Ghost Rider 0.1

Another 0.1! Why do we need a jumping-on point before the first issue? How is a first issue not a perfect jumping-on point? I’m mystified by this, but let’s treat it as a starting point, and see if it does the job.

Actually it does kind of read like a prequel to a series, or perhaps the last of an old series, in that it introduces Johnny Blaze as the Ghost Rider and gives him an inconsequential fight scene, but it then brings in some mysterious character who acts like John Constantine but looks more like a cowboy Lobo to offer Johnny a way out, a way to pass the curse on to someone else. The pointlessness of the fight scene and the simplemindedness of the method of losing the curse (he has to ride fast, which he routinely does anyway) make this look like another job hacked out by someone told to produce a .1 issue, but with nothing substantial to put in it. I presume the actual #1 will start with this new person (probably that mysterious new character?) getting the curse and follow them, clearly into a Fear Itself tie-in.

The scripting isn’t so bad – in particular he gives Blaze a distinctive voice (reminded me a bit of Stone Cold Steve Austin in its tone and attitude, though without any of his flair for memorably rousing lines). The art is okay too, with a nice flair for flames, which is vital here. It’s a bit stiff on expression, and I didn’t really grasp the thinking in the opening fight scene, which manages to avoid giving us any kind of good look at the flame demon he’s fighting. Still, it often looks quite pretty and mostly flows well enough.

I’m not sure how this will help hook readers, since as far as I can tell we now don’t know who the Ghost Rider is or what his personality, attitude or agenda will be – yes, some involvement in the big current crossover, but that is just the norm for most Marvel titles, so it’s hardly a unique selling point. If this comic didn’t exist, I’d have sampled the first issue, which would surely introduce me to the new Ghost Rider, which seems an enormously better jumping-on point than a farewell to the old one. Also, I’m a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan, and Meth will be thoroughly pissed off if his use of the Johnny Blaze name no longer ties in to the character, so I’m against it for that reason too.