About Heroes

Author: Daniel Way
Art: Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares
Colors: Dan Brown
Covers: Mark Texeira and Mark Silvestri

I have to admit, I really didn't get into Ghost Rider until the early 90's revamp. The only reason I really did buy my first issue of Ghost Rider was the art. Mark Texeira had a Bill Sienkiewicz look to his art that had been missing from comics at those times. I never understood why this comic even existed; it was one of those 70's stuntmen icons that faded out by the mid eighties. So bringing it back in the 90's was really taking a big chance. But it worked; the art and the characters sucked me in. Before we start this review, I want to just say, that for the first time (and I hope the only time) I’m glad they did away with some of the continuity in GR. Let me explain why:

The name GR was originally used by a Western Comic character, but the 70s incarnation of that name was different. Motorcycle Stunt driver Johnny Blaze made a deal with the demon Zarathos in order to save the life of his friend. Both entities eventually started fighting for control of the body. In the end Blaze managed to reject the Zarathos demon out of his body and just became Johnny Blaze: Bad-ass of the 90's with a trench coat and the Hellfire shotgun!

By the 90's there was a different GR around, the one that I got to know, Danny Ketch, but those stories, to be honest, were real confusing at times. Mainly because of different creative teams taking over the book. Some said that Danny and Johnny Blaze (the original Ghost Rider) were long lost brothers and other writers said they were just strangers. Ketch eventually died, well sort of, because his spirit rebonded with the Noble Kale Ghost Rider. By the 2001 miniseries Johnny Blaze was back to being Ghost Rider for some unknown reason, but this time around the Ghost Rider killed humans, so Zarathos was still a part of him. To complicate things the Garth Ennis six issue mini-series shows that Zarathos is nowhere around. Now Blaze is in complete control of his actions as the Ghost Rider. Let's get on with the review

When last we saw Johnny Blaze, he made a deal with the devil. Now finding himself trapped in Hell (which looks empty for a dimension of eternal torture, but hey that just leaves GR enough room to burn rubber), Johnny just may have found a way out. But what more will he have to sacrifice in order to escape eternal hellfire? Now that we have established that, let’s move on to the story.....oh wait, that's it. Ghost Rider gets help from a demon named Greexix to bust out of hell. By the end we see the next issue takes place in where you would picture a dark figure like Ghost Rider fighting zombies: The fucking Caribbean! I am open minded in comics, but come on.

I have to say with nothing really happening, this issue fares very poorly, both as an introduction to the title and as a decent Ghost Rider story. I don't really understand why they are using the devil instead of Mephisto. Marvel has a devil like creature that is freaky established why not roll with him? On a side note the plot involving Ghost Rider’s attempts to escape this hell is pretty basic, but it’s well-written and effective. I really do think Way understands the character, but so far this book did nothing for me. The best thing this book has going for it, is the lack of continuity. Way has a chance to start over from scratch and make the character interesting, but he better add more ass-whoopin and chain-throwing action in there, before he bores us to death.

So the besides the clear plate the only other thing saving this series is that stunning artwork stunning, to say the least. It hails back to some of the finest work done by Texeira and Saltaires in the 90s run of GR. The landscapes in hell and the demons are unsettling and believable. Browns colors add that warm and dark feel to the art that makes it look even more quasi-painted. It's not a great start, but it could have so much potential, let's hope this book doesn't go the Way of Venom and Wolverine: Origins. C+