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| Cover Artist: George Pratt |
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Title: Fellow Travelers, Part 5: "Army of Darkness"
Writer: Len Kaminski
Artist: Reggie Jones
Inker: Fred Harper
Letterer: Ul Higgins
Colorist: John Kalisz
Editor: Richard Ashford
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
SYNOPSIS
Ghost Rider and the Masters of Silence have caught up to Tsin Hark, who has used the power of innocent blood to raise the demonic warriors of a bygone era - the Army of Darkness. Hark declares that, with the power of his Army, he will scourge the Earth of the plague of science to bring forth a new golden age of tradition, starting with the deaths of the Masters and the Rider. The four heroes stand firm as the Army moves toward them - and the battle is soon joined. With each creature they destroy, more and more appear to take their place, putting them quickly on the losing side of the fight.
While the battle rages, Hark returns to the pool of innocent blood to confer with his dark gods. A voice calls to him from beneath the blood pool, telling him that there is even greater power to be had. Hark admits that it is an intriguing offer, and he accepts by cupping a handful of blood to drink.
Continuing the battle against the Army of Darkness, Ghost Rider realizes that the monsters multiply faster than they can destroy them - and that they will be completely overwhelmed in a matter of moments. If they are to prevail, they must defeat the Army's master...so the Ghost Rider simply asks the Masters of Silence to "cover me". As the Masters take the brunt of the Army's assault, the Rider makes his way to Hark, who is still kneeling before the blood pool. When Ghost Rider reaches him, however, Hark turns and grabs him by the throat - the elder man has undergone a transformation into a large demonic creature, powerful enough to destroy even the Spirit of Vengeance.
ANNOTATIONS
This issue of MCP also contained stories featuring Iron Fist, Wolverine, and Spellbound.
REVIEW
Fight, fight, fight - all day long. Fight, fight, fight - while I sing a song.
The ante keeps getting upped while "Fellow Travelers" moves closer to its conclusion, this time with an unstoppable "Army of Darkness" (a name that always makes me think of Sam Raimi's movie, which this story is obviously paying homage to). One thing I've noticed is that the poor Masters of Silence really haven't done much but yell "hai!" and cut things throughout this story, making each of them pretty interchangeable other than their different colored outfits and the fact that one of the three is a woman. Seriously, I have no idea which Master is which in relationship to their names. But Ghost Rider at least fares a little better, even if he is pushed back to his standard "innocent blood has been spilled" mantras of his early days.
It's more fight scenes, little plot, but Kaminski at least keeps the readers engaged during all of the carnage. This is helped considerably by Jones and Harper, who just keep knocking my socks off with each new chapter. Their close-up shot of the Ghost Rider in the bottom panel of page 6 is incredibly gritty and horrific, probably one of the better examples of how a flaming skull would probably look in reality.
One chapter left - or, more accurately, one fight scene left - until the end, people.
Grade: B
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