On Sale Date: January 2018
Writer: Victor Gischler
Artist: David Baldeon
Letterer: Cory Petit
Colorist: Andres Mossa
Editor: Chris Robinson
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
Cover Artist: Dan Mora
At a bar in Port Brimstone, Blade and Satana talk with the woman who had been responsible for security over the Judas Coins, also the person who sold the coins to Necrodamus. She's now in hiding from Razan, who attempted to kill her, and offers up information to the heroes to try and save herself. She tells them about Ragnar, the Asgardian dwarf who Necrodamus charged with forging a weapon out of the silver. They, along with Hellstrom and Ghost Rider, locate Ragnar inside a volcano and easily subdue him, forcing him to tell them the date and approximate location of the Covenant: tomorrow night, near where Blaze first encountered the dying angel.
Later, at the diner near Gethsemane Flats, the four Spirits of Vengeance sit and wait for Necrodamus to make his move. Satana confronts her brother Daimon about the logical person to get information from, and the two reluctantly go to Hell to visit their father. Satan tells them that the Covenant has fail safes in place that will cause Heaven to lock its borders if the angels are attacked, which is what Necrodamus plans to do with the weapon forged from the Judas coins. This will leave Satan free to send his armies to Earth and claim it for Hell. Back on Earth, Blaze and Blade see the Covenant begin in the distance, as the angel Michael arrives to meet with the demon Beleth.
At a bar in Port Brimstone, Blade and Satana talk with the woman who had been responsible for security over the Judas Coins, also the person who sold the coins to Necrodamus. She's now in hiding from Razan, who attempted to kill her, and offers up information to the heroes to try and save herself. She tells them about Ragnar, the Asgardian dwarf who Necrodamus charged with forging a weapon out of the silver. They, along with Hellstrom and Ghost Rider, locate Ragnar inside a volcano and easily subdue him, forcing him to tell them the date and approximate location of the Covenant: tomorrow night, near where Blaze first encountered the dying angel.
Later, at the diner near Gethsemane Flats, the four Spirits of Vengeance sit and wait for Necrodamus to make his move. Satana confronts her brother Daimon about the logical person to get information from, and the two reluctantly go to Hell to visit their father. Satan tells them that the Covenant has fail safes in place that will cause Heaven to lock its borders if the angels are attacked, which is what Necrodamus plans to do with the weapon forged from the Judas coins. This will leave Satan free to send his armies to Earth and claim it for Hell. Back on Earth, Blaze and Blade see the Covenant begin in the distance, as the angel Michael arrives to meet with the demon Beleth.
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| Volcanoes don't have anything on hellfire! |
THE ROADMAP
Hellstrom and Satana's father, called "Marduk" in this issue, is sometimes the same Satan/Lucifer that cursed Johnny Blaze in Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 5 (except for when its retroactively changed into being Mephisto). His last plan to take over the Earth was foiled by Blaze in Ghost Rider (2006) # 19.
CHAIN REACTION
Spirits of Vengeance crawls towards its conclusion with this penultimate issue, instead of things speeding up the story continues to slow down for more exposition and characters having conversations with one another.
Of all the titles I had shortlisted to do reviews of, this one is probably the one I was looking forward to the least. It's really hard to continue talking about a series that is so bogged down with one of the most boring and uninteresting plot progressions I've ever read. This story is supposedly about a burgeoning war between Heaven and Hell, propagated by a third party warlock with our four supernatural heroes racing against the clock to stop him. That should be exciting! Instead, we've had four issues of the heroes sitting down and having calm discussions with people, over and over and over and fucking over again. The series, and this issue particularly, is so preoccupied with detailing its overly complicated plot that it's forgotten to make things even the slightest bit interesting. Look at how many moving parts this has to slog through: Necrodamus, Razan, the nameless lady in the bar, Ragnar, Beleth, Satan, the Judas silver, the Covenant, angels, and four heroes who would apparently rather just drink coffee in a diner than anything else. The panel that features Blade and Blaze walking out of the diner talking about how good the coffee is? Yeah, that's this series summed up perfectly.
I don't fault David Baldeon's artwork for any of this, because they guy is trying like hell to make things at least visually interesting. When he does get to cut loose a little, like in the comic's only action sequence that lasts less than a page, he does a great job making it exciting and kinetic. His Ghost Rider is still a little too exaggerated for my taste, but it doesn't matter considering how little we get to see him here. Baldeon was woefully miscast as the artist on this, but even one with a more conversational tone wouldn't have helped things.
I quickly lost my patience with this series, and going back to read it again just made things worse. This is not a good comic.
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| Blaze is seen drinking coffee in nearly every scene of this series. |
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