Johnny Blaze and the Spirit of Vengeance are burning across movie screens this week and, fingers crossed, the movie looks pretty promising. It only makes sense that Marvel is making sure there are some Ghost Rider comics on the shelves for new fans to check out. Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears is an unusual choice, but one that definitely deserves reader's attention.
It makes sense that the Spirit of Vengeance has been around a lot longer than Blaze or follow-up host Danny Ketch. Trail of Tears, by Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain, takes us way back to the Civil War (the real one, not the Marvel one) for a look at an earlier incarnation of the flaming-headed one. Protagonist Travis Parham is a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army. He starts out as a gung-ho soldier fighting for his cause, but one horrific battle leaves him injured, disillusioned, and out of the war. He is taken in by a former slave who worked to earn the freedom of his family. During his recovery, Travis learns a lot about himself and discovers a mysterious altar adorned with brightly burning skulls....
I'll reveal my bias up front: I've never met a Garth Ennis comic I didn't like. Of course, Ennis is most known for over-the-top crazy violence and the darkest of dark humor. Books like Preacher, the Punisher, and The Boys push the envelope for just what you can get away with in a comic before the peasants rise up and chase you off with pitchforks and torches. Ennis is the go-to guy for gritty, macho heroes-guys who would kick you in the knackers as soon as look at you. However, he is also a prolific writer of seriously researched and realistic war stories.
Trail of Tears is very much a product of this more serious side of Garth Ennis. Parham's war is politically complex and utterly horrific. Being on the battlefield leaves Travis a changed man, a man with a lot to think about. The complexity and horror of war is perfectly realized by Crain's amazing artwork. The opening scenes, detailed and grim, do not paint a glamorous picture of this often romanticized war. The few glimpses we get of the Spirit of Vengeance (Don't expect any full-on flaming skull action in this first issue!) have some serious super-natural weight. In the wrong hands, the whole flaming demon skull thing could come across as just silly fantasy, here it is seriously spooky stuff.
Just because there isn't a cool burning biker in this series, don't overlook Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears! This is a different, but exceptionally good, take on the character. Try it now while it is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week!
It makes sense that the Spirit of Vengeance has been around a lot longer than Blaze or follow-up host Danny Ketch. Trail of Tears, by Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain, takes us way back to the Civil War (the real one, not the Marvel one) for a look at an earlier incarnation of the flaming-headed one. Protagonist Travis Parham is a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army. He starts out as a gung-ho soldier fighting for his cause, but one horrific battle leaves him injured, disillusioned, and out of the war. He is taken in by a former slave who worked to earn the freedom of his family. During his recovery, Travis learns a lot about himself and discovers a mysterious altar adorned with brightly burning skulls....
I'll reveal my bias up front: I've never met a Garth Ennis comic I didn't like. Of course, Ennis is most known for over-the-top crazy violence and the darkest of dark humor. Books like Preacher, the Punisher, and The Boys push the envelope for just what you can get away with in a comic before the peasants rise up and chase you off with pitchforks and torches. Ennis is the go-to guy for gritty, macho heroes-guys who would kick you in the knackers as soon as look at you. However, he is also a prolific writer of seriously researched and realistic war stories.
Trail of Tears is very much a product of this more serious side of Garth Ennis. Parham's war is politically complex and utterly horrific. Being on the battlefield leaves Travis a changed man, a man with a lot to think about. The complexity and horror of war is perfectly realized by Crain's amazing artwork. The opening scenes, detailed and grim, do not paint a glamorous picture of this often romanticized war. The few glimpses we get of the Spirit of Vengeance (Don't expect any full-on flaming skull action in this first issue!) have some serious super-natural weight. In the wrong hands, the whole flaming demon skull thing could come across as just silly fantasy, here it is seriously spooky stuff.
Just because there isn't a cool burning biker in this series, don't overlook Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears! This is a different, but exceptionally good, take on the character. Try it now while it is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week!
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