Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 10

Cover Art: Tom Taggert
Published: February 1995
Original Price: $1.50

Title: "Concrete Jungle"
Writer: Len Kaminski
Artist: Kyle Hotz
Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ Comicraft
Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age
Editor: Evan Skolnick
Editor-in-Chief: Bobbie Chase

SYNOPSIS
Two members of the Pioneer Society, a group of wealthy elitists, watch the recording of a robotic "predator" remotely piloted to murder humans for sport in Little Calcutta.  Later, investigating the murder of his friend Pak, Zero Cochrane goes around Little Calcutta to talk to various people about the murders.  Unfortunately, everyone he talks to has a different theory about what's happening.  One of the people he talks to is a drug dealer, who sells a new drug called "White Heat" to a local gang, the Toxic Zombies.  A few hours later, Kylie Gagarin and Dr. Neon are assaulted by the gang, who are intoxicated by the new drug.  Two securicops intervene, and the melee is quickly joined by a cybernetic enhanced mercenary named Coda, who kills the gang members.

Later, Ms. Matlin is piloting her predator when she sees a target: Jeter of the Artificial Kidz.  When she attacks him, however, his holographic disguise fades to reveal the Ghost Rider.  He battles the predator, realizing that it's being piloted remotely, and is eventually led into a trap.  The rest of the Pioneer Society have arrived, each in their own remote drones, ready for a "multiplayer game".

ANNOTATIONS
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 27 - "Redneck Interlude" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
Kaminski and Hotz continue the slow build of Transverse City and its occupants with the first chapter of this arc.

I don't think it can be denied that there are two major factors that make this title such a compelling read.  One is the way the creative team have taken the futuristic Transverse City and made it come to life as a character all on its own, each issue introducing another element.  Outside of the exploration of Little Calcutta, which we caught a glimpse of in the previous issue, and its motley assortment of citizens, we also get the Pioneer Society.  Outside of the corporate cogs that work for D/Monix we haven't had many looks at how the upper crust of society operate in Transverse, so discovering that they're as equally perverse as the cops are corrupt and the corporations are manipulative is fittingly appropriate.  Using expensive "predator drones" to hunt people of lower economic and social status is a pretty damning indictment of how the rich literally eat the poor in this future world.

The second factor is the attitude of Zero Cochrane, the antisocial and anarchistic worldview that comes out not just in the character's actions and words but are reflected in the events happening around him.  The Ghost Rider rails at authority of any kind, so putting him against the elite monsters who would happily target him alongside his friends as sport fits right in with how Zero looks at anyone other than himself.  He hates everything about Transverse City, yet takes great pains to find out who murdered his friend.  It's a repeating motif, that every time Zero tries to help a friend he winds up paying for it in the end, such as when he saved Kylie in the previous arc.  It's really only when he's helping himself that he's ever really successful, which I guess shores up his usual selfish motivations.

The artwork by Kyle Hotz continues to sell the dirty, dingy highlights of Transverse, especially the nitty gritty parts of Little Calcutta that gets explored here.  He has a variation to his art that can sometimes come off as busy or cluttered, but I think it works well to emphasize just how overly complicated everything is in the future.  The predator robots look appropriately monstrous, though the influence of films like Alien and Predator, really obvious inspiration for Coda's visual design, can be a bit glaring.  Still, there's a visceral feel to Hotz's work that acts as a sharp contrast to the cleaner tone of Bachalo and Buckingham from the series' first arc.

This issue is a set-up for the fight that's coming in the next issue, but that confrontation is really an afterthought to all the masterful world building that the creative team are so successful with.  This series continues to be solid gold on just about every level.

Grade: A

The Ghost Rider (1950) # 2

Cover Art: Frank Frazetta
Published: October 1950
Original Price: $.10

Title: "Death's Stagecoach"
Title: "The Taming of Wild-Man Feeney!"
Title: "Death Wears a White Mask"
Title: "The Haunted Castle"
Writer: Unknown
Artist: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Dick Ayers
Colorist: Unknown

SYNOPSIS
"Death's Stagecoach"
Four ranchers control the Cactus Gap, and one night a cloaked man on a stagecoach places a skull with one of the rancher's names, Luke Mormon, on the rancher's fence post, stating that the man will die.  The next day, Mormon is murdered and another skull is delivered to the second rancher, Jeb Nolan, who becomes fearful for his life.  The next morning, Rex Fury is riding along the Gap and finds Nolan's dead body.  That night, Fury investigates as the Ghost Rider and confronts the masked stagecoach driver, but the villain is able to escape.  The third rancher, Roger Boofer, receives a skull and later almost dies from a dynamite explosion in front of the Ghost Rider.  His survival raises the Ghost Rider's suspicions and he realizes that Boofer is the stagecoach driver that is killing his rivals to gain their land.  Boofer goes out on the stagecoach to kill the final rancher but he is stopped and captured by the Ghost Rider, who states that Boofer will hang for his crimes.

"The Taming of Wild-Man Feeney!"
Notorious bandit Wild-Man Feeney has been called to town by a crook wanting to steal a herd of horses from a local rancher.  The conversation and plan is overheard by Sing-Song, who goes to tell Rex Fury.  Fury tells the local sheriff, but the lawman is too afraid of Feeney to intervene, so Fury decides to take action as the Ghost Rider.  He uses all of his ghostly tricks to fool the thieves, scaring Feeney half to death and causing the men to flee.  The next morning, Feeney and the men arrive at the bar and surrender themselves to the sheriff out of fear of the Ghost Rider.

"Death Wears a White Mask"
Settlers, or "nesters", are hated by the cattle ranchers for taking the land, and one of the ranchers has assembled a group of white-cloaked marauders called the Nightriders to kill the nesters.  Rex Fury infiltrates the group and is taken back to their cave headquarters for an initiation test of Russian Roulette with one silver bullet and five blanks.  Sing-Song sneaks in and replaces all of the Nightriders' bullets with the blanks, and when they go to kill a family of nesters Fury is able to save them.  Fury himself is caught and executed, but feigns death when shot by the blanks.  He turns into the Ghost Rider, who captures all of the Nightriders, the ineffectual blanks making it seem like he's an actual ghost. 

"The Haunted Castle"
Rex Fury and some locals ride by a purported "haunted castle" in the desert and Fury is told the story of the strange rich man who built the castle so he could be alone and was found dead outside its walls ten years later.  Fury makes a wager with the men that he and Sing-Song can spend the night inside the castle to prove there's no ghosts.  When they go into the castle, they are seen by bandits who killed the owner and have been using the castle as a hideout ever since.  The bandits "haunting" tricks are easily seen through by Fury, but then he and Sing-Song are dumped into a watery pit beneath the castle.  They escape the pit and leave the castle, but come back that night as the Ghost Rider, who scares the bandits into feeling the castle and admitting their crimes.

ANNOTATIONS 
Creator credits were not included in the comic other than the artist's signature.

The Rex Fury Ghost Rider is not part of Marvel continuity and is unrelated to the Carter Slade Ghost Rider, outside of inspiration of course.

REVIEW
It's four short stories of Golden Age goodies in this second issue of the original Western Ghost Rider.

It's difficult to review this series.  The comic and the stories within are such products of their times that it's hard to look at them with a modern critical eye.  So, for the most part I'm just going to gauge the series on how entertaining it is from issue to issue, and this one wins out for the most part.  The opening story, "Death's Stagecoach", is a pretty tight mystery that's also responsible for the awesome Frazetta cover.  It's a great gimmick for a villain, using the skulls with his victim's name painted on.  The second story about Wild-Man Feeney is hilarious and as over-the-top as you could probably go with one of these stories, especially with all the "cowboy" dialogue complete with misspellings.  "Let's get outta hyar" indeed, you spooked jasper, you. 

The other two stories aren't as solid as the first two, because both have some pretty fundamental problems with their concepts.  "The Haunted Castle" has the ludicrous premise of an Eastern European castle sitting in the middle of the desert, and even when it goes to great lengths to justify its existence it still can't get past the disbelief it took the creators to get Ghost Rider inside a haunted castle.  The biggest problem lies with "Death Wears a White Mask", as it deals with a group of white-garbed men on horses called the Nightriders that actively hate another group of people, yet doesn't address the elephant in the room.  The link to the Ku Klux Klan is obvious (Nightriders, people, Nightriders!) but slotting in the "nesters" in place of real life persecution of African Americans is about as tone deaf as you can get.  Perhaps this is all they could get away with in 1950?  I can't even hazard a guess.

The real star of this comic, the whole series even, is obviously the artwork of Dick Ayers.  Even in this rough Golden Age format, Ayers version of the Ghost Rider is wonderful.  He takes what could be just stock cowboy stories and gives them this ominous, sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere.  There's problems there, sure, such as Sing-Song's caricature and Rex Fury's jaw being so square it looks like a piece of bread, but every time the Ghost Rider is on panel the comic just flat out works.

It's the Golden Age, it's not for everybody, but at least two of the four stories in this one were pretty entertaining.

Grade: B-

Dead Man Logan # 3

Cover Art: Declan Shalvey
Published: February 2019
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Sins of the Father, Part 3"
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Mike Henderson
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Editor: Chris Robinson
Group Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

SYNOPSIS
Logan has been hunting Mysterio, who he believes will lead to the dystopian future that Logan has time traveled from, and has been confronted by the Avengers.  Unfortunately, Mysterio has made Logan see and hear the Avengers as the Sinister Six.  Mysterio and other villains, including Sin and Miss Sinister, watch the heroes fight in Times Square from a nearby penthouse.  Logan tears through Iron Man's armor and cuts the tendon in She-Hulk's ankle before attempting to murder Hawkeye.  Ghost Rider hits Logan with the Hellcharger and attempts to drive him out of the city, but Logan sees Robbie as the villain Jack O' Lantern and cuts his way through the car to kill him.  Mysterio learns that the other villains plan on killing him, deeming him too dangerous, and releases his illusory hold on Logan as he leaves the penthouse.  Logan snaps out of the trance before he can kill Ghost Rider, then passes out on the street for the X-Men to come and collect.

ANNOTATIONS
Robbie Reyes made his last full appearance in Avengers (2018) # 10, made cameo appearances in Avengers (2018) # 11-12, and makes his next full appearance in Avengers (2018) # 14.

REVIEW
Robbie gets another guest appearance as a member of the Avengers, and at least this time he gets more action than just getting thrown through a house (looking at you, Immortal Hulk!).

It's certainly nice to see Ghost Rider getting more play as an active member of the Avengers, which means he's able to be trotted out in these random guest appearances alongside his teammates.  We've had a rash of Ghost Rider appearances of late that have gotten me all excited, only to be disappointed when it's just a glorified cameo where he doesn't even get a speaking role.  There was the aforementioned Immortal Hulk issue and the Danny Ketch appearance in Fantastic Four, both big goose-eggs for Ghost Rider fans.  So, when I saw this solicited, I actually didn't even bother to pick it up, thinking it would be another non-appearance.  Going back to check it out after the fact, Robbie does get a nice moment or two as part of the team, and even gets a solo interaction with Logan at the end that's pretty sweet.  Plus, having him portrayed as Jack O' Lantern in the illusory Sinister Six was a nice touch.

Mike Henderson does some pretty great artwork in this issue as well, he has a great handle on the action sequences and draws a mean Hellcharger.  His work reminds me of a cross between Howard Chaykin and Michael Golden, there's this angular grittiness that I really appreciate.  Unfortunately, the one part where he doesn't do so well is with Ghost Rider himself, who for some odd reason always has his jaw open as wide as possible.  It's a really weird design choice, and it makes the character look like he's screaming all the time.

I wouldn't say this is a necessary comic to pick up if you're just interested in Ghost Rider, especially since it's the third issue of a mini-series.  Not a bad appearance overall, though.

Grade: B

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 109

Cover Art: Sam Keith
Published: July 1992
Original Price: $1.50

Title: "Return of the Braineaters, Part 3: Battle on the Brooklyn Bridge"
Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: John Stanisci
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Colorist: Freddy Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

SYNOPSIS
The Werewolf confronts Danny Ketch in the cemetery, but transforms back into Jack Russell to propose a partnership. He tells Danny about the Braineaters, a biker gang of werewolves that he's encountered before and feels obligated to stop.  Realizing that the boy, Billy Baldwin, witnessed the Braineaters in their human forms the two vigilantes track him to the Brooklyn Bridge, where he's being chased by the Braineaters.  A motorcycle battle commences, but Russell is knocked off the bridge and Billy is grabbed by the werewolves, who demand Ghost Rider's surrender.

ANNOTATIONS 
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine/Typhoid Mary, Thanos, and the Young Gods.

Werewolf by Night encountered another group of Braineaters in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 54-59, which ended with all members of the gang dead.

REVIEW
After the interesting turns in the last issue, this chapter loses a lot of the story's seedy atmosphere in favor of a frankly ridiculous looking motorcycle battle.

I praised John Stanisci's artwork in my review of chapter two, but this chapter doesn't play to his strengths at all.  He was right at home with setting that grimy tone of a grindhouse exploitation story, but here he's given nothing in that vein to work with.  Instead, there's an extended motorcycle fight on a bridge, and it's obvious that drawing kinetic fights in motion is not the guy's strong suit.  I recognize that the whole conceit of the Braineaters is that they're "werewolves on motorcycles", but the image of skinny, shaggy Jack Russell on a crotch rocket looks like unintentional comedy.  Then you get important details that are glossed over in the artwork, such as Jack being thrown off his motorcycle and off the bridge, in a two panel sequence that just looks off in a way that's hard to describe.

There's not much meat to the story in this chapter, either, since it only has two goals: have the heroes team up and have a big fight with the bad guys.  Chris Cooper is doing an admirable job continuing the Werewolf by Night's story, but he's coming off the heels of the excellent Len Kaminski/James Fry Werewolf story that's referenced in this chapter's flashback.  That one had an absolutely gripping sense of horror throughout, and I think this one's a bit too preoccupied with giving Ghost Rider stuff to punch.

This is a middling chapter of what could so easily be a great serial.

Grade: C+

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 108

Cover Art: Sam Keith
Published: June 1992
Original Price: $1.50

Title: "Return of the Braineaters, Part 2: Claw and Bone"
Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: John Stanisci
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Colorist: Freddy Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

SYNOPSIS
A young boy named Billy Baldwin just watched a pack of werewolves kill a couple in the park and is now witnessing Ghost Rider and the Werewolf by Night, each thinking the other to be the killer, fight.  The battle is brief as they quickly uncover Billy, who says that neither of them killed the couple.  Billy runs away and Ghost Rider departs, leaving the Werewolf to decide which one to follow.  At the Baldwin home, the werewolf gang the Braineaters have come looking for Billy, torturing and killing his family while their human concubine Lupe watches.  Finally, at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Ghost Rider transforms back into Danny Ketch, who then sees the Werewolf by Night looming over him.

ANNOTATIONS 
This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Wolverine/Nightcrawler, Thanos, and the Young Gods.

Werewolf by Night encountered another group of Braineaters in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 54-59, which ended with all members of the gang dead.

While this is his first encounter with this incarnation of Ghost Rider, Jack Russell did meet Johnny Blaze twice, in Marvel Premiere # 28 and Ghost Rider (1973) # 55.

REVIEW
The Werewolf by Night team-up arc has its obligatory 2nd chapter fight between the stars in an issue that's saved by the artwork.

There's nothing much of note to the story in this chapter, since it's taken up by a pretty formulaic fight sequence that lasts for most of the page count.  I like Jack Russell, he's probably one of my favorite Marvel horror characters, but I find it dubious that he'd be able to toss Ghost Rider around like he does in this issue.  I guess he has to have a good showing, given his co-star role, but seriously?  He's a werewolf, not the Hulk.  Still, the fight scene is entertaining and is ended with a pretty hilarious panel of Ghost Rider telling the Werewolf that he's too scary and has frightened the little kid.

There's actually more life to this script that one would think, the interactions between Ghost Rider and the Werewolf liven up once the macho posturing is over.  The ending scene with Russell coming across Danny is legitimately scary, even though there's not much concern that Jack is going eat Danny in the next issue or anything.  The comic's best couple of pages feature the Braineaters, who are so grossly evil in a 70's exploitation kind of way, and the introduction of Lupe as their muse/ingenue/slave.

That brings me to the artwork by John Stanisci, whose rough around the edges art made me feel dirty after reading the comic.  He has this fantastic style that compliments the grindhouse era vibe perfectly.  His werewolves are grotesque, Lupe is alluring in a way that makes you a little uneasy, and his Ghost Rider is top notch.  His action sequences are a little choppy and could use some work, but he makes up for it in atmosphere.

I'm genuinely surprised by how this arc improved over the first chapter, looking forward to the rest.

Grade: B

Thanos (2017) Annual # 1

Cover Art: Geoff Shaw
Published: June 2018
Original Price: $4.99

Title: untitled
Writer: Donny Cates, Chris Hastings, Kieron Gillen, Katie Cook, Ryan North, & Al Ewing
Artist: Geoff Shaw, Flaviano Armentaro, Andre Arujo, Katie Cook, Will Robson, & Frazer Irving
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Antonio Fabela, Frederico Blee, Chris O'Halloran, Heather Breckle, Rochelle Rosenberg, & Frazer Irving
Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

SYNOPSIS
Frank Castle, the Cosmic Ghost Rider, is sitting in a grassy field beneath a starry night sky, reminiscing out loud to an unseen individual about his death at the hands of the Silver Surfer.  He comments that Thanos used to make him see every vile deed the Mad Titan had ever done via the Penance Stare on a daily basis, and Castle's head is now filled with memories of Thanos' life.  He then goes on to tell stories about some of these memories, including ones about Gamora and Thanos' time wielding the Infinity Gauntlet.  Once finished, Castle's companion is revealed to be Odin, who is there to escort Frank into Valhalla.

ANNOTATIONS
Cosmic Ghost Rider was killed by the Silver Surfer in Thanos (2017) # 17 and appears next in Cosmic Ghost Rider (2018) # 1.

It was revealed that Thanos used Ghost Rider's Penance Stare as a way to relive all of his atrocities in Thanos (2017) # 15.

Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 26 - "Unreliable Narrator" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
Cosmic Ghost Rider narrates an anthology of Thanos stories in an issue that is ultimately inconsequential.

Anthology comics are always a dicey concept, usually comprised of a very mix bag of creators and stories that can hop around in terms of tone and theme without much structure.  Cosmic Ghost Rider's narration is the connective tissue for each story, and he's the star of the framing sequence that takes him from his death at the end of "Thanos Wins" to the first issue of his own mini-series.  That's really all you need to know, honestly: Castle died and is taken to Valhalla by Odin.  If all you care about is Ghost Rider's journey, you can easily skip right past this comic.

There's not much to recommend here otherwise, I'm afraid.  Two of the stories are relatively decent: the Cates/Shaw Gamora story and Kieron Gillen's Infinity Gauntlet interlude are both readable if not terribly interesting.  Three of the stories are outright terrible, ranging from the ludicrous "Thanos Helps an Old Lady Across the Street" and "...Man Who Takes Everything" stories that turn Thanos' motivations into comedy situations that make no sense given the character to the absolutely horrendous "My Little Thanos" by Katie Cook, which made my eyes bleed.  Only Al Ewing and Frazer Irving turned out a truly excellent story, "The Comfort of the Good" was a fantastic exploration of goodness and religiosity with a truly haunting final panel of Castle asking if children were still in Heaven.

I think it's that drastic shift in tone from story to story that sinks this comic, because it can't make up its mind if Thanos is a deadly serious madman or someone who tortures a random Earth guy for no reason on his birthday.  If you're just coming for Cosmic Ghost Rider, I suggest giving this one a pass and saving your money.

Grade: C-

Thanos (2017) # 17

Cover Art: Geoff Shaw
Published: May 2018
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Thanos Wins, Part 5"
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Geoff Shaw
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso

SYNOPSIS
The Silver Surfer, now armed with the hammer Mjlonir, attacks Thanos, Old King Thanos, and Cosmic Ghost Rider, sweeping all of them aside.  When Ghost Rider attacks, stating that the Surfer isn't the only Herald of Galactus there, the Surfer kills him, smashing him to pieces with his hammer.  The Surfer is then attacked by an enraged Hulk, who is calmed by the Surfer's voice and reverts back to Bruce Banner.  King Thanos then stabs both of them in the back with the flaming sword of Surtur, killing Banner.  The two versions of Thanos then beat the Surfer mercilessly, eventually killing him.  Now that they are the only two living creatures in existence, Death appears outside, dressed for a wedding.

ANNOTATIONS
Despite his death in this issue, Cosmic Ghost Rider goes on to make further appearances, showing up next in Thanos (2017) Annual # 1.

Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 22 - "Stationary Demon" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
Cosmic Ghost Rider meets his end at the hands of the Silver Surfer in the fifth chapter of "Thanos Wins".

I can't imagine that Cates and Shaw had any idea how popular Cosmic Ghost Rider was going to become when they debuted him at the start of this arc, it's actually pretty surprising how quickly the character caught on with fans.  I'm assuming that, even with all the time the creators spent building up CGR's backstory and the mystery of his identity, that his fate in this issue was likely meant to be the end of him.  It perhaps explains why he's dispatched so easily, even though he's definitely the undercard fighter in comparison to Thanos (either version of him).

The Silver Surfer's fate is bleak as well, presented as the last hope of the universe and then beaten so savagely by his enemies.  I'm not surprised, considering the name of the story is still "Thanos Wins", but it's immensely depressing.  It's fitting that it came down to Thanos versus the Surfer, considering the history between those characters, and all of the character touches along the way just make the end result even more depressing.  The wielding of the hammer, his connection with the Hulk, and his determination even after getting his arm sliced off all make the Silver Surfer one of the most tragically doomed characters in this whole story, and that's really saying a lot consider what's come before.

Geoff Shaw's artwork captures all of that emotion and brutality perfectly, producing one of the most severe and unrelenting beatdowns I've seen in comics in quite a long time.  He gives the Silver Surfer's face, particularly his eyes, an appropriately alien look that seems humanoid but not at all human.  He also gives Cosmic Ghost Rider both a great entrance page, with him on the fiery surfboard, and an epic death by god hammer.

I won't be reviewing the last chapter of this story, since Cosmic Ghost Rider doesn't appear again, but I implore everyone to pick up the collection and read "Thanos Wins" in its entirety.  I think it's going to be held up as a Marvel classic, it's that damn good.

Grade: A+