch starred a young woman named Alejandra that was cancelled in less than a year, and more successfully 2014 saw the debut of Robbie Reyes in the pages of All-New Ghost Rider.  2015 saw Marvel Comics being consumed by the "Secret Wars" crossover event, which briefly rebranded the series as Ghost Racers for a 4-issue mini-series.

2009
Ghost Rider (2006) # 29
Ghost Rider (2006) # 30
Ghost Rider (2006) # 31
Ghost Rider (2006) # 32
Ghost Rider (2006) # 33
Ghost Rider (2006) # 34
Ghost Rider (2006) # 35
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 1
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 2
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 3

2010
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 4
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 5
Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire (2009) # 6
Deadpool Team-Up # 897
Doctor Voodoo, Avenger of the Supernatural # 3
Doctor Voodoo, Avenger of the Supernatural # 4
Doctor Voodoo, Avenger of the Supernatural # 5
Strange (2009) # 4 (cameo appearance only)
Deadpool (2008) # 26
Shadowland # 2
Shadowland # 3
Shadowland: Moon Knight # 2 (cameo appearance only)
Shadowland: Ghost Rider # 1
Shadowland # 5
Daredevil (1964) # 511 (cameo appearance only)

2011
Wolverine (2010) # 2 (cameo appearance only)
Wolverine (2010) # 3 (cameo appearance only)
Wolverine (2010) # 4
Wolverine (2010) # 5
Wolverine (2010) # 6
X-Men: To Serve and Protect # 2
Heroes For Hire (2011) # 2
Amazing Spider-Man/Ghost Rider: Motorstorm # 1
Ghost Rider (2011) # 0.1
Ghost Rider (2011) # 1
Ghost Rider (2011) # 2
Ghost Rider (2011) # 3
Ghost Rider (2011) # 4

2012
Ghost Rider (2011) # 5
X-Men (2010) # 15.1
Ghost Rider (2011) # 6
Ghost Rider (2011) # 7
Ghost Rider (2011) # 8
Venom (2011) # 13
Venom (2011) # 13.1
Venom (2011) # 13.2
Venom (2011) # 13.3
Venom (2011) # 13.4
Venom (2011) # 14
Ghost Rider (2011) # 9
Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) # 19 (cameo appearance only)

2014
Superior Spider-Man Annual # 1
Uncanny Avengers (2013) Annual # 1
Thunderbolts (2013) # 20.NOW
Thunderbolts (2013) # 21
Thunderbolts (2013) # 22
Thunderbolts (2013) # 23
Thunderbolts (2013) # 24
Thunderbolts (2013) # 25
Thunderbolts (2013) # 26
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 1
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 2
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 3
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 4
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 5
Thunderbolts (2013) # 27
Thunderbolts (2013) # 28
Thunderbolts (2013) # 29
Thunderbolts (2013) # 32
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 6
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 7
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 8

2015
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 9
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 10
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 11
All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 12
Secret Wars: Secret Love # 1
Inhumans: Attilan Rising # 1
Ghost Racers (2015) # 1
Ghost Racers (2015) # 2
Ghost Racers (2015) # 3
Ghost Racers (2016) # 4

Ghost Rider Chronology: 2001-2008

Johnny Blaze returned as Ghost Rider for the 2001 mini-series "The Hammer Lane" and the 2005 mini-series "The Road to Damnation" before finally being awarded a new ongoing series in 2006 by creators Daniel Way, Javier Saltares, and Mark Texeira.  2008 saw the series taken over creatively by writer Jason Aaron and artist Roland Boschi, who turned in one of the most critically acclaimed runs on the character ever.

2001
Ghost Rider (2001) # 1
Ghost Rider (2001) # 2
Ghost Rider (2001) # 3
Ghost Rider (2001) # 4
Ghost Rider (2001) # 5
Ghost Rider (2001) # 6
Ghost Rider (2001) # 1/2
Thunderbolts (1997) # 57 (cameo appearance only)

2005
Ghost Rider (2006) # 6 (flashback sequences only)
Ghost Rider (2006) # 7 (flashback sequences only)
Ghost Rider (2005) # 1
Ghost Rider (2005) # 2

2006
Ghost Rider (2005) # 3
Ghost Rider (2005) # 4
Ghost Rider (2005) # 5
Ghost Rider (2005) # 6
Ghost Rider (2006) # 1
Ghost Rider (2006) # 2
Ghost Rider (2006) # 3
Ghost Rider (2006) # 4

2007
Ghost Rider (2006) # 5
Ghost Rider (2006) # 6
Ghost Rider (2006) # 7
Ghost Rider (2006) # 8
Ghost Rider (2006) # 9
Ghost Rider (2006) # 10
Ghost Rider (2006) # 11
Ghost Rider (2006) # 12
Ghost Rider (2006) # 13
Ghost Rider (2006) Annual # 1
Ghost Rider (2006) # 14
Ghost Rider (2006) # 15
Ghost Rider (2006) # 16

2008
Ghost Rider (2006) # 17
Ghost Rider (2006) # 18
Ghost Rider (2006) # 19
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 1
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 2
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 3
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 4
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch (2008) # 5
Ghost Rider (2006) # 20
Ghost Rider (2006) # 21
Ghost Rider (2006) # 22
Ghost Rider (2006) # 23
Ghost Rider (2006) # 24
Ghost Rider (2006) # 25
Ghost Rider (2006) Annual # 2
X-Force (2008) # 9
X-Force (2008) # 10
Wolverine (2003) # 73 (cameo appearance only)
Ghost Rider (2006) # 26
Ghost Rider (2006) # 27
Ghost Rider (2006) # 28

Agents of SHIELD Episode 4.01: "The Ghost"

SYNOPSIS
While hunting down a group of gun runners, Daisy "Quake" Johnson runs afoul of a mysterious flaming Dodge Charger, whose driver murders most of the mercenaries, leaving one critically injured and the other in the back of his car as he speeds away on flaming tires.  Daisy tracks down the survivor to a local hospital, and before he dies he tells her that "when the Rider burns you, he burns your soul...and it will never heal".

Agents of SHIELD Coulson and Mack are given information on Daisy's whereabouts by their former teammate Melinda May, who gives them a head start in front of the task force that will looking to kill Quake, assuming she is responsible for the rash of murders in Los Angeles.  Quake begins her search for the car, while the driver tortures the kidnapped mercenary for information on their cargo, a mysterious box in the back of a semi-truck.  Coulson and Mack find the truck with two dead men inside, the men having killed one another, unware that the young man working for the salvage yard helping take care of the truck is the one with the flaming car.  He returns to the mercenary, tells him the box wasn't there, and runs him down with his car.

While Mack and Coulson follow clues to the box's whereabouts, a warehouse where criminals are meeting to take possession of the box, Daisy follows her own investigation of the "Ghost Rider" to a salvage yard, where she meets Robbie Reyes.  Mack and Coulson watch as the criminals open the box, unleashing a ghostly woman that causes the men to attack one another.  May and her team arrive to take out the criminals, take possession of the box, and return Coulson and Mack to SHIELD HQ.  At the scrap yard, Daisy realizes that Robbie is the murderer she's searching for and the two begin to fight.  Robbie transforms into the Ghost Rider and traps Daisy under wreckage, when she asks him to kill her, saying "I deserve it".  Instead, the Ghost Rider gets into his car and leaves her alive.  Meanwhile, en route to SHIELD, May realizes that she has become possessed by the ghostly woman from the box.

Oh, also, lots of other SHIELD stuff I couldn't care less about happened.  TO BE CONTINUED...!

REVIEW
Ah, Agents of SHIELD, here I was hoping I would never have to watch you again.  But here I am, not only watching but actually writing a review for you!  I remember the by-gone days of 2013 when I attempted to watch your first season and gave up due to your lackluster plots, unengaging characters, and strict refusal to show anything actually related to the Marvel Universe.

Things sure have changed, haven't they?  I certainly wouldn't have thought that Ghost Rider would be making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut on an ABC television show, and I definitely wouldn't have pegged Robbie Reyes to be the Rider they decided to go with.  Neither of those are complaints, other than the fact that I had to sit through Agents of SHIELD again when I really didn't want to, because the character of Ghost Rider was adapted pretty darn well in this first episode.  Granted, a lot of fans are potentially going to write this off as "Not My Ghost Rider" since it's not Johnny Blaze (or even Danny Ketch, for that matter), and that's a shame.

Robbie Reyes is a character that's perfect for television adaptation, mainly because his story is so simple and streamlined while still connected to the larger mythos of Ghost Rider.  SHIELD has done right by the character, and in fact may have made him more interesting than he was when he debuted in the comic because he's shrouded in so much fucking MYSTERY that he's immediately engaging.  Gabriel Luna, who I had never heard of prior to this but will damn well remember now, plays an excellent Reyes, though one who seems to skew a bit older than the teenager from the comics.  His delivery of his lines during the fight with Quake were perfect to show the self-loathing mixed with perceived righteousness that the character's personality forms throughout the episode.  Really great stuff, and as an adaptation of the Reyes Ghost Rider, I'm sold.  The character even LOOKS great, which I thought would be impossible on a network television budget, but there it is: a fantastic flaming skull sitting atop a comic-accurate outfit.  I couldn't ask for more.

Or, well, yeah...I could definitely ask for more, because the rest of the episode stars the Agents of SHIELD, who are about as interesting as burnt toast.  I certainly can blame myself for this, since I haven't kept up with the series after bailing 12 episodes into Season One, but they could have at least made the plots surrounding these characters something that would keep your attention.  Instead, I found myself drifting off into daydreams and near-sleep whenever a character other than Daisy or Robbie were on screen.  I did like Melinda May during the first season, so I have hopes that her Ghost Box storyline will go somewhere interesting.

Overall, I'm still not impressed with Agents of SHIELD as a whole, it's dreadfully stiff and difficult to stay interested in.  I AM impressed with the introduction of Ghost Rider, however, and that's what will keep me coming back for new episodes.  Here's hoping the rest of the show around Robbie improves.

Grade: B-

Ghost Rider Chronology: 1996-1998

1996 saw the last issue of Ghost Rider by writer Howard Mackie, who was replaced by Ivan Velez Jr.  Velez would write the series through the final issue in 1998, when low sales caused the title's cancellation.  Strangely enough, the series was cancelled prior to the final issue, # 94, being released.  That issue was finally published in 2007 as "Ghost Rider Finale", as part of the marketing push of the Ghost Rider feature film.  1998 effectively ended the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider and when the series/character returns several years later it is once again Johnny Blaze as the demon's host.

Cover Artist: Javier Saltares

1996
Ghost Rider (1990) # 69
Over the Edge (1995) # 4
Ghost Riders: Crossroads # 1
Over the Edge (1995) # 9
Ghost Rider (1990) # 70
Ghost Rider (1990) # 71
Ghost Rider (1990) # 72
Ghost Rider (1990) # 73
Ghost Rider (1990) # 74
Ghost Rider (1990) # 75
Ghost Rider (1990) # 76
Ghost Rider (1990) # 77
Ghost Rider (1990) # 78
Ghost Rider (1990) # 79
Ghost Rider (1990) # 80

1997
Ghost Rider (1990) # 81
Ghost Rider (1990) # 82
Marvel Fanfare (1997) # 3
Ghost Rider (1990) # 83
Ghost Rider (1990) # 84
Ghost Rider (1990) # 85
Devil's Reign: Cyblade/Ghost Rider # 1
Devil's Reign: Ghost Rider/Ballistic # 1
Ghost Rider (1990) # 86
Ghost Rider (1990) # 87
Ghost Rider (1990) # 88
Ghost Rider (1990) # 89
Venom: Sign of the Boss # 1
Venom: Sign of the Boss # 2
Daredevil (1964) # 372
Ghost Rider (1990) # 90
Ghost Rider (1990) # 91

1998
Ghost Rider (1990) # 92
Ghost Rider (1990) # 93
Werewolf by Night (1997) # 6
Ghost Rider Finale (published in 2007)
Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1990) # 93
X-Force/Champions Annual '98

Ghost Rider Chronology: 1994-1995

"Siege of Darkness" finishes up at the start of 1994, which results in the death of Ghost Rider and Vengeance taking over his role in the main Ghost Rider series and in Marvel Comics Presents until Ghost Rider # 50 later in the year (so the chronology that starts with Ghost Rider # 46 through to # 50 is actually for Vengeance as the "new Ghost Rider").  Spirits of Vengeance becomes a Blaze series in all but name until that book's end and the launch of the actual solo Blaze series, which lasts for only a year.  Vengeance continues on as the star of Marvel Comics Presents until the end of that series in 1995.  By the end of that year, there remains just the one Ghost Rider title, as the character's popularity is dipping pretty low.


Cover Artist: Javier Saltares

1994
Nightstalkers (1992) # 15
Ghost Rider (1990) # 45
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 145
Darkhold: Pages From the Book of Sins (1992) # 16
Morbius the Living Vampire (1992) # 17
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 146
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) # 61
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 18
Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 4
Ghost Rider (1990) # 46
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 19
Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1994) # 1
Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1994) # 2
Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1994) # 3
Blaze: Legacy of Blood (1994) # 4
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 147
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 148
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 149
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 150
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 151
Ghost Rider (1990) # 47
Ghost Rider (1990) # 48
Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 5
Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 5 (Blaze back-up story)
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 20
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 152
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 153
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 154
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 155
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 156
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 157
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 158
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 159
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) # 65
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) # 66
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 160
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 161
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 162
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 163
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 21
Ghost Rider (1990) # 49
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 22
Ghost Rider (1990) # 50
Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 23
Ghost Rider (1990) # 51
Blaze (1994) # 1
Ghost Rider (1990) # 52
Ghost Rider (1990) Annual # 2
Ghost Rider (1990) Annual # 2 (Vengeance back-up story)
Ghost Rider (1990) Annual # 2 (Blaze back-up story)
Venom: Nights of Vengeance # 1
Venom: Nights of Vengeance # 2
Venom: Nights of Vengeance # 3
Venom: Nights of Vengeance # 4
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 164
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 165
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 166
Ghost Rider (1990) # 53
Ghost Rider (1990) # 54
Blaze (1994) # 2
Blaze (1994) # 3
Ghost Rider (1990) # 52 (Vengeance back-up story)
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 167
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 168
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 169
Ghost Rider (1990) # 55
Blaze (1994) # 4
Blaze (1994) # 5
Blaze (1994) # 6
Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: The Dark Design

Cover Artist: Gary Erskine

1995
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 170
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 171
Blaze (1994) # 7
Ghost Rider (1990) # 56
Ghost Rider (1990) # 57
Wolverine (1988) # 89
Morbius: The Living Vampire (1993) # 29
Blaze (1994) # 8
Blaze (1994) # 9
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 172
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 173
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 174
Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 175
Blaze (1994) # 10
Blaze (1994) # 11
Blaze (1994) # 12
Ghost Rider (1990) # 58
Ghost Rider (1990) # 59
Ghost Rider (1990) # 60
Ghost Rider (1990) # 61
Ghost Rider (1990) # 62
Ghost Rider (1990) # 63
Ghost Rider (1990) # 64
Ghost Rider (1990) # 65
Double Edge: Omega
DC Versus Marvel # 1 (cameo appearance only)
Ghost Rider (1990) # 66
Ghost Rider (1990) # 67
Ghost Rider (1990) # 68

You Can't Go Home Again

So, apparently the server that hosted the original Vengeance Unbound site has gone away and no one elected to tell me.  While I luckily have everything from the site backed up, a lot of which hasn't been re-posted here on the blog yet, you can no longer visit the site to read through the review archive.  It will all eventually be posted on here, possibly sooner rather than later chronologies be damned just so there's some content being released.

That said, did everyone get to check out the return of Ghost Rider 2099 during the recent "Civil War II" tie-in arc of Spider-Man 2099?  Zero appears in issue # 14, naturally the one issue of the arc that didn't feature him on the cover in some capacity (and the ones where he IS on the cover, yeah, he's not in those issues), and it's well worth tracking down.  Zero's not quite as surly as he was in the 1990s, but the personality is more or less intact as he throws down against Punisher 2099.  Maybe I'll try and get a quick review posted soonish.

Oh, and the Spirits of Vengeance: Rise of the Midnight Sons trade paperback collection is now on sale, so be sure to buy it!