Ghost Rider Cancelled

Well, according to news reports today from Marvel, not only has the publisher cancelled the ongoing Ghost Rider series, the previously solicited sixth issue will not be released either.  This will make issue # 5, which is being released on 3/29, the last issue of the series.  Ghost Rider fans that were around in 1998 will likely be experiencing some deja vu when it comes to solicited "final issues" not making it to publication.


Updates


I realize it's been a couple of weeks now since the last post, but that's because we've been busy working on Inner Demons, the Ghost Rider podcast!  Brian and I have recorded the first three episodes, with episode 1 dropping the first week in April.  We can't wait to hear what you guys think of the podcast, and I'll be posting a direct link to the audio here on the blog (along with posting it on iTunes and Stitcher, though I think it will be available here first).

That said, the blog isn't dead or stalled out, I'll be getting back to regular reviews soon.  I plan on tackling more from the 1973 and 1990 volumes and finally getting around to the "Circle of Four" crossover.  Anyone got any requests for comics I've not reviewed yet?

Darkdevil (2000) # 1

Cover Artist: Ron Frenz
Published: November 2000
Original Price: $2.99

Title: "From the Abyss...!"
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Artist: Ron Frenz
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterers: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Matt Hicks
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

SYNOPSIS
The demonic hero Darkdevil arrives for a secret meeting with his contact Miller Mackenzie, but he is instead ambushed by a gang of ninjas.  When the ninjas are defeated, they are killed by implanted explosives, while their master Scrier watches from a nearby rooftop.  The next day, after Scrier meets with his employer, Mackenzie visits the office of mayoral candidate O'Neil. 

In prison, the Kingpin of Crime is approached by Kaine, but the encounter is interrupted by a guard, who says Kaine has a visitor.  Kaine's lawyer tells him that due to inadmissible evidence, he is being released from prison within 24 hours, much to Kaine's surprise.  At his apartment, Darkdevil has returned home and resumes his human appearance, going to work at Nelson and Associates law office under the name "Reilly".  Later that night, Mackenzie attempts another meeting with Darkdevil, explaining that someone had tipped him off to not go to their meeting the night before.  Darkdevil is ambushed by Scrier, and after a brief fight Darkdevil is cut by Scrier's sword, which has been dipped in poison.  Before Scrier can kill the hero, Darkdevil teleports away.  Scrier meets with his master, the head of the Scriers, who orders his follower to kill Kaine while the leader will take care of Darkdevil personally.

Darkdevil returns to his home and heads toward his rejuvenation chamber, the only thing that can save his life.  He thinks back to when he first started experiencing pain as a 13-year-old runaway, and when his life was saved by his "guardian angel", Kaine.  It was Kaine who first placed him in the chamber and revealed to him that he is the son of Ben Reilly.

ANNOTATIONS
Darkdevil first appeared in Spider-Girl (1999) # 2 and made repeated appearances in subsequent issues of the series. 

It is revealed in Darkdevil (2000) # 2 that Daredevil is possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance, Zarathos, after a deal is made to save the soul of Matt Murdock. 

Several characters in this comic are named after past Daredevil creators, such as Miller Mackenzie (named after Frank Miller and Roger McKenzie) and mayoral candidate O'Neil (named after Dennis O'Neil).

REVIEW
You may be wondering why I'm reviewing an obvious Daredevil spin-off on the blog, and after reading this first issue I'm actually wondering the same bloody thing.

The answer, of course, is because this mini-series reveals that Zarathos is the demon inhabiting Darkdevil, but that doesn't get revealed until the second issue.  This first issue is an impenetrable mess of a comic that reads like an unassembled jigsaw puzzle.  I've never read DeFalco's Spider-Girl/MC2 comics, and I know very little about them.  Apparently, Darkdevil was introduced as the future version of Daredevil with mysterious origins, and he was popular enough as a supporting character that he got this origin mini-series.  In reality, Darkdevil takes elements from three wildly different superheroes and staples them together, resulting in a character that takes three paragraphs to explain. 

The Daredevil element is there, obviously, and the Ghost Rider/Zarathos connection comes up in the next issue, but this comic also reveals that he's the son of Ben Reilly.  The Scarlet Spider was the clone of Peter Parker and the whole impetus behind the much-maligned "Clone Saga" of the mid-1990s.  It appears that DeFalco has appropriated a LOT of plot ideas from the Clone Saga, since this series deals with Ben Reilly and another Spider-Man clone named Kaine.  I don't understand what's happening in this comic, the characters are dropped into the story with no introduction...wait, I take that back.  The Kingpin, the one villain in this book that most readers would be familiar with, gets a great introduction with narration explaining who he is, but I guess DeFalco was working with assumption that everyone would know who Kaine and Scrier are, because they're not given any explanation at all. 

Ron Frenz does some serviceable artwork that's a nice throwback to classic Marvel house style, and Al Milgrom's inks compliment things nicely (and that's a real surprise, normally Milgrom overpowers the pencils of any artist he works with).  Darkdevil does have a pretty great visual design, going for an obvious Daredevil homage while appropriate a more demonic tone.  There are other production problems with this comic, though, specifically with the lettering.  I don't know what happened with the usually great Tom Orzechowski, but the lettering is all over the place.  I wonder if it was a rush job, because the letters are all different sizes within the speech balloons, and it looks really amateurish. 

Perhaps this comic would be better if I knew anything about the MC2 universe going in, but that's also a huge failure on the creator's part for not making it friendly to new readers who might have picked it up for the Daredevil (or later Ghost Rider) connection.  As it stands, this comic is as much of a convoluted mistake as its lead character.
Grade: F

Ghost Rider (2016) # 4

Cover Artist: Felipe Smith
Published: April 2017
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Four on the Floor", Part 4
Writer: Felipe Smith
Artist: Danilo S. Beyruth

Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov w/ Federico Blee
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso


SYNOPSIS
Late at night in East Los Angeles, Ghost Rider has tracked down the group of kidnappers that he had last encountered in Hillrock Heights.  Despite Eli pushing him to murder the criminals, Robbie lets them go after scaring them.  Robbie's refusal to give in to his rage is making him sick, and Eli tells him that if he doesn't unleash his wrath soon then Eli will take over their body again. 

The next morning, the heroes that are tracking down the alien monster (Totally Awesome Hulk, All-New Wolverine, and Silk) have joined forces with Agents Coulson and May of SHIELD.  They track the alien's energy signature back to Hillrock Heights, directly beneath Canelo's Auto & Body repair shop.  Inside, Robbie watches Ramon Cordova interact with gangsters, and Eli tries to talk him into destroying the ex-convict.  Outside, Ramon tells the gangsters to leave, breaking one's nose and threatening to kill the other.  When Ramon goes back inside, he yells at Robbie's little brother Gabe, who had taken Ramon's tools and put them away without permission.  Robbie, meanwhile, has been confronted by Wolverine and Hulk in their civilian identities, and while Robbie says he can repair Wolverine's car he's not interested in teaming up with them to find the alien. 

Later, while the team of heroes and SHIELD agents stake out the repair shop, Robbie drives to Cordova's house to talk to him about what happened with Gabe.  Cordova tells Robbie to back off, saying he's not cut out for street life, but before Robbie can reply the gang members that Ramon chased off arrive and start shooting.  Ramon saves Robbie, telling him to stay down while he takes care of the thugs.  Robbie is able to transform into Ghost Rider without Ramon seeing and takes out the gangsters, possibly killing one of them.  Back at the auto shop, the alien arrives and is engaged by SHIELD.  When the heroes attack as well, the alien grabs Agents Coulson and May, biting them both on their necks. 

ANNOTATIONS 
This issue was released with an Agents of SHIELD variant cover by Felipe Smith.

Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 3 - "Indiana Ketch and the Thermos of Doom" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
"Four On the Floor" reaches chapter four and produces the first issue in the series that actually reads like a Ghost Rider comic.  Now this, THIS, is more like what I expect out of this title.

As I've said over and over again, this series' biggest problem is that Felipe Smith seems far more interested in writing a comic about the guest-stars than Ghost Rider, to the point where Robbie Reyes has become an afterthought for the first three issues.  Finally, though, Ghost Rider gets some time in the spotlight, and it's a welcome change.  The guest-star nonsense with the purple alien is all still there, of course, and it's just as frustratingly annoying as it's been in the first three chapters of the story, but it at least takes a backseat to the developments surrounding Robbie.  Which, I hate to have to point out, is HOW IT SHOULD BE. 

So, let's get the negative points taken care of first.  As I said, the guest-stars are still pointless and in the case of at least one of them absolutely infuriating to read.  Totally Appalling Hulk, I will literally do a happy dance when you're no longer appearing in this comic.  The other two superhero guest-stars are just kinda there, because Wolverine and Silk really don't add anything to the story other than to play straight-women to Hulk's attempts to be flippant.  This issue also brings in Coulson and May from Agents of SHIELD, and while they don't do anything of note either at least their appearance makes a modicum of rational sense outside of the plot demands.  Robbie's turn as a star in the first quarter of the Agents of SHIELD television show practically ensured their appearance in the series as some point.  I just wish they'd have done something other than be useless and then get utilized in a baffling cliffhanger where the alien bites them on the neck.  Speaking of the cliffhanger, this issue doesn't really end, instead it just sort of stops mid-dialogue.  Baffling decisions being made in this series, I just don't get it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the GOOD parts of this comic, which is all of the stuff involving Robbie, Eli, and Ramon.  Smith created Robbie, and so naturally he has a wonderful handle on the character and the plots that revolve around him.  Having him teeter on the edge of breaking down, fighting back against his curse to the point where it's literally making him vomit, is great character work.  All of the back-and-forth between Robbie and Eli really sells the struggle that Reyes is fighting through, and it's obvious that it's only a matter of time before he breaks completely.  This issue also gives a lot more focus to Ramon Cordova, "El Perro Rabioso", as the ex-con looking to break good and leave his past behind him.  I was ambivalent about this character and his subplot in the previous issues, but here it all clicks wonderfully into place.  I was expecting this guy to revert to type and turn into a villain of some kind, but he's actually something far more interesting.  He's obviously not a nice person, yelling at Gabe (though I agree with Canelo, the kid kinda deserved it and really shouldn't be at Robbie's place of work hanging out, but I digress) and just being kind of a bastard.  But then he saves Robbie's life, genuinely acting to protect the boy that had just come to try and fight him on his front lawn.  I am now totally invested in this part of the story, and it's night-and-day more interesting than anything involving purple aliens and superheroes.

Danilo Beyruth continues as the artist, and he's still turning in a perfectly serviceable job on the art.  I still think he struggles with faces and expressions, but his action scenes are solid enough.  I really love that he's finally getting to draw some sweet Ghost Rider stuff, which has been too long in coming.  It's like this issue finally delivered on a lot of the things that were so infuriatingly absent from the earlier issues.  Beyruth sells the otherworldly aspect of Ghost Rider as well, he's almost a beast who is a moment away from turning into something truly monstrous.  While I still wish this series was being drawn by Tradd Moore or by Felipe Smith, Beyruth hasn't been a disappointment.

This is what I was hoping for when this series first launched.  It's not perfect, and the flaws in it are still very much a problem, but it's certainly a big step in the right direction.  Nevertheless, I will be very happy when this arc concludes next issue.

Grade: B+

Inner Demons Banner Contest Decision!


After much deliberation and agonizing, Brian and I have decided on the winner of the Inner Demons Banner Image Contest.  The above winning piece of awesome artwork comes courtesy of James Ishizaki and will be adorning each new episode of the Inner Demons podcast!  Thanks to James for his badass rendering skills and to everyone else who submitted and inquired about the contest.  The podcast will be going live with episode one, "Deathbed Confessions to a (Flaming) Skeleton Monster", at the end of March!

Just so everyone knows what to look forward to when the first episode drops, here's the list of comics we're reviewing!

Current Comic Reviews:
Ghost Rider (2016) # 1-2 by Felipe Smith and Danilo Beyruth
Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme (2016) # 1-2 by Robbie Thompson and Javier Rodriguez

Flashback Comic Reviews:
Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 5 by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog
Ghost Rider (1990) # 1 by Howard Mackie, Javier Saltares, and Mark Texeira
Ghost Rider (2001) # 1 by Devin Grayson and Trent Kaniuga