PGHHEAD’S 2023 COMICS ODYSSEY, PART 37
This marks the third consecutive year that I will attempt to document my comics reading by writing at least a mini-review. The goal is 1200 books read and reviewed in 2023, although I missed the mark in 2022 by 88 books. Still, I like that number as it’s easy enough to track - - - 100 books per month on average. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR November 10, 2023. . . 1,033 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 811 comics documented
#801-#803 GHOST RIDER #13-#15 / Legacy #256-#258 by Benjamin Percy and Cory Smith (Marvel Worldwide Inc, June-August 2023)
Synopsis: Johnny and Talia arrived in Savannah, Georgia where a mysterious surge of demonic energy had taken over the city. They soon discovered the carnage was brought on by another Ghost Rider - - Johnny’s brother, Danny Ketch. Danny has made a deal with a government-backed group called Infernal Labs. Their lead scientist, Dr. Diyu hopes to weaponize Danny’s Spirit of Corruption. In return, she promises to set Danny free from his curse, not realizing his life may be at risk. Johnny and Talia rush to find Danny before it’s too late. Dr. Diyu wants to use Danny’s Spirit to travel to Hell and rescue her younger brother’s soul. With Johnny and Talia hot on her tail, Dr. Diyu is out of time. Heedless of Danny’s safety, she severed him from the Spirit and shackles it to a new host, her own personal war mech.
My thoughts: This is the longest story arc so far for this title, which has been very episodic each issue while still moving the story forward and adding new threads. It’s also the strongest story so far, and very well done.
However, some readers are going to be disappointed. The covers and next issue promo blurbs indicate a showdown between two Ghost Riders. It never happens, and that makes the story even better than just another mistaken battle between two good guys.
Danny’s carnage as Ghost Rider is told in flashback sequences, and by the time Johnny and Talia find out his location, the Spirit has already been ripped out of him and is being used by Dr. Diyu. So Johnny has to go to Hell and back in order to save his brother’s life. FOUR STARS.
#804 GHOST RIDER #16 / Legacy #259 by Benjamin Percy and Chris Campana (Marvel Worldwide Inc, September 2023) I miss Cory Smith’s fantastic art in this one-shot/standalone story issue, but Chris Campana does a neat fill-in job. All three Ghost Riders are featured here . . . Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and Robbie Reyes in alternating panels. All three of them encounter a fourth spirit of the night, a hooded hitchhiker who they feel they will all meet again. The experience causes all three to reflect on their mission and their role.
The end scene foreshadows what’s coming up - - a crossover with Wolverine and an overlap into the X-universe. (I really wanted this title to trend more toward the horror genre, guess that’s coming to an end). Father Pike, an agent of Orchis visits the FBI looking for sponsorship for a new Weapons Plus program: Project Hellfire. Sigh.
P.S.Some of the best cover art so far. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#805 GHOST RIDER #17 / Legacy #260 by Benjamin Percy and Geoff Shaw (Marvel Worldwide Inc, October 2023) “Weapons of Vengeance, Part 2: Demonology” Just what I feared - - - a crossover tale. Percy pulls a story thread from the GR archives and weaves it into the new saga. During a previous Wolverine/Ghost Rider team-up, they released a demon from a young boy named Bram with mysterious powers that brought him to the attention of the X-Men. In present times, after the Orchis Corp has banished most of the mutants from Earth, they find evidence that Bram has resurfaced with deadly consequences.
Most of the issue is taken up with Wolverine and Ghost Rider investigating the trail and arriving too late at a mutant massacre on a campground and then to NYC to an orphanage run by a domineering slumlord where Bram was last reported. Oops, too late again. Apparently an FBI agent picked up Bram and took him to the Weapon Plus Hellfire Program in Hell’s Backbone, Utah. Color me uninterested. No way am I picking up Wolverine #36 for the next chapter, or Ghost Rider/Wolverine Weapons of Vengeance Omega #1 for the finale. Ugh. Not my cup of tea.
TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#806 GHOST RIDER #19 / Legacy #262 by Benjamin Percy with Cory Smith & Brent Peeples back on art (Marvel Worldwide Inc, December 2023)
Now that the crossover is ended, I decided to check back in and find out if this title has returned to leaning more towards horror like Percy began with. Nice to see Smith back on art; but the addition of Peeples seems to have simplified the look a bit. Not objectionable, though.
There are flashback scenes that reveal Talia was a troubled teen dabbling with the occult. She fell under the sway of the Cult of Mephisto and their leader, Stefan Skarr. It required the intervention of Doctor Strange to try and save her.
Now, the mistakes of her past are catching up. The Cult of Mephisto has resurfaced and corrupted the youth of a remote and depressed coal-mining town. Talia and Ghost Rider help the teens realize their errors and chase the Mephisto presence out. Finding the Cult leader and rooting out his evil is the beginning of this new story arc. I’m just not feeling this anymore. That’s the trouble with continuing series. I begin to lose interest. THREE STARS.
#807 THANOS #1 by Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari (Marvel Worldwide Inc, January 2024) Roberta Marshall has a mundane life, working as a janitor/stockroom help in a Fresno, CA drugstore and spending her off-time watching mundane reality tv (The Bachelor) and getting sucked into the sappy stories the potential grooms tell.
One day while working the cash register she recognizes a customer who recognizes her as something more. Before they can converse further, a massive earthquake-like disturbance from space rocks the pharmacy.
In the middle of the chaotic damage the overhead public address announcement directs her to the front of the store where she meets Iron Man, Emma Frost, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange and the Blue Marvel. They warn her “there’s a very bad individual who is very interested in you. . . . It’s complicated.”
This is all foreshadowed by infrequent panels depicting a giant spaceship and occasional images of Thanos apparently pondering what he will do next. Of course, the ray that hits the drugstore comes from the ship just before Thanos seems to enter Earth space on the very last page.
This was an interesting but extremely slow build-up to the main conflict which will apparently be between Roberta and Thanos and all the superheroes who will try to protect her (the Hulk in Issue #2). Cantwell seems to be trying something different to create interest and suspense and contrasting everyday life with cosmic-implicating incidents. Add a little misplaced Bendis-like humor and it required 25 pages and $4.99 of my money to get to this point. I am not pleased, and shall not return. TWO STARS.
#808 - #809 GHOST RIDER ANNUAL #1 by Benjamin Percy and Danny Kim (Marvel Worldwide Inc, December 2023) The text portion of the credit page states “The pair (Johnny Blaze & Talia Warroad) have become a force to be reckoned with in the supernatural underbelly of the country. But mortal minds can build schemes as fiendish as the darkest powers of Hell.”
Yeah, that first sentence is the direction I prefer to see this title go, with less superhero guest appearances. And, the second sentence is prelude to this stand-alone story as a secondary Marvel bad guy, The Hood, obtains an occult book and unleashes all the Halloween demons and monsters upon the Earth.
It’s a fun, action-packed story with the addition of monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone to help win the day for the good guys. The artwork from Danny Kim is pretty sweet.
However, I’m getting tired of this title in spite of how much attention I’ve been giving it . . . and don’t think I will continue. Not that this isn’t deserving - - there’s just an abundance of high quality comics work out there right now. I don’t have the time or money to read it all. So, if a title wants my support it needs to elevate its’ game. THREE STARS.
#810 G.O.D.S. #2 by Jonathan Hickman and Valerie Schiti (Marvel Worldwide Inc, January 2024) I was intrigued enough by the fabulous Schiti art and fantastic world-building by Hickman in the extended page-count (and price) of Issue #1 to compel me to buy Issue #2 to decide if this is something I want to follow. I suspected that Hickman was creating a new cosmology within the Marvel Universe, a world as expansive as Gaiman’s Sandman Universe, and it sure looks that way.
If you are fan of fantasy and science-fiction series that go to great lengths to establish their settings/characters/perspective, like Lord of the Rings and Dune, then you should check out G.O.D.S. This is elaborate and complex and I almost feel unqualified to try and explain it succinctly in a quick review when it probably requires writing a term paper.
In Issue #1 we learned of The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-Of-Things, two forces that shape the world and include avatars and apprentices that work on Earth. Main characters Wyn and Aiko were former lovers, two sides (magic and science) of a doomed relationship and conflict that was put aside when a “babylon event” threatened everything. They had to team up to defeat the Cubisk Core (a proto-mage serving an elder god) and partnered with other scientists and magicians, including Dr. Strange.
In Issue #2 Wyn (the Powers That Be) and Dr. Strange persuade the captured Cubisk Core to learn of his origins and who is controlling him. Aiko (the Natural Order of Things) is busy recruiting a new candidate, a female college student who shows great promise. This also gives Hickman an outlet to explain more of the ways of his world of science and magic.
There is so much more in this follow-up issue, enough to persuade me to subscribe to the series so I can stock-pile the issues and then read them as one piece. Because there’s enough going on that it’s going to be very hard to remember and keep all the details straight from month to month.
Issue #2 has plenty of engaging art and landscapes, thanks to the talents of Schiti. That’s no small task, since most of this issue is very expository in nature. FOUR STARS.
#811 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #37 by Zeb Wells and Ed McGuinness (Marvel Worldwide Inc, January 2024) I have been picking up the variant cover (Disney 100 years) editions of this title as a favor to a long-distance comics friend, which prompts me to read them before mailing. Otherwise I would not be following this title, and as it stands the variant covers skip every other issue. I continue to be underwhelmed by whatever Zeb Wells is trying to do here. My eight-year old self would love new Spidey character Rek-Rap (Parker backwards, like a juvenile Bizarro version) and dawdle over the great Ed McGuinness having to make his style super-cartoonish for Rek-Rap scenes. But, me am disgusted.
SYNOPSIS: “The demonic dimension of Limbo was granted an embassy in New York, allowing its denizens to roam the city streets. This includes Spidey’s biggest admirer and self-declared protege, Rek-Rap, and his nemeses the Insidious Six.
But when Rek-Rap and his ilk start causing problems for New York City, the Repossessor is sent to take them back to their dimension.”
The standard cover to this issue has a flashy box proclaiming “Gang War” story in here, but it’s just a two-page interlude that is nothing more than a tease for this so-called mega-event. Sad. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN used to be the flagship Marvel title. TWO STARS.
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