Danny Ketch is back and in the flesh. And he's a VILLAIN? Surely you can't be serious?

Not necessarily. But we'll get to that later.

I commented last time that this book was a remarkable change of pace from the tongue-in-cheek utter goofiness of the original arcs and boy does it keep with that feeling. This book is the midnight showing of Evil Dead with a second showing of Night of the Living Dead to a packed house full of men, women, and children howling at the screen. It's the late night grindhouse showing movies from Sweden with cowgirls and spacemen and motorcycle gangs fighting devils in graveyards.

This book is everything a person could want in comic book form. It's pulp. It's noir. It's grindhouse. It's horror. It's Road Warrior meets Shaun of the Dead meets Evil Dead meets everything you missed about Ghost Rider.

Okay, now for some actual commentary. Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze is burning a trail out of town when he meets up with the Nasty Nurses (who want him and his cargo, Lucas, dead) and the Cannibal dude who is tied to the deaths on Highway 18 with the cop whose hand he is eating. And they all converge on the same point, and Johnny loses his cargo, Lucas, the one person who knows how to defeat Zadkiel. The one person Johnny needs.

But Johnny gets stopped by the Nurses and has to take them down with some hard-fought and well deserved Vengeance and good lord does he let them have it. The fight is brutal, bloody, and probably deserving of a MAX title on the front, but there he is, Johnny Blaze, smack in the middle of the Marvel Universe. The same dude who fought the Hulk and got his ass handed to him.

And Lucas, while trying to escape, gets stopped by Danny, and Danny tells him the only way out. The only way out of the grasp of Zadkiel, the only way to truly be free, isn't be defeating Zadkiel. It won't occur helping Johnny. Suicide is the ticket out of this hell that is his life. And Lucas pulls the trigger. And Johnny can't save him. So what does he need?

Someone else to enact his vengeance upon for the time being, and that Cannibal guy sure looks like a worthy adversary. But the Deputy gets in his way and gets the Penance Stare as he apparently was a bad man himself. And then the Cannibal gets his and Highway 18's curse is lifted.

And it all ends with a splash page, highly reminiscent of the first issue of Howard Mackie's early 90s Ghost Rider series with Dan Ketch Ghost Rider on the cover. And there he is, in all his glory. Danny Ketch. His motorcycle. And a mission. He works for Zadkiel (supposedly) and is in direct opposition of Johnny. But why?

I don't think he's a villain. As Zadkiel is an angel and Ghost Rider/Johnny is a weapon of Heaven now (again, think Spawn around issue 75, and if you don't get the reference, then check out the wiki page), there has to be more to this. Danny is a weapon of Zadkiel as well. Maybe, just maybe, he's the new Caretaker. And maybe, just maybe, we're getting set-up with an all-new version of the Ghost Rider mythos that I love SO much.

Maybe Barbara Ketch may make her way back into the book. Maybe Scarecrow and Blackheart and VENGEANCE can make their way back into this book. Code Blue even. Danny Ketch making his way back into this book opens the door to a million possibilities, and Jason Aaron is perfectly suited to take the book to wonderful new heights.

And I will follow this book into those heights. My love for Ghost Rider is reignited and I cannot be happier. I am sad to see Roland off the book next month, but Tan Eng Huat is the next arc's artist, and his art couldn't be any stronger. His art back on Doom Patrol was glorious and it's good to see the old clean lines back, but I really hope to see Roland back soon. His work was strong, and his G-Rider reminds me of Adam Kubert's mixed with Pop Mhan. Which is a good thing.

Book of the week. If you don't follow it, get with it. If you like awesome things or Grindhouse stuff, this is the book for you. Take a look and turn the lights down and get the candles out. The devil might be calling for your soul soon enough.