Cover Date: October 2023; On Sale Date: October 2023
Writer: Taboo & B. Earl; Artist: Guillermo Sanna; Letterer: Joe Sabino; Colorist: Jordie Bellaire; Editor: Sarah Brunstad; Editor in Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Guillermo Sanna
In the future, Kushala – the Spirit Rider – is chased through outer space by a spaceship piloted by Dr. Doom. They enter Earth’s atmosphere and Doom’s ship crashes into the flooded remains of Los Angeles while Kushala rides her flaming horse above the water.
In the present day Los Angeles, on the Tongva Ancestral Land, the descendent of Kushala named Olivia Obtera arrives on a motorcycle at an observatory to meet her Uncle Bunk, who has found the missing journals of an explorer/scientists named Jeffery McKracken, who was also Olivia’s distant cousin. The research was connected to “The Pluto Project”, which was believed to connect the moon Charon to another dimension. Olivia, a paranormal journalist, goes to her office to meet with her coworker Liam to decode the journals. Olivia leaves to be with her daughter and Liam is visited by a Doombot, revealing him to be an agent of Dr. Doom. The Doombot opens a rift that transports Liam to the throne of Dr. Doom, who has gathered all but one of the mystical Wands of Watoomb.
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| Doom takes Hollywood! |
THE ROADMAP
Kushala last appeared in Spirits of Vengeance: Spirit Rider (2021) # 1 where she returned to her original time period of the late 1800s.
It was revealed in Spirits of Vengeance: Spirit Rider (2021) # 1 that the Spirit of Vengeance possessing Kushala was an other dimensional entity called Leviathan.
CHAIN REACTION
Kushala, the Native American “Spirit Rider”, gets her own limited series as part of Marvel’s Infinity Comics line of digital titles.
Taboo and B. Earl were the writers on the Spirits of Vengeance: Spirit Rider one-shot that focused on Kushala, and like in that comic this one takes a lot of narrative leaps and passes by quickly, which can leave readers scratching their heads. It helps that the narration for this comic is grounded by Olivia Obtera as the passive observer, detailing future events but also giving the story enough personality to sell some of the jargon and wild exposition that’s being thrown around.
I’m really not sure what to make of this, to be honest, kind of like how I feel about Kushala as a character. I appreciate that the creators have taken the character under their wing to bring a real sense of legacy and mythos to her, but at the same time she feels like an object of interest instead of a person in her own right. Olivia is far more interesting already, and I’m intrigued by the plot enough to wonder where things are going. I mean, it has Dr. Doom as the bad guy, that’s a pretty great hook in and of itself for a Ghost Rider story.
The real feature of the comic is the artwork and the way it's presented as a vertical scrolling elevator of storytelling. It leads to lots of space being used for trailing flames and desert scenery, but it’s interesting and a novel way to tell comic stories in a digital format. I like Sanna’s character work and the images of the submerged Los Angeles are done well.
I’m not sure where this series is going, but I’m on board for the moment. Let’s see what happens when Kushala actually makes an appearance outside of flashbacks.
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| True story, swear to God |
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