This ain’t Nic Cage’s Ghost Rider baby, “All-New Ghost Rider” is an exhilirating, face liquidizing ride that’s sure to vitalize Marvel’s Flamen Rider (Like Kamen? Get it?!) for a whole new era. See why it’s Multiversity’s Pick of the Week in our spoiler-free review below.
Written by Felipe Smith
Illustrated by Tradd Moore“ENGINES OF VENGEANCE” PART 1
A street race leads a young man on the FAST and FURIOUS road of destiny. Amid an East Los Angeles neighborhood running wild with gang violence and drug trafficking, a war brews in the criminal underworld! With four on the floor, Marvel’s newest GHOST RIDER puts vengeance in overdrive!!!
Ghost Rider feels like a character everyone should be able to get into. People who ride motorcycles? Yeah! People whose skulls are on fire? Hell yeah! People who ride motorcycles while their skulls are on fire and instill the fear of vengeance into the hearts and souls of the damned? That should be a daily part of my life. Instead, due to either Nicolas Cage or just general disinterest, Ghost Rider’s lived in this odd corner of the Marvel Universe where not many people pay much attention to him anymore (even during great runs like Jason Aaron’s.) Ghost Rider, more than most characters, needed an electric pulse to the chest to survive and by shedding much of the character’s 90’s baggage, Felipe Smith and Tradd Moore accomplish just that with “All-New Ghost Rider.”
One of the ways Smith and Moore saved Ghost Rider is by scavenging the previous Riders’ software while discarding the hardware. The All-New Ghost Rider is Robbie Reyes, a teenager in LA who has to take care of his little brother while dealing with his salary-skimping boss, gang violence and the prospects of finding a better place for his brother to live. He’s the type of character that seems ready made to follow the recent tradition of Fan-Favorite Young Marvel Characters. That said, it does take a while to reach that point.
Felipe Smith does an excellent job of crafting a setting for Reyes, writing a vision of Los Angeles that hasn’t been explored too often in previous Marvel stories. However, I can’t help but feel like there might be something missing in these opening scenes. The kind-of slow pace is a little off-putting when placed immediately after the richly vibrant cover (which is without a doubt my favorite cover from this week) and the brilliantly designed title page and opening credits designed by Manny Mederos. That’s not to say the slow pace is unbearable. It’s necessary to set up some story beats and does delve into some great moments like the dinner scene between Robbie and his brother, but Tradd Moore’s art is like a motorcycle. When it’s going fast it’s on; but when the speed’s slower there’s a greater chance of the art falling to the side. Moore’s figures will from time to time appear almost alien to the point that it becomes distracting. “All-New Ghost Rider’s” LA is still incredibly vibrant, especially as Moore’s characters begin to focus in more as the story goes on while Nelson Daniel and Val Staples bring the entire package to a polished sheen that, alien postures aside, makes this one of Marvel’s most aesthetically accomplished books.
Then the sun sets, Reyes climbs into his car, and it’s like the creative team just comes together to switch the ignition on. That’s when it becomes Marvel’s most aesthetically accomplished book. Period.
Rolling up to a crowd brilliantly lit by dim street lamps, the LA-smog choked night sky and the headlights of parked cars, Reyes brings his A-game to LA’s underground drag-racing scene at the same moment the creative team brings theirs. I remember a while ago there was this rule in comics that “Hawkguy” was lauded for breaking where car chases/races don’t really work because it’s so hard to convey the sense of motion and speed. Tradd Moore takes that rule’s mother out to a very nice dinner and then never calls her back. Energy crackling from the headlights, the outside world sloshed into a series of brightly glowing lines and an excellent use of layout demonstrating the short amount of time it takes Reyes to go from 0-90, this race scene is, in all seriousness, the boldest thing Marvel’s put out lately. Cutting back and forth between the mundane streets that getting torn up and the other-level world that you can only see when you’re driving fast enough to launch yourself through the windshield, the race scene in “All-New Ghost Rider” offers consequence and energy in a way that other comics just… don’t. All of the dialogue in this issue could be replaced with the script from Bee Movie and it would still be worth getting for these scenes alone. And when it all comes to a very violent head? We’re given the origin of someone who will likely be one of Marvel’s deadliest and boldest characters.
Continued belowEven better? There’s no dialogue for this origin scene. There doesn’t need to be; you get all the messages straight from Moore’s faces and the hellacious flames surrounding our titular character. From that moment on you know this isn’t just a pretty book. It’s not even a simply well-written book. “All-New Ghost Rider” is an exhilarating journey of fast cars, sacrifice, and a burning sense of vengeance. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly slow start; it’s the traction to ground yourself to the floor so you’re not completely blown apart by the second half of this comic. Even though there’s a couple hiccups in the art from time to time, they’re ultimately rendered insignificant by the rest of the comic. Tradd Moore is redefining what action scenes in comics mean, and with Smith’s heartfelt script and Nelson Daniel and Val Staples’ colors, “All-New Ghost Rider” has become the must-read book of All-New Marvel NOW!
Get in.
Final Verdict: 8.6 – Buy!
