REVIEW: Ghost Rider #1
One of the most iconic Marvel characters is back in this gruesome new series, as we review the highly-anticipated return of Ghost Rider #1.
The creative team of Benajmin Percy, Corey Smith, and Joe Bennett have resurrected one of the most beloved anti-heroes of Marvel lore as the newest Ghost Rider series brings audiences back to the story of Johnny Blaze.
Source: Marvel
It is a series that truly embraces the chaos, as the new run starts with Blaze in therapy following a horrible motorcycle accident that has left a massive scar on his head.
What quickly begins to unravel throughout the issue is that nothing is as it seems, with Blaze suffering from terrifying hallucinations and nightmare’s that make this new Ghost Rider series feel like a true horror tale.
Source: Marvel
Percy and company, however, truly do lean into the newfound gory reality that Blaze finds himself in; and the unsettling pages quickly invoke a captivating unsettling nature that urges the reader to turn the page and delve deeper down the rabbit hole.
What is so interesting about a legacy character like Johnny Blaze is how difficult it is to truly find the uniqueness of the story; with their often long history making the newness that is necessary to maintain the reader’s attention being so barren to come by.
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That is a challenge that Percy overcomes so quickly in Ghost Rider #1 as his exploration into the damaged psyche of the character truly establishes the tone of the series; with its final pages promising a horrific blood-stained uncovering by the famed Rider.
The story sets up a run of unanswered questions; with characters remaining unexplained in the premiere issue, but not in a way that feels unsatisfactory.
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Watching Blaze tear through demonic entities to end the issue was sadistically satisfying, as the thread woven by Percy places the reader in his trusted hands.
Marvel has absolutely allowed Percy free reign to orchestrate a gruesome revival for the character, but it feels at home for the tortured Johnny Blaze and a Ghost Rider moniker that, this time, promises to truly take fans into the depths.
Source: Marvel
