Review by Ian Keogh

Jason Aaron began writing Ghost Rider shortly after some fundamental tinkering with his purpose by Daniel Way in Revelations. Johnny Blaze was co-opted by rogue angel Zadkiel, and is now looking for revenge. This means somehow finding a way to Heaven.

However, that’s a means to an end for Aaron who isn’t greatly interested in the concept. He makes use of heavenly maguffins, but what really interests him is scrolling through a multitude of familiar horror scenarios renewed by the presence of a flaming demon on a kick-arse burning motorcyle. He opens with the threat of a troop of psychiatric nurses in satanic service, follows up with a community founded by cannibals, the dead rising through a local highway and a prison nightmare. It’s basically a grindhouse movie on paper (unless you’re reading digitally of course), with appropriate dialogue from all parties, sometimes very funny. Blaze’s speech patterns are now those of the Southern lad he always was.

If you’re of that turn of mind, the first four chapters are a lot of mindless fun, and certainly better than the hand-wringing and soul-searching so often associated with Ghost Rider.

Roland Boschi has a sketchy method of defining the cast which can be excellent, such as when immaterial ghouls emerge through the road, but doesn’t always work on Ghost Rider himself. Instead of exaggerating the size of a skull and drawing it the size of a normal head as most Ghost Rider artists have done, Boschi often opts for a smaller skull which may be more anatomically correct, but just doesn’t look right. However, Ghost Rider on his bike hits the spot.

The art’s turned over to Tan Eng Huat for the final two chapters, and he has an altogether different style, drawing everyone as grubby, which fits the location, but plenty also looking as if they’re diseased. Spiritually they are, so it’s a case of the external presence reflecting the internal rot, but it takes some getting used to.

Aaron starts the final chapters with a church massacre, then moves Johnny Blaze to jail to end with a prison massacre. It’s a little more gruesome, but establishes Zadkiel as a threat with influence and a multitude of supporters to call on, while priming us for his appearance in The Last Stand.

Alternatively, both volumes and indeed the remainder of Aaron’s run, are collected as Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron Omnibus. They’re also part of The War for Heaven Book 1 in bulkier paperback.