Review by John Amenta

All New Ghost Rider #8

Writer- Felipe Smith
Pencils- Damion Scott

Writer Felipe Smith finally starts to unravel his long game for this series 8 issues in. Up until this point, there were no connections made between Robbie Reyes’ version of Ghost Rider with any of the prior characters to wear the title. Also,we knew little about Eli Morrow,the spirit that revived Robbie from the dead in issue 1 and imbued him with supernatural powers and an otherworldly hot rod.

This issue connects the dots, as Robbie runs afoul of Johnny Blaze, Marvel’s spirit of vengeance and well known Ghost Rider. Johnny is not happy that someone is using his shtick and a fight ensues between the two, in which Robbie escapes. During the fight, Johnny feels something is wrong with this version, that there are two spirits in control,and he senses great evil in Eli. Up until this point in the series, Eli has become more and more adamant that Robbie use his new powers to smite evil,while Robbie just uses them to win money in races,to provide for his younger handicapped brother. Johnny does some research and realizes that Eli was a devil worshipping serial killer in life,and as he makes this discovery,he takes over Robbie’s body to enact a mission of personal vengeance,which is where the issue ends.

I’ve really enjoyed this take on GR since issue 1, the story has been solid and Robbie is an interesting new character to the Marvel canon. The art has been less my cup of tea, as it feels to have a heavy manga influence, and I find the action hard to follow at times. I have always been a story over art reader, so as long as Smith gives me a fresh, interesting take on a classic Marvel property, I’m in.

4 stars out of 5