Cover Date: September 2021; Publication Date: July 2021
Conan awakens and finds himself back in the Hyborian Age, in the city of Aquilonia, unaware of how he has been transported back in time. He is attacked by that era's Ghost Rider, who travels atop a giant flaming spider and believes Conan to be working for Kulan Gath. During the battle, Conan is bit by the flaming spider and passes out.
Conan awakens again, this time in a cave where he and Johnny Blaze are suspended from the ceiling by spider webs. Conan frees himself and Blaze, both of whom have figured out that they are reliving nightmares. Blaze admits that they are now reliving one of his nightmares, and the two men are attacked by a pack of werewolves. During the battle Blaze is overwhelmed and the world fades to black.
Conan and Blaze awaken again to find themselves at the mercy of Nightmare, who admits to having enthralled Ghost Rider to go looking for Conan for him. Nightmare states that Kulan Gath has been attempting to conquer the realm of dreams, and that the wizard has a nightmare of his own: that Conan will come and kill him. Nightmare tells Conan to seek out Dr. Strange, and then both Conan and Blaze awaken a final time in the alley within which they had first fought one another. The two shake hands and Blaze decides to go get some rest, but tells Conan that he has an ally in him once he finds Kulan Gath. Conan leaves as well and journeys to Dr. Strange's home, where he finds the sorcerer meeting with the giant demon Shuma-Gorath.
Johnny Blaze appears next in Spirits of Vengeance: Spirit Rider (2021) # 1. He will make further cameo appearances in later issues of Savage Avengers.
Blaze first encountered Nightmare way back in Ghost Rider (1973) # 78.
CHAIN REACTION
Ghost Rider's time alongside Conan the Barbarian concludes when the two wake up and find it was all a dream perpetuated by Nightmare.
CHAIN REACTION
Ghost Rider's time alongside Conan the Barbarian concludes when the two wake up and find it was all a dream perpetuated by Nightmare.
This is a series with big ideas executed very well. The Spirit of Vengeance atop a giant, flaming tarantula? Conan the Barbarian ripping the jaw off of a werewolf? Yeah, all that stuff is in here, and it all looks fantastic. I personally think the tease of Conan going back to his original time is the most interesting part of the comic, and I feel it's far more engaging than the idea of Conan in the present day. I mean, I know there were traditional Conan comics being released at the same time as this, I'm talking about a series that deals with legacy concepts of the Marvel Universe through Conan's filter. Conan dealing with the Phoenix Force or Asgardians or ancient Wakanda could be a gold mine for stories. The inclusion here of the Hyborian Age Ghost Rider is a perfect example of that, such an interesting spin on the Spirit of Vengeance in a time we haven't seen much of in Ghost Rider's mythos.
Still, it IS the present day that concerns us here, and Nightmare is again trotted out to provide cryptic advice to our characters. Nightmare never really grabs me as a scary villain despite that being his whole motif, he always comes off as a cheesy info-dumping narrator to me. Conan's nightmare of dying as an old man without his boots or sword is cliché but it's at least appropriate for the character; why in the world would Johnny Blaze's greatest fear be werewolves of all things? I'm probably giving it too much thought because, as mentioned above, it gives the opportunity for Conan to rip a werewolf's jaw off, and that's awesome.
Patch Zircher, who I assume is the regular artist for this series, does a great job with the more grotesque and brutal elements of the comic, as is appropriate given that's Conan the Barbarian. His werewolves are appropriately scary, but not even he can make Nightmare more than a goofy guy in a green leotard. Also, I'm terrified of spiders, and his giant hellfire arachnid is terrifying.
I didn't stick around for more Savage Avengers after this issue but I can see why the series had its fans. Perfectly solid comic book work here.
No comments:
Post a Comment