Writing: Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell
Art: Jim Lee and Art Thibert
Update: Click here for Part 2 and Part 4.
What Went Down: Once again, sorry I’m missing part two. This is part three of a four part crossover with Ghost Rider; I’ve never read the Ghost Rider issues, but presumably Ghost Rider randomly goes to New Orleans, encounters the Thieves and Assassins Guilds, and learns that they have been infected by the Brood before being infected himself. Also the X-Men are probably there to. Update: After reading the issues in question, turns out I was right. Am i good or am i good?
Anyways, the beginning of this issue starts with the Blue Squad plus Bella Donna (Gambit’s wife, or is it X-Wife—get it, ah ha ha) encountering Ghost Rider as he transforms into a half Brood/half Spirit of Vengeance. Yes, it’s Motivation for Pointless Super Hero vs. Super Hero Fight #56, the bad guy gains control over one of the parties involved.
Some Brood “slaymasters” also show up, and a very large battle ensues. Belle demonstrates some pretty impressive energy powers, which leads Gambit to question where she got them. Also, Jubilee freaks out and runs away because the Brood are supposed to be really scary, and Brood Ghost Rider is supposed to be even scarier.
The floor collapses. Afterwards Belle reveals she still has feelings for Gambit when she demonstrates concern for his wellbeing. Meanwhile, the reason you bought this comic in the 90’s—Wolverine and Ghost Rider fight for two whole pages. Ooooh. During the fight, Ghost Rider demonstrates signs that his human host, Dan Ketch, is fighting the Brood possession, so he runs away.
Elsewhere, Cyclops helps Psylocke out of some rubble, and Psylocke makes a pass at him. He responds as you’d expect; he acts incredibly uncomfortable and then pretends to ignore it.
Somehow Jubilee winds up alone, and ends up stumbling into a chamber where the aliens are holding members of the two guilds prisoner. Rogue finds her and both of them free the prisoners. They mention that the guilds’ children are being held in a different place. Then Ghost Rider shows up again.
All of the X-Men wander in to help fight Ghost Rider. Using her psi-blade, Psylocke manages to enter Ghost Rider’s mind. Surprisingly, Bella Donna goes in with her, although neither woman knows how. Together they fight the Brood essence controlling Ghost Rider, but Belle gets injured before killing it. Upon returning to the real world, Ghost Rider is back to normal, but Belle is dying. Gambit comforts her as she dies.
The comic ends with everyone striking a dynamic pose and explaining how they still have to save the captive children. Unfortunately, I don’t have Ghost Rider #27 either, so just assume that the kids get saved, and nothing monumental happens to the X-Men. Update: click the link above.
How It Was: Well, it’s a big, dumb issue long fight scene; it’s not the best comic battle you’ll ever read, but it’s nice, light fun. The highlight of the issue is the dialogue by Scott Lobdell; he writes some exceptional funny banter, especially for the Beast and Jubilee. Moreover, he manages to convey some tragedy during the death of one-off character Bella Donna. The scene where Gambit tells her he would’ve chosen her is just perfect, as the panel cuts to both Rogue and Jubilee looking completely shocked and devastated.
The art is spectacular as always, although it’s never really clear where the fight is taking place. While it’s probably explained in the second part of the story, it would still be nice for the writer or artist to place a reminder or something. At first it looks like everyone is in a sewer, but then the floor gives out, and everybody falls into what still looks like a sewer. Furthermore, how do all the X-Men get separated when they all fall straight down through the floor?
My big problem with this issue is that it seems like an unnecessary crossover; the only reason this story exists is because the X-Men and Ghost Rider were both really popular characters at the time, and Marvel wanted to see if they could get some cross promotional action going. I guess I’ve just never really liked Ghost Rider as a character because he just comes off as a generic antihero with a really cool design, especially during the 90’s when comics were overflowing with antiheroes. Some people might say that I haven’t given the character a chance, and if I read the series regularly I’d discover how complex and interesting he is.
Here’s how I see it, when it comes to comic characters, there are certain defining stories that any fan could hand to an interested party to experience the best of what the book or character has to offer. This isn’t one of those stories, but the X-Men have a bunch of them, as do Batman, Spider-Man, etc. My point is that I don’t see a lot of people waving around any specific Ghost Rider story like X-Men fans might mention ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ or ‘Days of the Future Past’ or even possibly ‘Messiah Complex.’ Every story I have ever read with Ghost Rider in it, as well as the atrocious movie, has only reinforced my opinion that he was briefly popular in the 90’s because he’s visually interesting, not because there is any substance behind his character.
Man that was a heck of a tangent, but still relevant. Anywho, it’s a fight that is nice to look at, but doesn’t do anything to utilize Ghost Rider, other than to make him look even more bigger and over the top. But some nice X-character moments push this comic above mediocre.
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