All-New Ghost Rider #3 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Val Staples (colors)

The Story: Jacking someone’s car is always a bad idea, especially if it belongs to a vengeful spirit.

The Review: In my line of work—or this hobby so all-consuming that it might as well be work—I’ve run into people who tell me that they’ve outgrown mainstream superhero titles, calling them too juvenile and ridiculous to be taken seriously. It’s true that a lot of mainstream books are incredibly juvenile and ridiculous, but God forgive me, I like a lot of them nonetheless. As someone whose other work—actual, paying work—can be pretty grim on a daily basis, pure, simple escapism can be a very comforting thing.

But there are some titles which make me think, Man, I’m too old for this—stuff. This All-New Ghost Rider seems to be one of those, landing in that awkward position where its subject matter is a bit too sordid for younger readers (with all its senseless violence, pill-popping, and intended rape), but too simplistically presented for grown-ups. We’re already on issue three and you still don’t feel like there’s much substance at work, either from Robbie and his many antagonists.

All-New Ghost Rider #2 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Val Staples (colors)

The Story: Potential side-effects include: dizziness, shortness of breath, destruction of all you hold dear.

The Review: This just confirms how little I know about Ghost Rider, but it didn’t occur to me until just now that radical as the changes Smith made to the character’s age, race, and background are, equally as radical is the change to his ride. Giving Robbie Reyes a car instead of a cycle flies into the face of decades of continuity, which is comic book speak for tradition, so why do it? If nothing else, a car seems like it’d slow a person down and impede his movement—more so than a cycle, anyway.

At the same time, the bigger size and heft of a car makes it more of a threat by itself, which is not such a bad trade-off for the loss in speed and agility. Johnny Blaze or Danny Ketch barreling towards you on their cycles might not seem so threatening at first if you happen to be in a bigger vehicle, but even soldiers in armed cars have reason to fear the sight of a sleek, black racer heading straight their way. And the way Robbie maneuvers his around, flipping, jumping, rocketing in impossible directions at crazy angles, you certainly don’t notice any loss in speed and agility.

All-New Ghost Rider #1 – Review

By: Felipe Smith (story), Tradd Moore (art), Nelson Daniel & Val Staples (colors)

The Story: A drag race brings Robbie down in hellish flames.

The Review: I felt rather daring picking up this title, considering how I know nothing about Ghost Rider—quite literally nothing. Beyond seeing his image in various places, I don’t even have a passing familiarity with him. I’ve never read any of his comics, never seen him guested in anyone else’s, never saw the movie, never even looked him up on Wikipedia. Fortunately, the “All-New” part of the title absolves me from any of that, letting me take the series on its own merit.