‘Ghost Rider #1’ Review
Written by Benjamin Percy | Art by Cory Smith | Published by Marvel Comics
You know how you have good friends sometimes, and you just fall out of touch over time, through no fault of your own. That’s my relationship with Johnny Blaze. I loved Ghost Rider back in the 1980s, and have most of the issues from his first series, as well as a whole load of issues he guest-starred in. He was up there with my top characters. Over time, though, he faded from view a bit, and when Marvel relaunched him in the 90’s I never really liked his book as much. I was clearly in a minority, of course, as the book sold like hotcakes, and saw a whole load of related titles, and the rise of another Ghost Rider in Danny Ketch, then Robbie Reyes. Since then, I’ve seen a little of Johnny Blaze here and there, but nothing to get too excited about. Until now.
We start with Johnny Blaze unburdening himself to an analyst, something that seems to have been a regular thing. He can’t sleep, keeps having nightmares, doesn’t trust himself around others. To compensate, he’s taken to huge whiskey consumption. Yep, our Johnny is something of a mess. Which is strange, as he has a near-perfect life. He’s married to Roxanne, his childhood sweetheart, has two young children (one of each), and lives in the all-American town of Hayden’s Falls. Johnny doesn’t seem to remember much of his previous life, or even the fact he was Ghost Rider. Seems he had a bad crash several months before, that left him seriously injured and more than a bit confused. If that’s what did happen…
Johnny’s clearly not the most popular guy in town, which is either due to his recent behaviour, or due to the fact the town isn’t quite as wholesome as it seems. Hard to tell at this point, which is great writing from Percy, leaving the reader with a real sense of mystery. Also a real sense of horror, if that eye looking out from Johnny’s scar on the side of his head is anything to go by. As we mull over that, we drop in on the FBI, and a reminder of the fall of SHIELD. One former SHIELD agent, Talia Warroad, is working on the FBI’s paranormal task force, and wants to go on the road monster hunting, as recent times have seen an uptick in supernatural activity countrywide. I see where this plot thread is going.
Stage right, enter our newest actor. Someone who’s come to both remind us there’s no such thing as perfect, and, Stephen King like, bad things lurk just under the surface. Johnny starts to struggle again, the line between supposed reality and horrible fantasy starting to fracture. The new visitor is Zeb, sent by a group of night magicians to ‘free’ Johnny Blaze. This town , as we all suspected I’m guessing, isn’t perfect. It’s a prison, designed to keep Johnny trapped Matrix-like in his dream life. Zeb’s come to reawaken the Spirit of Vengeance. He succeeds. Johnny welcomes back the Ghost Rider spirit, and swaps a prison he didn’t embrace with one that he does. Ghost Rider’s back and he’s not exactly happy. He wants to know who trapped him in this town, and to show them that he might be the worst monster of them all.
Not sure if this qualifies as a total reboot, but it sure felt like one. Swapping the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider swanning around with The Avengers for a tortured Johnny Blaze trapped in a Matrix style prison with demons masquerading as friends and family just felt right. Benjamin Percy pitched this perfectly, some action, some mystery, and a whole load of anticipation. Cory Smith’s art was also fantastic, complementing the script perfectly. Some good pacing in the layouts allowed for some nice big panels, letting Smith cut loose and give us some money shot panels. He mixed the mundane and the hellish very well too. Shout out to the cover artists as well, the main cover and all the variants were great looking to a tee.
A solid return for a character who should get more love than he currently does. This may change that…. Johnny Blaze, the original and still the best.
