Ghost Rider #1 // Review
Despite the fact that one Ghost Rider--Robbie Reyes--is starring in the current roster of the Avengers, Marvel has just reintroduced two others. Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch are both back, making an explosive reentrance in Ghost Rider #1.
This issue is all about reestablishing these characters and their new status quo. Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider, is now the King of Hell. Blaze returns to the mortal world to track down a bunch of escaped demons and tries to recruit Danny Ketch to help. Ketch is down on his luck, owning a bar in Brooklyn that isn’t doing so well financially while he picks fights and drowns his sorrows. After one adventure with Blaze, Ketch refuses to join him in his quest to round up the demons, but soon gets unsettling news that means he’ll be becoming Ghost Rider again anyway.
Writer Ed Brisson ably establishes the status quo and introducing these characters to a new audience. Blaze, Ketch, Ketch’s supporting cast, and Blaze’s new adversary in Hell are all introduced quickly and efficiently. The issue’s stakes are laid out clearly enough, but it all seems relatively paint-by-numbers.
What certainly isn’t paint-by-numbers is the art, by Aaron Kuder (with coloring by Jason Keith and Lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna). Kuder’s depiction of Hell and some of its residents are thrilling and imaginative. His Johnny Blaze is all swagger and confidence, and his Danny Ketch is appropriately hangdog and beaten down. When each of the titular Riders flames up and don the chains, Kuder’s splash pages are appropriately epic.
Ghost Rider #1 is a compelling first issue, showing a great deal of promise. If it manages to shake some of the road dust off its wheels, this could be a hell of a good title.
