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Ghost Rider (2006) (Collected Editions) #5-8
Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron Omnibus
Superstar writer Jason Aaron's searing take on the Spirit of Vengeance finds Johnny Blaze facing off against the forces of heaven itself in an epic saga that sends Ghost Rider down a blazing new road! When the rogue angel Zadkiel tries taking over the world' Ghost Riders--that's right, there's more than one!--Blaze and his flame-headed alter ego are in for the fight of their lives! Featuring the return of the OTHER Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, in a team-up you never imagined and a showdown that had to happen! Strap in for a tale of insanity jam-packed with new villains, old allies and the same old grindhouse action that Flamehead fans have come to know and love! COLLECTING: Ghost Rider #20-35, Ghost Riders: Heaven's On Fire #1-6
536 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2010
9 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,370 books1,685 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 1, 2024
Like a John Carpenter movie on a Sunday afternoon, it’s exciting, weird, but you can’t quite follow what’s happening. Braggadocious angels and demons play sides, battles are fought, motorcycles are revved. Flames galore.
January 23, 2016
Much like Way's run to start this series, Aaron's run is much stronger in the middle than either the beginning or end. Still very good.
August 31, 2014
This is the first run of a relatively prominent Marvel character Jason Aaron was ever given, and it seems like they gave him free reign to do whatever the hell he wanted. Turns out, I really enjoy "whatever the hell Jason Aaron wants." There's so much packed into this book: Gun Nuns, a dude with an eyeball for a face, a lunatic chaos magician who I think is supposed to be making fun of Grant Morrison, massive end-of-days action violence, a sentient bulldozer, demonic truckers, cannibal ghosts. The funny thing is, almost all of this is secondary to the central plot, like it's just extra ingredients thrown in to keep things fun. And things are VERY fun.
The great thing about this run of Ghost Rider is that, even though Aaron is playing with big, ridiculous, supernatural nonsense, he commits to it enough to keep it from straying into parody. It's a little tongue-in-cheek and definitely aware of itself, but he plays it so confidently that you're just like "Sure, there's an evil angel trying to prematurely end the world, I'm fine with that." It doesn't necessarily make fun of itself, it just manages to avoid any heady, pretentious philosophizing or anything that would make it feel Important. It's just a man with a flaming skull head killing everything that moves.
I'm also really into the fact that this book tells a complete story. Most comics end with a cliffhanger or a setup for the next writer to deal with, but not this one. Even though it starts with issue #20, it still features a beginning and an ending, and as such feels "whole" somehow.
Now, it has its problems. There's some logical inconsistency where, by all accounts, Johnny Blaze SHOULD lose his Ghost Rider abilities at one point, but then they come back exactly when he needs them with no explanation. It's a little unclear what some characters' motivations are at times, and it can be a little bit of a mess towards the end when Aaron tries to bring back every character given even the smallest amount of screen time over the course of his run. But the comic is so out there in the first place that this stuff ultimately didn't really bother me. Like tripping on your way to pick up your lottery winnings.
Ghost Rider has always been a strange, bastard child of the Marvel Universe, and seeing an omnibus collection might seem surprising. But give this a read and you'll see why someone finally managed to write a Ghost Rider story worth collecting in its entirety.
The great thing about this run of Ghost Rider is that, even though Aaron is playing with big, ridiculous, supernatural nonsense, he commits to it enough to keep it from straying into parody. It's a little tongue-in-cheek and definitely aware of itself, but he plays it so confidently that you're just like "Sure, there's an evil angel trying to prematurely end the world, I'm fine with that." It doesn't necessarily make fun of itself, it just manages to avoid any heady, pretentious philosophizing or anything that would make it feel Important. It's just a man with a flaming skull head killing everything that moves.
I'm also really into the fact that this book tells a complete story. Most comics end with a cliffhanger or a setup for the next writer to deal with, but not this one. Even though it starts with issue #20, it still features a beginning and an ending, and as such feels "whole" somehow.
Now, it has its problems. There's some logical inconsistency where, by all accounts, Johnny Blaze SHOULD lose his Ghost Rider abilities at one point, but then they come back exactly when he needs them with no explanation. It's a little unclear what some characters' motivations are at times, and it can be a little bit of a mess towards the end when Aaron tries to bring back every character given even the smallest amount of screen time over the course of his run. But the comic is so out there in the first place that this stuff ultimately didn't really bother me. Like tripping on your way to pick up your lottery winnings.
Ghost Rider has always been a strange, bastard child of the Marvel Universe, and seeing an omnibus collection might seem surprising. But give this a read and you'll see why someone finally managed to write a Ghost Rider story worth collecting in its entirety.
July 9, 2015
This was ok, nothing spectacular.
Basically at the end of he Daniel way run on ghost rider he finds out his origins, who made him. He thought it was satan, turns out it's an [spolier]. He's not too happy about it and goes to defeat this person.
Cut a long story short the ghost rider isn't alone and he enlists the help of his brother and all the other ghost riders (which is pretty cool) and some nuns with guns (yep nuns) and kicks his/her's ass.
The end.
Most people think ghost rider is stupid. I think he just hasn't landed on he right hands yet. He's got so much potential.
Basically at the end of he Daniel way run on ghost rider he finds out his origins, who made him. He thought it was satan, turns out it's an [spolier]. He's not too happy about it and goes to defeat this person.
Cut a long story short the ghost rider isn't alone and he enlists the help of his brother and all the other ghost riders (which is pretty cool) and some nuns with guns (yep nuns) and kicks his/her's ass.
The end.
Most people think ghost rider is stupid. I think he just hasn't landed on he right hands yet. He's got so much potential.
December 25, 2014
I read and reviewed the separate volumes that make up this omnibus. And here are the reviews - enjoy!
*
Hell Bent and Heaven Bound
“You know how many people God kills in the Bible? I mean, if you add up all the floods and plagues and fire ‘n’ brimstone. All the ‘God Smote’ this, ‘God Smote’ that… you know how many people he kills? Millions. And what about the Devil? The big scary Devil. What do you think his body count comes to? A paltry TEN. The seven sons and three daughters of Job. And that’s only after making a bet with God. Look it up. Kinda raises a big question. Between Heaven and Hell… which one should we really be afraid of?” - Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider
If there’s one character type Jason Aaron can write the shit out of, it’s the mean surly type with a major chip on his shoulder. The Punisher, Wolverine, Dash Bad Horse all fit the bill as does Johnny Blaze the Ghost Rider who, in this book, is after the guy who made him the Spirit of Vengeance’s host. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the supposed good guys: an angel called Zadkiel!
Blaze fires up his wheels and sets out to find a way to get to Heaven and settle the score. And what better place to start looking than Aaron’s favourite location in the world: the American South.
Aaron’s first Ghost Rider book is a bit of a product of its time. It was published in 2008 during the great Grindhouse revival which today is well worn out but back then was still very much in. So there are machine-gun toting nurses galore, cannibal ghosts, and lots of crazy stunts gleefully peppering the book.
But as played out as Grindhouse is, this book is still so much fun to read. It’s a quintessential Jason Aaron book from the Southern setting to the angry loner lead to the excessive violence and joyful blaspheming throughout; if you’re a big fan of Aaron’s like I am, you’re gonna take to this like BBQ and beer.
The art is the only real weakness of the book. Roland Boschi’s work is fine but nothing special. It’s a bit too sketchy with the pencils and doesn’t really live up to the rock’n’roll script Aaron delivers. Tan Eng Huat draws a couple issues too and his art again is acceptable for a Marvel comic but I wanted some real fire on the page and I wasn’t feeling it with Huat’s pages.
It’s loud, silly and ultimately throwaway but Jason Aaron’s first Ghost Rider book is an enormously enjoyable read. It’s an energetic start to his run and I love the indicators for where he’s taking the story. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of the writer or the character.
*
The Last Stand
Danny Ketch, the long-lost brother of Johnny Blaze, is also a Ghost Rider and he’s back (he was dead or something?). Danny’s travelling the world offing the Ghost Riders of various countries for the glory of Zadkiel, an angel who’s planning the first insurrection in Heaven since Lucifer. It’s up to Blaze to take him down – Ghost Rider Vs Ghost Rider!
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series continues to amuse with its straight up silliness. This book could be called Ghost Rider Inc. given the Ghost Riders of different countries, a Ghost Rider of Japan, etc. a la Batman Inc. Except the Ghost Riders are celestially appointed – but countries/boundaries are man-made. So… why does God appoint a Ghost Rider of the Congo when that country didn’t exist until the 19th century? If we make up a new country, will God appoint a Ghost Rider of that new country?
Also, why doesn’t God just crush Zadkiel’s insurrection instantly? This is God we’re talking about aren’t we – the almighty, all-powerful, creator of the universe? Zadkiel’s very brazenly attacking Heaven’s infrastructure (which, by the way, hilarious!) – why not just snuff him out? Why send archangels that clearly don’t measure up?
None of that matters really, this Ghost Rider book is too enjoyable to dwell on small critiques like this. Aaron brings the fiery intensity to the fight between the Ghost Rider brothers with Blaze’s yellow flamed Rider vs Ketch’s blue flamed Rider. They throw down, use their powers, etc. It’s an entertaining match-up that goes several rounds and I’m sure bigger GR fans than me will appreciate the (I guess long-awaited?) showdown. My favourite moment was, instead of a final fight, they decide to race their bikes across the world! What could be more Ghost Rider?
And I loved that a minor character from the last book shows up with a hellfire shotgun for a decisive moment in the story. He was a minor player in the last book, he’s still pretty minor aside from that one scene here, but I like that Aaron’s building his own little world with everyone that’s appeared in his story regardless. It’s the mark of a quality storyteller to make every little thing mean something.
I’m still not feeling Tan Eng Huat’s art. It’s fine for the most part and his Ghost Riders are cool-looking, but his human figures are so oddly proportioned at times. Some characters’ hands are massive in comparison to their bodies, sometimes their torsos are bigger than their lower halves – the effect is like looking through a glass bottle, weirdly distorting what you see.
The few Ghost Rider stories I’ve read besides Aaron’s have been fairly lo-fi tales insulated to a city which is why I love that this Ghost Rider series is so unapologetically epic. We go from small town Americana in the first book to travelling the world and ending up with a literal celestial battle. Wonderful stuff. Want to read a fun, entertaining Ghost Rider comic? Look for the ones with Jason Aaron’s name on the cover!
*
Trials and Tribulations
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider needs to be more well-known - this series ROCKS! The third volume though is an in-between kind of book. Heaven fell in the last book and this one pretty much treads water with Aaron looking at the scattered heroes in the run up to the sure-to-be-epic finale, Heaven’s on Fire, up next. Rather than a long narrative, each issue looks at a specific character: Sara the new Caretaker, Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider #2, and Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider.
In Sara’s story she recounts the Ghost Riders of the past; in Danny’s, he goes up against a grisly trucker called the Highwayman; Johnny takes on anime monsters and, in the Ghost Rider Annual #2, tries to find a way into Heaven from a fallen Angel of Mercy.
Like his later Wolverine and the X-Men series, this volume is very light-hearted and silly for the most part which I really liked. While I still don’t fully understand what importance a Caretaker has in the Ghost Rider structure, I really liked Sara’s issue. We get to meet a TON of former Ghost Riders from Vikings to Puritan Witch-hunters, to Indian Chiefs, and a Mad Max type (if they ever decide to do a Mad Max comic, Jason Aaron needs to be hired to write that).
The Ghost Rider WW1 flying ace was brilliant as was the Ghost Rider WW2 tank battalion (what a visual!), and there are even Ghost Rider Terminators from the future!! How are you not rushing off to read this right now?! My favourite Ghost Riders - and I really want them to have their own mini-series - was the Undead G-Man and Knuckles O’Shaugnessy (a lil guy Ghost Rider!) from 1920s prohibition-era America! So much fun.
Danny Ketch’s story with the Highwayman was brilliant too. It had a very Clive Barker feel to it with this giant flesh-like truck terrorising the highways, decapitating truckers, but the Highwayman’s origin was ridiculous. He wants to be the fastest trucker in the States so he sells his soul to the Devil. Uh - if you could sell your soul to Satan for anything, wouldn’t you ask for fame, wealth and health rather than “Buh, I wanna be the fastest trucker there ever wuz!”? Anyway, great issue.
Johnny’s two issues weren’t as amazing but were still enjoyable. The real-life anime woman was very scary (those eyes!) and there were plenty of cool monsters for Johnny to burn.
The annual surprised me as it wasn’t written by Aaron but by Si Spurrier, a writer I don’t rate at all, but full credit to him for coming through with a fine comic. Johnny’s tussle with the Angel of Mercy was fantastic and Mark Robinson’s art really sold it. The flaming chains that fly out, the fire breath (if there’s one thing Ghost Rider doesn’t do enough of, it’s breathe huge jets of fire on his enemies); it’s this really terrific visual fight scene.
Tony Moore’s art in this was excellent, the first time I’d say Aaron’s Ghost Rider has looked as good as it reads. Very detailed, very gory drawings, Moore was an inspired choice for this as he drew the first Walking Dead book and can draw zombies/monsters really well. His Johnny Blaze did look a bit too similar to Rick Grimes though...
It may be a disjointed narrative that’s not wholly perfect, but Trials and Tribulations is another fine volume in Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series. The Caretaker/Danny Ketch stories in particular are two of the best issues I’ve read in this fantastic run so far. It’s well worth a read if you’re looking for a good Ghost Rider book but make sure you read the previous two volumes, Hell Bent and Heaven Bound, and The Last Stand, first.
*
Heaven's on Fire
The angel Zadkiel has toppled Heaven and, with the angels turned bad, it’s up to the demonic-looking but good Ghost Riders to unite and burn some wings! It’s Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and an army of Spirits of Vengeance against the celestial forces – the ultimate battle between good and evil!
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series has been really, really good so it’s a bit disappointing that this final volume isn’t as good, if not better, than the others. It’s partly due to my expectations of thinking this was going to be almost entirely a battle between the Ghost Riders and Zadkiel, which does happen but only in the last issue, and partly because the story’s so scattered for most of the book. It also has the feeling that Jason Aaron’s trying to cram too much into this last volume so a lot of it feels rushed.
There’s a storyline featuring the Antichrist that doesn’t really go anywhere (though I liked that he looked like Eddie Munster!), the Deacon, the monstrously vicious man with the twin swords, and the gun nuns battle because why not? Meanwhile, Johnny and Danny battle everyone from Daimon Hellstorm, the son of Satan, to Trull the Mighty, an evil spirit that can possess machines, zombie bikers, an evil Ghost Rider, whose identity is never explained, and two of the lamest Marvel villains, a Scarecrow knockoff whose superpower is blackbirds (the actual birds) which attack, and The Orb, who’s got a giant eye for a head.
I suppose we’ve come full circle as the first book felt very Grindhouse-y and so does this last one. All the women dress like strippers, the plot is totally unrestrained, and Aaron is just gunning it with the over-the-top nonsense. Roland Boschi’s back as the artist and, while his art is still just ok, at least to me, the colours don’t really do him any favours – some of the pages look like they were coloured in with crayons!
The final battle itself is predictable and unimpressive and the aftermath is a series of single panels that summarises what everyone did next – again, leaving it to the last issue means everything is a bit too compressed. But it’s a fine way to end things I suppose – not immensely satisfying but not terrible either.
Though I continue to wonder how exactly Zadkiel was able to beat God - he’s GOD! I was hoping God would show up in a tank to blow up Zadkiel himself, accompanied maybe by Jesus rocking twin machine guns and a cigar. But I suppose there are some lines Marvel won’t cross (boo!).
Do check out Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series. It’s four volumes (or one giant omnibus) of some of the best stories I’ve seen the Spirit of Vengeance in and are hugely entertaining comics. The finale might be a bit weak but there’s a lot – a LOT – of good stuff throughout the series to recommend it.
*
Hell Bent and Heaven Bound
“You know how many people God kills in the Bible? I mean, if you add up all the floods and plagues and fire ‘n’ brimstone. All the ‘God Smote’ this, ‘God Smote’ that… you know how many people he kills? Millions. And what about the Devil? The big scary Devil. What do you think his body count comes to? A paltry TEN. The seven sons and three daughters of Job. And that’s only after making a bet with God. Look it up. Kinda raises a big question. Between Heaven and Hell… which one should we really be afraid of?” - Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider
If there’s one character type Jason Aaron can write the shit out of, it’s the mean surly type with a major chip on his shoulder. The Punisher, Wolverine, Dash Bad Horse all fit the bill as does Johnny Blaze the Ghost Rider who, in this book, is after the guy who made him the Spirit of Vengeance’s host. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the supposed good guys: an angel called Zadkiel!
Blaze fires up his wheels and sets out to find a way to get to Heaven and settle the score. And what better place to start looking than Aaron’s favourite location in the world: the American South.
Aaron’s first Ghost Rider book is a bit of a product of its time. It was published in 2008 during the great Grindhouse revival which today is well worn out but back then was still very much in. So there are machine-gun toting nurses galore, cannibal ghosts, and lots of crazy stunts gleefully peppering the book.
But as played out as Grindhouse is, this book is still so much fun to read. It’s a quintessential Jason Aaron book from the Southern setting to the angry loner lead to the excessive violence and joyful blaspheming throughout; if you’re a big fan of Aaron’s like I am, you’re gonna take to this like BBQ and beer.
The art is the only real weakness of the book. Roland Boschi’s work is fine but nothing special. It’s a bit too sketchy with the pencils and doesn’t really live up to the rock’n’roll script Aaron delivers. Tan Eng Huat draws a couple issues too and his art again is acceptable for a Marvel comic but I wanted some real fire on the page and I wasn’t feeling it with Huat’s pages.
It’s loud, silly and ultimately throwaway but Jason Aaron’s first Ghost Rider book is an enormously enjoyable read. It’s an energetic start to his run and I love the indicators for where he’s taking the story. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of the writer or the character.
*
The Last Stand
Danny Ketch, the long-lost brother of Johnny Blaze, is also a Ghost Rider and he’s back (he was dead or something?). Danny’s travelling the world offing the Ghost Riders of various countries for the glory of Zadkiel, an angel who’s planning the first insurrection in Heaven since Lucifer. It’s up to Blaze to take him down – Ghost Rider Vs Ghost Rider!
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series continues to amuse with its straight up silliness. This book could be called Ghost Rider Inc. given the Ghost Riders of different countries, a Ghost Rider of Japan, etc. a la Batman Inc. Except the Ghost Riders are celestially appointed – but countries/boundaries are man-made. So… why does God appoint a Ghost Rider of the Congo when that country didn’t exist until the 19th century? If we make up a new country, will God appoint a Ghost Rider of that new country?
Also, why doesn’t God just crush Zadkiel’s insurrection instantly? This is God we’re talking about aren’t we – the almighty, all-powerful, creator of the universe? Zadkiel’s very brazenly attacking Heaven’s infrastructure (which, by the way, hilarious!) – why not just snuff him out? Why send archangels that clearly don’t measure up?
None of that matters really, this Ghost Rider book is too enjoyable to dwell on small critiques like this. Aaron brings the fiery intensity to the fight between the Ghost Rider brothers with Blaze’s yellow flamed Rider vs Ketch’s blue flamed Rider. They throw down, use their powers, etc. It’s an entertaining match-up that goes several rounds and I’m sure bigger GR fans than me will appreciate the (I guess long-awaited?) showdown. My favourite moment was, instead of a final fight, they decide to race their bikes across the world! What could be more Ghost Rider?
And I loved that a minor character from the last book shows up with a hellfire shotgun for a decisive moment in the story. He was a minor player in the last book, he’s still pretty minor aside from that one scene here, but I like that Aaron’s building his own little world with everyone that’s appeared in his story regardless. It’s the mark of a quality storyteller to make every little thing mean something.
I’m still not feeling Tan Eng Huat’s art. It’s fine for the most part and his Ghost Riders are cool-looking, but his human figures are so oddly proportioned at times. Some characters’ hands are massive in comparison to their bodies, sometimes their torsos are bigger than their lower halves – the effect is like looking through a glass bottle, weirdly distorting what you see.
The few Ghost Rider stories I’ve read besides Aaron’s have been fairly lo-fi tales insulated to a city which is why I love that this Ghost Rider series is so unapologetically epic. We go from small town Americana in the first book to travelling the world and ending up with a literal celestial battle. Wonderful stuff. Want to read a fun, entertaining Ghost Rider comic? Look for the ones with Jason Aaron’s name on the cover!
*
Trials and Tribulations
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider needs to be more well-known - this series ROCKS! The third volume though is an in-between kind of book. Heaven fell in the last book and this one pretty much treads water with Aaron looking at the scattered heroes in the run up to the sure-to-be-epic finale, Heaven’s on Fire, up next. Rather than a long narrative, each issue looks at a specific character: Sara the new Caretaker, Danny Ketch/Ghost Rider #2, and Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider.
In Sara’s story she recounts the Ghost Riders of the past; in Danny’s, he goes up against a grisly trucker called the Highwayman; Johnny takes on anime monsters and, in the Ghost Rider Annual #2, tries to find a way into Heaven from a fallen Angel of Mercy.
Like his later Wolverine and the X-Men series, this volume is very light-hearted and silly for the most part which I really liked. While I still don’t fully understand what importance a Caretaker has in the Ghost Rider structure, I really liked Sara’s issue. We get to meet a TON of former Ghost Riders from Vikings to Puritan Witch-hunters, to Indian Chiefs, and a Mad Max type (if they ever decide to do a Mad Max comic, Jason Aaron needs to be hired to write that).
The Ghost Rider WW1 flying ace was brilliant as was the Ghost Rider WW2 tank battalion (what a visual!), and there are even Ghost Rider Terminators from the future!! How are you not rushing off to read this right now?! My favourite Ghost Riders - and I really want them to have their own mini-series - was the Undead G-Man and Knuckles O’Shaugnessy (a lil guy Ghost Rider!) from 1920s prohibition-era America! So much fun.
Danny Ketch’s story with the Highwayman was brilliant too. It had a very Clive Barker feel to it with this giant flesh-like truck terrorising the highways, decapitating truckers, but the Highwayman’s origin was ridiculous. He wants to be the fastest trucker in the States so he sells his soul to the Devil. Uh - if you could sell your soul to Satan for anything, wouldn’t you ask for fame, wealth and health rather than “Buh, I wanna be the fastest trucker there ever wuz!”? Anyway, great issue.
Johnny’s two issues weren’t as amazing but were still enjoyable. The real-life anime woman was very scary (those eyes!) and there were plenty of cool monsters for Johnny to burn.
The annual surprised me as it wasn’t written by Aaron but by Si Spurrier, a writer I don’t rate at all, but full credit to him for coming through with a fine comic. Johnny’s tussle with the Angel of Mercy was fantastic and Mark Robinson’s art really sold it. The flaming chains that fly out, the fire breath (if there’s one thing Ghost Rider doesn’t do enough of, it’s breathe huge jets of fire on his enemies); it’s this really terrific visual fight scene.
Tony Moore’s art in this was excellent, the first time I’d say Aaron’s Ghost Rider has looked as good as it reads. Very detailed, very gory drawings, Moore was an inspired choice for this as he drew the first Walking Dead book and can draw zombies/monsters really well. His Johnny Blaze did look a bit too similar to Rick Grimes though...
It may be a disjointed narrative that’s not wholly perfect, but Trials and Tribulations is another fine volume in Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series. The Caretaker/Danny Ketch stories in particular are two of the best issues I’ve read in this fantastic run so far. It’s well worth a read if you’re looking for a good Ghost Rider book but make sure you read the previous two volumes, Hell Bent and Heaven Bound, and The Last Stand, first.
*
Heaven's on Fire
The angel Zadkiel has toppled Heaven and, with the angels turned bad, it’s up to the demonic-looking but good Ghost Riders to unite and burn some wings! It’s Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and an army of Spirits of Vengeance against the celestial forces – the ultimate battle between good and evil!
Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series has been really, really good so it’s a bit disappointing that this final volume isn’t as good, if not better, than the others. It’s partly due to my expectations of thinking this was going to be almost entirely a battle between the Ghost Riders and Zadkiel, which does happen but only in the last issue, and partly because the story’s so scattered for most of the book. It also has the feeling that Jason Aaron’s trying to cram too much into this last volume so a lot of it feels rushed.
There’s a storyline featuring the Antichrist that doesn’t really go anywhere (though I liked that he looked like Eddie Munster!), the Deacon, the monstrously vicious man with the twin swords, and the gun nuns battle because why not? Meanwhile, Johnny and Danny battle everyone from Daimon Hellstorm, the son of Satan, to Trull the Mighty, an evil spirit that can possess machines, zombie bikers, an evil Ghost Rider, whose identity is never explained, and two of the lamest Marvel villains, a Scarecrow knockoff whose superpower is blackbirds (the actual birds) which attack, and The Orb, who’s got a giant eye for a head.
I suppose we’ve come full circle as the first book felt very Grindhouse-y and so does this last one. All the women dress like strippers, the plot is totally unrestrained, and Aaron is just gunning it with the over-the-top nonsense. Roland Boschi’s back as the artist and, while his art is still just ok, at least to me, the colours don’t really do him any favours – some of the pages look like they were coloured in with crayons!
The final battle itself is predictable and unimpressive and the aftermath is a series of single panels that summarises what everyone did next – again, leaving it to the last issue means everything is a bit too compressed. But it’s a fine way to end things I suppose – not immensely satisfying but not terrible either.
Though I continue to wonder how exactly Zadkiel was able to beat God - he’s GOD! I was hoping God would show up in a tank to blow up Zadkiel himself, accompanied maybe by Jesus rocking twin machine guns and a cigar. But I suppose there are some lines Marvel won’t cross (boo!).
Do check out Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series. It’s four volumes (or one giant omnibus) of some of the best stories I’ve seen the Spirit of Vengeance in and are hugely entertaining comics. The finale might be a bit weak but there’s a lot – a LOT – of good stuff throughout the series to recommend it.
July 24, 2015
2.5 stars
A little background: I never understood why the devil/demon that gave Ghost Rider his powers, would want/allow him to use it for good. That just never made sense to me. Sometime before this volume, that was changed and revealed that it was actually the power of God passed through an angel. It was this angel's, Zadkiel's, responsibility to run the GR's like a "CIA black ops" team.
Well, Zadkiel turns bad and wants to take over heaven which is the basic plot thread running through the whole omnibus and the GR's have to overcome their differences to stop him. Along the way, Aaron adds to the explanation and history of GR's which I'm not sure was made up by him or he just expanded it.
Some of it I liked, mainly the initial arc, learning about these new revelations and the relationship between Blaze and Ketch. The middle of the Omnibus seemed to wander a little bit, although it was still heading toward the conclusion. Describing the story is best exemplified by "grindhouse horror film", with over the top action and lots of decapitation and limbs being cut off. Some of the additional GRs through time and across the world are cool, some just seemed silly. There were things that could have been explained better and a few times the story seemed to jump, almost as if I was missing a page from the book (which is possible in a library book but there are no page numbers so it's hard to tell.)
One bad thing is the art. It's below average and gets only slightly better the second half of the book. If you were buying it monthly you would get excited by the pretty nice stable of artists on the covers, but they are a complete 180 degrees compared to the inside. The visual storytelling is not done well. They seemed to stick with 9 panels per page (perhaps at the insistence of Aaron) only varying those sizes slightly for most of the books. This really seemed to restrict the flow of action, sometimes making it difficult to figure out what is going on.
If you are a GR fan, it's probably a necessary read and if you like the horror/slaughter/supernatural stuff this one's for you too.
A little background: I never understood why the devil/demon that gave Ghost Rider his powers, would want/allow him to use it for good. That just never made sense to me. Sometime before this volume, that was changed and revealed that it was actually the power of God passed through an angel. It was this angel's, Zadkiel's, responsibility to run the GR's like a "CIA black ops" team.
Well, Zadkiel turns bad and wants to take over heaven which is the basic plot thread running through the whole omnibus and the GR's have to overcome their differences to stop him. Along the way, Aaron adds to the explanation and history of GR's which I'm not sure was made up by him or he just expanded it.
Some of it I liked, mainly the initial arc, learning about these new revelations and the relationship between Blaze and Ketch. The middle of the Omnibus seemed to wander a little bit, although it was still heading toward the conclusion. Describing the story is best exemplified by "grindhouse horror film", with over the top action and lots of decapitation and limbs being cut off. Some of the additional GRs through time and across the world are cool, some just seemed silly. There were things that could have been explained better and a few times the story seemed to jump, almost as if I was missing a page from the book (which is possible in a library book but there are no page numbers so it's hard to tell.)
One bad thing is the art. It's below average and gets only slightly better the second half of the book. If you were buying it monthly you would get excited by the pretty nice stable of artists on the covers, but they are a complete 180 degrees compared to the inside. The visual storytelling is not done well. They seemed to stick with 9 panels per page (perhaps at the insistence of Aaron) only varying those sizes slightly for most of the books. This really seemed to restrict the flow of action, sometimes making it difficult to figure out what is going on.
If you are a GR fan, it's probably a necessary read and if you like the horror/slaughter/supernatural stuff this one's for you too.
December 28, 2022
Do yourself a favor and read Daniel Way's Ghost Rider run (available as a Marvel Complete Collection) before jumping into this one. Your enjoyment of Jason Aaron's work on Ghost Rider highly depends on it.
March 31, 2025
So this one is an interesting one. I wanted to read this for the longest time always hearing this is the ultimate Ghost Rider run and was ecstatic they finally reprinted it last year.
I mean first of all it is good and I liked it, was a quick fast read compared to my binging of Claremont X-Men.
But its also got some horrendous art which was the norm for the mature gorey less popular characters and I don’t know but the bad art always made it more gross and left a grotesque taste in my mouth. What’s crazy is the cover art for the entire run is terrific and I feel had whoever was doing cover art done the art, it would make it a score higher.
But a lot of it is Jason Aaron finding his voice, one of his first comics working for Marvel, you see the world/lore building he expanded on in Dr Strange & Thor, the multiple Ghost Riders which crossed over to the multiple Thors but there is also some of Jason Aaron’s edgelord sensibilities which could be seen in his Punisher. You can feel this is an author slow discovering his voice. However it’s a focused story run, the Johnny & Danny team up is a lot of fun and Johnny finally gets his due as a badass character and overall its just a fun run. Very B movie esque mixed in with some grindhouse and body horror. Its crazy how Ghost Rider hasn’t gotten a proper film or tv show adaptation yet. He’s (they) are remarkable characters.
Besides the art there are few loose plot threads left in the end (sadly we didn’t get any great Ghost Rider runs afterwards) and the ending is very rushed especially the fight with Zadkiel which is built up for over 2 years only to end on a page.
I mean first of all it is good and I liked it, was a quick fast read compared to my binging of Claremont X-Men.
But its also got some horrendous art which was the norm for the mature gorey less popular characters and I don’t know but the bad art always made it more gross and left a grotesque taste in my mouth. What’s crazy is the cover art for the entire run is terrific and I feel had whoever was doing cover art done the art, it would make it a score higher.
But a lot of it is Jason Aaron finding his voice, one of his first comics working for Marvel, you see the world/lore building he expanded on in Dr Strange & Thor, the multiple Ghost Riders which crossed over to the multiple Thors but there is also some of Jason Aaron’s edgelord sensibilities which could be seen in his Punisher. You can feel this is an author slow discovering his voice. However it’s a focused story run, the Johnny & Danny team up is a lot of fun and Johnny finally gets his due as a badass character and overall its just a fun run. Very B movie esque mixed in with some grindhouse and body horror. Its crazy how Ghost Rider hasn’t gotten a proper film or tv show adaptation yet. He’s (they) are remarkable characters.
Besides the art there are few loose plot threads left in the end (sadly we didn’t get any great Ghost Rider runs afterwards) and the ending is very rushed especially the fight with Zadkiel which is built up for over 2 years only to end on a page.
Read
November 5, 2020Well, this was fun. My experience with Ghost Rider is virtually nil, but as a Jason Aaron fan I didn’t want to pass this up. It’s a wild ride. From this I gather that the best Ghost Rider stories need to embrace the character’s wackiness, and that’s what Aaron’s run does. Gun-toting nurses, ninja nuns, roadside zombies, and more. I also noticed a distinct Alan Moore Swamp Thing influence here. There’s an American road trip of sorts, after which Aaron retcons the Ghost Rider mythos by having Ghost Riders throughout time and across the world. At least I think this is a retcon. Either way, cool stuff.
Aaron’s typically strong Southern-tinged dialogue is on display, and the story moves fast. Some parts are better than others but I was never really bored reading this. My biggest complaint is the art which leaves more to be desired. Aside from some epic splash pages and all those flaming skulls, it never rises above decent.
Also, I would pay to see a Knuckles O’Shaugnessy series.
Aaron’s typically strong Southern-tinged dialogue is on display, and the story moves fast. Some parts are better than others but I was never really bored reading this. My biggest complaint is the art which leaves more to be desired. Aside from some epic splash pages and all those flaming skulls, it never rises above decent.
Also, I would pay to see a Knuckles O’Shaugnessy series.
March 10, 2026
A pretty solid continuation of Daniel Way's Ghost Rider. I really wasn't a fan of the artwork, which is a shame as Ghost Rider really shines with great art and Mark Teixeira's art when Way was writing was stunning. Would rate this higher if the art was better.
The story was a bit better though. I especially liked the 6 issue mini series where Johnny and Danny team up against Zadkiel. The first 15 or so issues were pretty solid too but the mini felt a lot more focused. Jason Aaron cranks up the humour and general wackiness (Gun nuns? Sure why not) which fits quite well with Ghost Rider.
Overall score: 3.5 / 5
The story was a bit better though. I especially liked the 6 issue mini series where Johnny and Danny team up against Zadkiel. The first 15 or so issues were pretty solid too but the mini felt a lot more focused. Jason Aaron cranks up the humour and general wackiness (Gun nuns? Sure why not) which fits quite well with Ghost Rider.
Overall score: 3.5 / 5
October 7, 2020
Fast paced and fun book that plays out like a Grindhouse exploitation film of the 70s. All about raising as much hell along the way as possible. This book featured cannibals, redneck zombie truck drivers, maniacal religious zealots with swords, machine gun nurses, shotgun nuns, and an apocalyptic war for Heaven. That’s not even to mention an exploration of the Ghost Rider mythology and an army of Riders. It doesn’t take itself seriously, so neither should you. Had a blast with this book.
March 12, 2024
If you wanna read a comic book that makes you feel like you're sitting in a cheap tattoo parlor that smells like pee, oh boy this is for you! It looks pretty on the shelf but once opened you're greeted by art that makes you question what you're looking at.
The characters are one-dimensional, the story drags on, it's choppy and juvenile, if you're a man under forty you're probably not gonna like this very much. This is a Ghost Rider book for people who still watch Manswers and enjoys it.
The characters are one-dimensional, the story drags on, it's choppy and juvenile, if you're a man under forty you're probably not gonna like this very much. This is a Ghost Rider book for people who still watch Manswers and enjoys it.
December 4, 2023
Some terrific world-building and lore expansion here, plus it’s great the way Aaron revels in the grindhouse aesthetics of Ghost Rider and his world. It’s the nature of superhero comics but it seems clear that the ending was pretty rushed here. But that’s classic Ghost Rider: big spectacles ending in crash landings.
May 9, 2020
I like Marvel runs best when they allow someone to give an auteurish take on a character and go all genre with it.
Like Iron Fist w/ Kung Fu, this is Ghost Rider but with Horror/Grindhouse. Its proto-Avengers 1MBC.
This is a "more palatable" Preacher told through a superhero lens.
Like Iron Fist w/ Kung Fu, this is Ghost Rider but with Horror/Grindhouse. Its proto-Avengers 1MBC.
This is a "more palatable" Preacher told through a superhero lens.
April 20, 2024
I've read it twice.Still give me the same joy.I LOVE GHOST RIDER!
May 26, 2024
It reads and looks more like a Vertigo book and that is a good thing. I really liked most of this mature run on Ghost Rider.
June 20, 2024
The ultimate story for any ghost rider fan
June 21, 2024
Imagine if Ghost Rider was a Preacher comic but neither Johnny nor Danny could say fuck because…it is a Marvel comic not a Vertigo comic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2025
Pretty good. Does a good job summarizing the first half of the run not included. Shows the history of the spirit of ghost rider pretty well. Would recommend for a good quick read.
January 23, 2015
I really wanted to like this volume and rate it higher, because Jason Aaron's story is the kind bizarro ride through horror and humor that fits the Ghost Rider to a T. However, the art on these issues is just horrid. Roland Boschi and Tony Moore were alright, but both have a style that is somewhat flat and bland. The real crime was Tan Eng Huat's pencils, which were exaggerated in all the wrong ways, and he kept forgetting to draw the eyes on the characters. He would draw them in one panel, but then forget in the next, or sometimes in the same panes a character would have one eye drawn but not the other. I'm not just talking about background characters, but sometimes the main character, even in damn close-ups, would be missing eyes. Seriously, it was like looking at an amateur's work, but even an amateur would have had someone remind them at some point. Gah, it bugged me so much the book lost a star.
March 28, 2011
I've been reading comic books for about twenty years and I've always thought Ghost Rider was sort of stupid. I wouldn't exactly say that Jason Aaron's take on the character has dissuaded me of that notion, but the way that he glories in what's goofy about the character with a serious face is a fun read. I wish Tony Moore had done more than two issues in this collection; his cracked character designs are a highlight.
December 30, 2012
This is a brilliant take on an old character that never made a lot of sense. Given the 21st century make-over, though, with a little bit of re-definition, Aaron and con spin a yarn that's true to the character's peculiar roots while doing something new and interesting. Aaron is particularly good at developing GR's biker-exploitation roots into a brilliant millieu of weird wide-spot-in-the-road towns, haunted roads, spectral truckers and demonic gun nuts. Great fun and highly recommended!
May 4, 2016
A wild ride, from start to finish. I've heard people dismiss this as unremarkable, or just "meh," but I had a lot of fun with it. A cool story that goes throughout the entire arc (though, admittedly, the arc isn't that long). Perfectly contained in a smaller-than-average omnibus, but I think it works well. Adds a lot of ramifications for the futures of Danny Ketch, Johnny Blaze and co. Overall, lots of fun, so if you can't find the Omni go grab the complete collections!
June 28, 2016
Such a great, fun series. Aaron's run on Ghost Rider was easily the best it's ever been. There's a great grimy, grindhouse feel to it, where you can feel the DNA of John Carpenter and Robert Rodriguez and trashy late-night horror movies in there. Aaron does a great job of finally giving Blaze a personality, and he introduces some great characters, like Kid Blackheart, The Deacon, and The Orb.
June 25, 2011
Very fast read. A fun mix of supernatural, horror, and humor. The only real negative is I didn't love the art. The artists involved were plenty talented, but none of them felt quite right for the project. The writing is great though.
January 12, 2011
Around 500 pages of pure ownage in the form of a guy with a flaming skull head and his haunted motorcycle.
June 4, 2012
This is the craziest, weirdest grindhouse movie that was never made. The story is great, but the art is inconsistent.
November 18, 2013
A snake slithering out of a monk's mouth while the town is attacked by skin-disease zombie things? What is not to like?
October 26, 2015
The Tony Moore storied were the best ones
July 23, 2016
jason aaron is perfect for anti-heroes !!!!!!!
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