“All New Ghost Rider” #1, by Marc Alan Fishman – Snarky Synopsis | @MDWorld

April 6, 2014 Marc Fishman 0 Comments

Written by Felipe Smith. Art by Tradd Moore, Nelson Daniel and Val Staples

Did someone at Marvel Comics sell their soul to Satan? They must have, because DC keeps floundering while the House of Mouse crushes homers out of the park. All-New Ghost Rider #1 is the most kinetic piece of static art I’ve immersed myself in, in ages. While it heaves overwrought tropes onto a mountainous tire fire… Felipe Smith clearly knows how to set up a raucous first ride that seems to savor it’s B-Movie qualities like a fine wine. Combine this with splashy, vibrating, cartoonish-yet-decidedly comic-booky art from Tradd Moore, and you have something devilishly heavenly.

If you’ve read the Pre-New52-Post-Ted-Kord ‘Blue Beetle’ series in the mid-to-late-aughts? Welcome home. Smith introduces us to Robbie Reyes, the titular Rider, as the bad boy with a heart of gold. That is to say he doesn’t do a thing to be a bad boy except for street race for a potential purse of 50k, which is likely procured through less-than-legal means. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The issue starts off with Robbie tinkering at his dayjob – plucky mechanic for a cheapskate. Soon thereafter, he’s coming to the rescue of his handicapped brother, who was being picked on by local gang members. It’s so cheesy, it rounds the bend past gouda, and winds up cheddar. Of course the gang pistol whips Robbie after stealing his brother’s wheelchair. Why? Because of course they are. They have to.

 

Shortly thereafter, Robbie earns all the brownie points he’ll need for the rest of the series. He fixes dinner for he and his kin. We’re made to believe that the parents are likely no longer with the living. They live in a terrible, crime-infested LA suburb. Why? Because of course they do. They have to. As soon as the tear-bait is in bed, Robbie swears he’ll get them out of the ghetto. And soon thereafter, it’s off to the aforementioned street race. The race itself is every cliché you know and love from illegal street racing. The gold-toothed ringmaster taking in tons of petty cash. The minority-represented racers in their souped up super cars. The air of illegal-ness mixed with the rush of “hey, it’s all in good fun”. Yeah, all there. But this isn’t ‘The Fast the the Furious’. It’s Ghost Rider. Cue the action!

The issue rounds out quickly; Reyes is tagged by the cops, and flees for his life. He makes a few wrong turns and ends up in a dead-end. He pleads on his knees. But gasp! (Spoiler Alert!) These ain’t cops. These are rough-and-tumble mercs or something. They riddle Reyes with bullets. They torch his stolen ride. They make off with a McGuffin and leave him a smoldering corpse. And seconds later? He rises from the ashes, with a skull-themed helmet, and a perfectly restored ride (complete with hell fire, etc.). To be continued, alas, in issue 2.

So, what makes this nefariously snarky reviewer so happy, given how predictable the plotting is on All New Ghost Rider? Well, it’s akin to a little movie I’m a big fan of. ‘Jersey Girl’. Ever seen it? Suffice to say Kevin Smith hits on a Seth MacFarlane-esque bell-curve hypothesis when it comes to the use of the predictable. By stock-piling every trope one could expect? Eventually you pass the point of exhaustion, and wind up back at entertaining. The fact that the pedigree this book stems from has never traveled down these roads certainly helps. When one thinks of Ghost Rider? They do not thing muscle cars, Mexicans, or mercenary actions. Simply put? Felipe Smith pays his dues with an origin issue that hits so many notes we expect, but does so with the conviction of a man who knows where he’s headed. This is a novel next-chapter to a character left otherwise predictable. And the fact that he’s flaming skulls and shoulders more modern than the Ultimate Ghost Rider from a few years back? It’s just that little hint of STP that kicks the book into the overdrive it should be in.

Artwork by Tradd Moore is a continuation of the Marvel bullpen of the unexpected. His linework is insanely stylized. Part manga, part graffiti, part Angel Medina. His figures don’t exist in the space so much as they viscerally twist and contort through it. Every panel feels like it’s moving. Details cram everywhere with everything. And with a minimal amount of panels per page? The whole book is a breeze to take in. A special compliment goes to the color team, Nelson Daniel and Val Staples. Daniel and Staples wash Tradd’s linework with a saturated palate that screams West Coast. Their use of textures, knocked out light-trails, and limited glow effects showcase a team well-versed in the less-is-more approach. They dance around Moore’s pencil like ballroom dancers. Suffice to say, even with his near-grotesquely toonish forms bathed across the book… Tradd and company deliver an end product that is equally fun and inventive to oogle at.

All New Ghost Rider #1 is a stiff shot next to She-Hulk, New Warriors, and Magneto. With a story that you’ve read before, but never in a Rider book… and artwork you’ve only seen at 2 AM on the on-demand anime network, you’re getting something off the beaten path. Put it in you pull list, and throw it into drive, kiddos. This is what a good comic feels like when you push the pedal to the hellish metal.