Ghost Rider, Vol. 4: Rite of Passage

Ghost Rider (2022)

by Benjamin Percy

The full story of new character Talia Warroad revealed at last!

Johnny Blaze has been traveling with the brilliant hedge witch, Talia Warroad — but how well does he really know her? Now he’s about to learn all about Talia’s messy past, her teenage loves and her furious first spells. Just who is Blaze riding with — and how was her life set on a collision course with the Spirit of Vengeance?

Ghost Rider (2022) 18-21, TBD

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Horror, Comic Book, Superheroes

128 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2024

About the author

Benjamin Percy is the author of seven novels -- most recently The Sky Vault (William Morrow) -- three short fiction collections, and a book of essays, Thrill Me, that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. He writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, and the Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer's Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the iHeart Radio Award for Best Scripted Podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a Talia storyline than Ghost Rider.while it was still interesting and fun it didn’t seem to add anything to the overall storyline.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars, but I just couldn't round it up. This book is more Talia's story, and Johnny and Ghost Rider are more supporting characters. It's not bad for the beginning or middle of the series, but it's not great for the series finale.

The book starts with the Ghost Rider (2023) Annual, the return of the Hood, and he is bringing hell with him.

The main series gives Talia's origin story and how do the sins of her past factor into the present. Johnny and Ghost Rider just follow her lead.

The book is more horror than action. Lots of demons and dark magic. It's not a great ending to this series for me. Hopefully, Vengence Forever will be better. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery. This contains both full page and thumbnail covers.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The annual was okay. I didn’t think it was great or anything, so it bumps the average down slightly for this collection. I really liked Talia’s backstory and the story that unfolded because of it here and how her and Johnny have been fighting against in. I’m very curious with the ending of this one how the new series will continue and if any more answers will be given from this series to readers. Overall, I really enjoyed Percy’s run.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnny has been running with Talia Warroad throughout this run of Ghost Rider, and everything with them comes to a head in this Volume as they take on the Cult of Mephisto and its leader Stefan Skaar. Stefan took Talia under his wing when she was a teen and learning magic from the beginning, and it takes her giving everything to not only drag him down to hell, but also freeing the wayward and rejected children he had drafted into his army.
The Volume ends with Mephisto ... "Your time as Ghost Rider is coming to an end...."

This run of Ghost Rider was really good! Nice to see him finally getting some attention in Marvel Comics. I hope it continues soon....
Recommend.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get a lot more background on Talia. She has some really great moments and a background that really helps fully realize her character. I also like how Johnny feels like a proper hero in this. The villains are decent but nothing amazing. Overall a fun time, 3.5 out of 5.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
I really came to enjoy this book. Percy's Ghost Rider is excellent. Loved Talia and Johnny's relationship.

[Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

​​От ми й нагнали ран Бенджаміна Персі на Примарному Вершнику. Номери з 17 по 21 стали останньою аркою у цій серії, після чого Марвел перезапустили серію й додали підзаголовок "Фінальна Помста", але тільки в синглах як я зрозумів, в збірках якщо дивитися на LOCG, то перша арка ФП вказана як п'ятий том. Тож давайте дізнаємося яким вийшов сюжет "Обряд Посвяти".

Перед основною історією декілька слів про щорічник. Він вийшов досить простуватою історією приуроченою до Гелловіну яка нічим не виділяється. За сюжетом Джонні й Талія об'єднуються з Ельзою Бладстоун для того, щоб зупинити Каптура який перетворив ціло місто в демонів.

Основний же сюжет цього разу зосереджується на Талії. Нам тут розповідають про її минуле і те як вона почала займатися темною магією, в той час, як в теперішньому Талія разом з Джонні дізнається, що її колишній знову взявся за старе і почав вербувати дітей в культ Мефісто.

Загалом сюжет мені сподобався, події розгорталися досить жваво, трохи навіть аж занадто, як на мене, а за лінією про минуле Талії було цікаво спостерігати, сам же Джонні тут в основному вийшов досить пасивним персонажем. Щодо малюнку то більшу частину історії малював Карлос Ніето і загалом вийшло окейно, Корі Сміт, який був головною окрасою більшості минулих номерів, на жаль малює тільки дев'ятнадцятий номер разом з Брентом Піплесом, як можете здогадатися найкращий малюнок є саме в ньому.

Головна моя проблема це те, що цю історію вартувало б трохи раніше розповісти оскільки трохи дивно виглядає те, що ось ми нарешті отримали передісторію нової дівчини Джонні, лиш для того, щоб у кінці її вивели з оточення нашого палаючого черепка, бо далі релаунч серії.

Підсумовуючи, "Обряд Посвяти" попри те, що місцями вийшов досить поспішним у зв'язку з прийдешнім релаунчем серії, є не найгіршим сюжетом який був у цій серії. Чекаємо тепер на "Фінальну Помсту" з Каптуром у ролі нового Примарного Вершника.

[Matthew Gilliland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the first 3 buddy supernatural cop horror adventures.

They went town to town and faced different kinds of horror.

This time we faced Dalia Warroad's past. It didn't have the same feel. I really liked Talia and her interactions with Johhny, but this time that was just missing.

Talia felt like a cliche and/or John Constantine. She was just that but with a couple girls in high school that my best friend was infatuated with. Maybe if I hadn't known them this would have been entertaining, but instead it was just predictable.

It was still hot at moments and the Halloween Special was kind of cool, but also felt disconnected like a MotW or guest writer (but wasn't).

It just felt like an unsatisfying ending for a really kick ass series. That said the twist was nice, but I guess I will have to read Vol 5 even though the numbers are a new series, very limited and Talia is not in them....

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buen arco argumental para dar cierta sensación de cierre a esta estupenda etapa para el Motorista Fantasma, Benjamin Percy a sabido mostrar un universo diabólico totalmente a la altura del personaje. Con un gran apoyo gráfico que defiende toda idea de extremo body horror y terror extremo para estándares Marvelitas. Y lo cierto es que el personaje de Talia ha justificado gran parte de todo esto. Y en estos números se nos muestra su trasfondo que define perfectamente su personalidad oscura y trágica con un horror que regresa de su pasado y termina de hermanarla con la tragedia de Johnny. Grandes sorpresas cono la participación pasada del gran representante mágico Marvelita. Pero sobre todo funciona toda energía salvaje que nos ha acompañado en este nuevo viaje por carretera infernal.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, an origin story for Talia Warroad...

After a bit of a 42 car pile-up in the middle (the Ghost Rider/Wolverine crossover aka Hellverine), we get the 'end of the road' for this crossroads killing team-up with occult specialist Talia Warroad.
----
Not really too little or too late, but I don't know where you'll go with the standard Ghost Rider tales. From what they've hinted at, there's yet another Ghost Rider reset coming. We had King Blaze. There was Danny Ketch in his 90s bike. Recently, we had the Wheelman Ghost Rider. Next iteration? Could be a few things (I personally was hoping for Talia to take it up in some form)

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One final volume of Johnny Blaze adventures brings Talia right into the spotlight, as her history with Mephisto puts she and the Ghost Rider square in the demon lord's crosshairs once more.

This book's been a little dark horse at Marvel for a while now. It's solid and reliable, and always just a little bit creepier than you'd expect it to be. I was sad with how this volume ended, but I guess it was always going to - Johnny Blaze can't have nice things, or he wouldn't be the Ghost Rider, would he?

There's a little more to go from Percy, but this is the end of the road for Johnny and Talia...for now.

[Alex Sarll]

Teaming up with Elsa Bloodstone against a giant pumpkin in Salem on Hallowe'en sounds like the sort of Ghost Rider story I should love, but not when it also sees the return of the Hood, somehow more sapped of interest than ever before, and I believe soon to take over the title. But I doubt I'd have bothered with this volume if I hadn't got it out of the library at the same time as the deeply disappointing third book, so I'm pretty sure I'll be skipping that. In the meantime, there are hints of something interesting in the dynamic between Johnny, Talia, and the Rider, but they're soon abandoned in favour of her utterly route one origin.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ghost Rider Rite of Passage is the perfect overview of Talia and her personality, showing what makes her tick and the demons she continually faces every day. This volume could have really benefitted if they had Cory Smith on the art especially the final issue. The real star of this final arc was Talia and this closes the chapter on that. I think this series ended up on a nice bow and I would recommend this run to comic book readers though I am not a big fan of Johnny Blaze but I liked this series nonetheless.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This hasn't been a particularly stellar run for Percy and it continues here, with an arc that traces out Talia's life story (why? did we really need to know? I'm not certain that we did, actually). Things happen without explanation or happen very fast and clumsily. The art's pretty pedestrian, too. Really kind of a disappointment all in all.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talia's dark past rears its ugly head in a backstory-heavy Ghost Rider volume. Basically, she was a teenage menace who fell in with the wrong crowd - and that crowd just happened to be pretty adept at dark magic.

Now the teen leader of the gang is a grown-up kidnapping children, so Talia and Ghostie go hunt him down. It's all pretty by-the-numbers. This volume could have been a single issue.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Percy does a great job on developing Talia as a character, with a fitting and well told backstory via flashbacks in this volume. Shame this run has been curtailed at issue 21, it’s been very good.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of seeking redemption from a troubled past with consequences. A life cursed to be lived alone. Interesting magic as well.

[Derrick O'Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

This is an enjoyable read. It's always a bit twisted when children are added to the mix but it is handled well here. The focus of this volume is Talia and it works.