J-Max was challenged to review 30 issues of Ghost Rider in (roughly) 30 days. Should J-Max succeed he shall earn his freedom (probably not). However should he fail in this task then he shall be subjected to an attack by Bees...DEADLY BEES.
So let's join him for his review of Ghost Rider #15
Last Hope
Credits: Howard Mackie (writer), Mark Texeira (artist/inker), Gregory
Wright (colourist).
Overview: Ghostrider sets out to end Blackout's killing spree.
In an act
of reckless bravery, Dan attempts to tackle Blackout head on to prevent further
loss of life. Obviously he is quickly overpowered but the bike soon comes to
his aid, and then GLORY. We have a full splash page of Ghost Ride demanding vengeance
for innocent blood. Before the audience gets exactly what it wants, H.E.A.R.T. show up in a helicopter attracted to the flash of
the metamorphosis. And Johnny Blaze blows another depressing shot through GhostRider's abdomen. Thankfully, Ghost Rider is having none of this
escalation shit and is determined to give the audience exactly what they want.
He picks up Johnny Blaze, scolds him for interfering and throws him out the way
before continuing his pursuit.
Before he can kill him, The Rider is stopped by Johnny who states Zarathos was a killer. This deamon, who we still are unsure of, claims that is not his style and abandons the park while the police move in to arrest the killer.
Overview: Ghostrider sets out to end Blackout's killing spree.
Review: Dan is not having a good day. Moments into this issue he is shot at by police, knocked off his bike, and
morphs back into human form only to be slashed at and beaten by a street gang.
It seems that every time he tries to get something done he is hit with a delay.
Ghost Rider can't be killed, but he can be. Now his powers are acting up and
abandoning him at the worst possible times. Then, while he is trying to conserve
his strength, H.E.A.R.T. make another one of their grand appearances. I almost
couldn't believe my eyes at how much crap was being thrown at him in less than
three pages.
Once
again, they airlift Dan’s bike away and leave him alone having been ordered
by Deathwatch to clear Central Park of all motorcycles when whatever sensors they
had tracking the bike lead them to that area. Now, he has to track Blackout on
foot and as a human. Everything H.E.A.R.T. has done in this series has lead me
to be annoyed by them more and more. They are not interesting villains, nor well
defined ones and all they have served to do since issue eight is act as a stalling
device. Their politics? I just don't understand. But they seem to be the glory party
for vain, deluded far right feminists. On violently taking out a street gang
Luz laments how the crack heads are too "whacked" out to appreciate how awesome
their ass kicking is and sneers how they will probably be given a parade for removing
these parasites - undeserving of civil liberties - from the streets of the
working people. I was almost shocked to not see an Ayn Rand quote float to the
surface.
It turns
out Mackie has opted for the decision to make H.E.A.R.T. retarded as even Death
Watch believes they are evil at this point when he casually informs their
leader that one of his men was responsible for the Central Park murders, and to
avoid taking on that case. Suddenly the human dynamo in charge of this class
operation realises THEY ARE THE BAD GUYS and want out of Deathwatch's scheme. Ghost Rider's bike then takes its chance to leave and drives from the storage facility into the night as if to further cement the idea that their entire
organization couldn't even outsmart an inanimate object.
Then
H.E.A.R.T. appear and shoot Ghost Rider with some hi tech lazer of piss me off.
With so few pages to go before the end of the issue, it looks like we’ll be
getting another cop out. But no, he smashes the lazer jumps up and continues
the pursuit. Go, Rider, Go!
Finally
after running the parkour gauntlet, Ghost Rider comes face to ugly face with his
nemesis and a hostage situation. Ghost Rider is learning from previous issues. At the beginning of this comic he wouldn’t have batted a skull socket to fry
Blackout here - even with a child in the way. Now, he remembers the words of the
dying Morlock about the price of satisfying vengeance against the weight of
innocent lives. It seems her Spock like dying quote has rubbed off on the brash
and aggressive Kirk like rider.
Blackout’s
revenge extends to Ghost Rider and Dan. He wants not only to make Dan suffer
but trap the daemon without a body so that he can replace it as a predator of
the night making a mockery of its quest by slaughtering the innocent for
revenge against the carnage inflicted upon his face. H.E.A.R.T. - being
as brash as usual - take the shot and injure Blackout. This gives Ghost Rider the
chance to grapple the killer and save the child. Blaze is unclear whether using
his new and improved hellfire shotgun would continue to send souls to Mephisto
as his powers previously did. Reluctantly, he takes the shot which scorches the
other side of Blackouts face. Nasty!! Not missing a chance, Ghost Rider beats
Blackout out of consciousness. Before he can kill him, The Rider is stopped by Johnny who states Zarathos was a killer. This deamon, who we still are unsure of, claims that is not his style and abandons the park while the police move in to arrest the killer.
This
issue was fun and exciting whilst managing to poke fun at its own flaws and successfully
build up tension and playing to the readers desire to see Blackout beaten. It
almost singlehandedly proves Ghost Rider doesn't need a solid plot to be
successful just an investment in its characters, be it Blackout as a sadistic villain of Dan as a reluctant hero, to keep the action moving forward. I only hope the other
characters are developed more in the future. If only to
prevent another H.E.A.R.T.
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