Advance Review: King in Black Ghost Rider #1

When the world goes to Hell in a hand basket, who better than the current ruler and the old ruler of said Hell to try and save the day. But with Lilith making her own play for Hell and Knull trying to do his ongoing thing on Earth, there is is only so much even the Ghost Rider can do!

Johnny Blaze has finally captured Mephisto and is on his way back downstairs. That’s when a symbiote dragon catches his eye and before you know it, he is up to his handle bars in symbiote goo. Johnny has a decision to make, is it better to save his current job or work to be one of the many trying to save the world. Of course where there is Mephisto and Lilith, maybe the lesser demon may be the better angel.

Ed Brisson is a comic book veteran par excellence, having worked on huge number of titles. With Brisson you always get a well crafted story that hits the high points and this book is no exception Brisson also weaves in a complexity to counter all the action. The fate of hell is discussed and who would make the best bad guy to rule it. Of course not all is what it seems when it comes to Mephisto. Blaze takes on the symbiotes with the help of a crew that don’t get a lot of explanation, which means that you have to have a working knowledge of recent Ghost Rider to’s and for’s. The script works well, with both the dialogue and its “shut up” motif bringing a level of humour and Johnny’s monologue helps keep the reader up to speed without being over bearing.

Juan Frigeri provides the art in a kind of bombastic fashion that delivers the action pieces with aplomb. At this stage, you are not reading King in Black for a quiet read and Frigeri takes that in his stride. There are quieter moments in the book for sure, but those are still steeped the difficult decisions that Johnny has to take. Frigeri’s work does carry heavy lines, though I think that is a Marvel edict as I see this trait on a lot of their books. I also enjoyed the homage on the last page; John Buscema is still the man though. Of course the heavy lines helps to differentiate the characters from the dark colors of Jason Keith, which continues the King in Black vibe seen in books across this event. Finally, VC’s Joe Caramagna uitlises a range of colored boxes to help indicate character’s voices, I especially like the white font and the black word boxes.

Not having read a ton of the King in Black series, I am not up to date with everything that is going on. For this book, the Knull stuff feels like a distraction from the main ideas that are the focus of the book. It is good seeing Johnny Blaze back in the saddle so to speak.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 4 Stars

Written by; Ed Brisson
Art by; Juan Frigeri
Colors by; Jason Keith
Letters by; VC’s Joe Caramagna
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network