Cover Date: December 2024; Publication Date: October 2024
Letterer: VC's Ariana Maher; Editors: Lauren Amaro & Sarah Brunstad; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos
"Ofrenda"
Writer: Carlos Hernandez; Artist: Moises Hidalgo; Colorist: Jorge Cortes
Captain America and Captain Marvel respond to a police call for help at the Reyes residence in Los Angeles, only to find that they've been tricked into coming by Gabe Reyes and his girlfriend Charlene. Gabe has built an "ofrenda", a type of memorial shrine, for his brother Robbie, who disappeared on a mission with the Avengers and is believed to be dead. Gabe refuses to give up hope that his brother is still alive and places some of his Ninja Wolf toys on the ofrenda. Meanwhile, at the God Quarry where he is imprisoned, Robbie is about to give up hope on fixing the Hell Charger and escaping back to Earth. Suddenly the car roars briefly to life and Robbie finds one of the Ninja Wolf figures sitting in the passenger side seat. Robbie thanks his brother for once again giving him the hope and strength to keep going, and he resumes working on the car. Back on Earth, Gabe asks Captain America and Captain Marvel if one of them stole his figure from the ofrenda.
"Of Wolves and Sheep"
Writer: Felipe Smith; Artist: Daniel Bayliss; Colorist: Luis Wences
While chasing a demonic car through Los Angeles, Robbie thinks about how he has not been able to spend as much time with his brother since joining the Avengers and is determined to not be late for dinner. The demonic car transforms into a being and transports them to another dimension and quickly gets the upper hand, sensing Robbie's fear but being confused by that fear stemming from his feelings for Gabe and not his own well-being. While thinking about his brother Robbie is able to destroy the demon and does indeed make it home in time for dinner, where Gabe tells him that he's the coolest hero.
"A Fantasmic Roller Derby Adventure"
Writer: Melissa Flores; Artist: Jan Bazaldua; Colorist: Luis Zavala
While attending a roller derby match with Gabe and Charlene, Robbie transforms into Ghost Rider to fight a pack of hellhounds that have emerged from a portal above the event. Inside the derby rink, Gabe is rescued from a hellhound by Fantasma, a skeletal girl with blue-flamed roller skates. Ghost Rider and Fantasma work together to round up the hellhounds, and Fantasma follows them through the poral, closing it behind her. Afterward, Robbie packs Gabe and Charlene into his car while they gush about the "new girl Ghost Rider". In the roller derby's locker room, Fantasma falls through a portal in her human form and realizes it was her own panic attack that opened the portal for the hellhounds.
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| Tears of a street racer |
THE ROADMAP
This issue also featured an introduction by Denise M. Sandoval, PhD and an interview with Robbie Reyes' creator, Felipe Smith.
Robbie Reyes last appeared in Avengers Assemble Omega (2023) # 1, where he seemingly sacrificed his life to save the universe. Unknown to his former Avengers teammates and the world, he remains trapped inside the God Quarry at the end of time. Robbie was last seen in Marvel's Voices: The Avengers (2024) # 1 and he makes his next appearance in Spirits of Vengeance (2024) # 5.
Gabriel Reyes made his first appearance alongside Robbie in All-New Ghost Rider (2014) # 1. His girlfriend, Charlene Ocampo, made her first appearance in Mighty Marvel Holiday Special: Ghost Ridin' to Love # 1.
Fantasma will appear next in Spirits of Vengeance (2024) # 5 and will also be a featured character in the short-lived New Champions series.
It's strongly implied at the end of the story that Fantasma is the sister of Rhonda Reubens, also known as Pyston Nitro, who first appeared in Ghost Rider (2016) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
Robbie Reyes gets a special Marvel Voices one-shot that's a mixed bag of stories. It also introduces one of the most inexplicably aggravating new characters to come along in quite a while...
The Marvel Voices specials are almost always disposable, essentially just anthology titles that spotlight minority creators and characters. That's cool, nothing wrong with giving exposure to creators who are trying to break into the field, and Robbie Reyes is one of the higher-profile Latino characters, so it all makes sense. I was pleasantly surprised by this comic, even though nothing was really special about any of the stories. It doesn't help that Robbie is effectively in exile as a character at this point after Jason Aaron's Avengers run, so the creators are effectively either doing flashbacks or retrospectives about him.
The first story, "Ofrenda", is the only one of the three to tackle the character's current status quo, focusing on how Gabe and his girlfriend Charlene are getting along while Robbie is stuck in another dimension and believed to be dead. It's certainly nice that some of the Avengers that knew Robbie regularly check in on his little brother, but is he just living in their old house by himself? Isn't he a physically and mentally disabled kid? Good on him, I guess, for maintaining his housing. This is a pretty inoffensive story, but it doesn't do much other than say how great a big brother Robbie is, which has always been one of the character's defining traits. The artwork is solid, though it's squarely in the Marvel house style. All told, perfectly okay.
Up next was Felipe Smith's return to the character, and it's really more of an art showcase for Daniel Bayliss than anything else. As much as I like Bayliss on this story, he does a great job, I wish they could have got Tradd Moore to come back, or even if Smith had drawn it himself. It's a totally inconsequential story that again is all about the brotherly relationship, but Smith naturally has the better handle on that material as he's the one that created the characters. I love how Ninja Wolf has become such an established part of the backstory, that cracks me up. I liked this story, I liked the visuals, and it's easily the best of the three.
That brings us to the final story, which introduces (sigh) Fantasma. The story is fine, the artwork is fine, there's nothing technically "bad" about it. I just have an immediate dislike for Fantasma, for reasons that are both about the character and absolutely beyond the control of the creators. I'm sick to death of constant Ghost Rider variations being churned out by Marvel every couple of years. Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch? Hell yeah. Robbie Reyes? Yeah, I'm down. Cosmic Ghost Rider? You're starting to push your luck. Fantasma and Hellverine? Get out of here Marvel, you're drunk again. Did we learn nothing from Ghost Panther? Fantasma is a teenage girl, with pigtails on her skull helmet, rolling around on flaming skates. I could see it as maybe a joke character intended to point out Marvel's tendency to dilute their brands, but I can't take the character seriously. Maybe my distaste for Fantasma is unwarranted, maybe she can turn out to be a good character, but that's not the point...she's not just stupid, she's unnecessary. The fact the character appears next in New Champions, a whole team of teenage copycat characters, is not just funny, it's sad.
So, yeah, this was pretty decent one-shot, with two decent-to-good stories and one infuriating character introduction. I don't know if I'd say it's worth the price of the comic, but it does make me want to see Robbie return to regular circulation soon.
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| Brain surgery: Ghost Rider style |
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