Review: Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance #1
I honestly don’t remember much about Vengeance, the Ghost Rider also-ran. I remember he existed and the design but as a whole the specifics elude me. Thankfully, Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance catches readers up with a nice recap of what you need to know and why the character is important.
Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance lays things out in its title. It’s a one-shot that’s focused on the return of the character. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Michael Badilino, aka Vengeance, is in Hell, held prisoner for whatever reasons. With threats of torture and being forced to battle for his life, Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance is a prison break story.
Your enjoyment of the comic will really depend on how much you care about the Ghost Rider corner of the Marvel Universe or the character. This is a piece of whatever puzzle is being put together for all of that. It’s a jailbreak story with a beginning, middle, and end, but that’s about it. There’s little more than that and Badilino’s background. It’s a chapter of whatever is going on with Ghost Rider and the battle in Hell.
Howard Mackie’s story is fine. It doesn’t stand out in any way but also isn’t terrible either. It feels like a throwback to the comics of the 1990s when Vengeance was a thing. The dialogue is a bit cheesy and there’s a slight choppiness to the narrative. But, it’s a straightforward story. There’s little that’s surprising and a few things you just need to accept.
Javier Saltares handles the art. Saltares is joined by Marc Deering on ink, Arif Prianto on color, and Joe Sabino on lettering. The art too is a bit of a throwback though the opening has a bit of a modern feel to it. There’s not a whole lot that screams “Hell” to me beyond the demons on the page. It feels like a missed opportunity. There’s some details dropped in characters and panels as well that makes the art just ok.
There’s nothing bad about Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance but there’s also little that stands out. It’s a perfectly entertaining comic in a turn off your brain sort of way. The comic exists as part of the big picture plans for Ghost Rider and that corner of the Marvel Universe. It doesn’t really stand on its whole but it gets the motorcycle rolling for whatever is to come for Vengeance.
Story: Howard Mackie Art: Javier Saltares
Ink: Javier Saltares, Marc Deering Color: Arif Prianto Letterer: Joe Sabino
Story: 6.75 Art: 6.95 Overall: 6.85 Recommendation: Read
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Amazon – Kindle – Zeus Comics
“CLONE CONSPIRACY” TIE-IN! Even a super hero’s life can get boring. Double-check your gear. Patrol the city. Save the innocent. Report back to your boss, The Jackal. Wait, what? Why is Prowler working for The Jackal? What does the resurrected Madame Web have to do with him? And what has Prowler already done that may have compromised him?!I haven’t been paying much attention to the major crossover going through the Spider-Man books – hell, I haven’t paid much attention to Spider-Man since the latest first issue – but there was something about this book that looked intriguing to me, although I couldn’t pinpoint what that was even after reading the comic. Y’see, I realized half way through that I knew nothing about the Prowler from the 616 Marvel Universe, but did that stop me from enjoying the tie-in?
