All-New Ghost Rider #4

The Good

Not to take anything away from writer Felipe Smith, but the artwork of Tradd Moore, along with the colors of Val Staples, is the coolest part of this book. Moore's art is gorgeous and Staples' colors are the perfect fit and feel to the art. Not only does this style give GHOST RIDER it's own look and feel, it also gives this book a creepily sinister tone. A more cartoonish style, which Moore is known for, featured in a story about coming back from the dead and bringing justice back to the streets feels so wrong, as fans are more accustomed to a darker/grittier style for a story like this.

However, that animated style is unsettling, when compared to the story, and the book becomes so much creepier because of it. His art is phenomenal throughout the issue, but the last two pages are awesome. It's 5 panels, spread out across the two pages, of the 5 storylines, and their characters, going on in this book. It's not a huge cliffhanger or reveal though. It's just a perfect way to end the issue.

In this issue, Smith is planting the seeds that Eli Morrow, the spirit inside of Robbie, which turns him into the Ghost Rider, and Robbie are becoming more connected and bonding and it's changing Robbie. This is a very cool idea to slowly have the Rider influence how Robbie looks when he's not out hot rodding around town.

Smith covers Robbie's home life pretty well here as well. Robbie is still deciding things like whether or not he's going to college, helping out his brother, and flat-out trying to be the good person he actually is. Robbie is easily one of the cooler new characters in the ALL-NEW Era of Marvel and one that has a ton of heart, which is shown each issue.

The Bad

The second evolution, or third, depending on how you look at it, of Grumpy is a bit too out there. While Tradd Moore's art lends to things within this book being a bit "bigger" and more cartoony, the four-armed, overly-muscular Grumpy is just a bit too much for this book and comes off as a tad silly.

There's a lot going on in this issue and it's not poorly written by any means, but it feels like the focus should be a bit more Robbie and Eli Morrow (the spirit inside of Robbie) and how all of that happened, rather than the scientist creating these drugs, which isn't as interesting of a story line, mainly because this new character and his powers are so new.

The Verdict

ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER continues to be an incredibly fun book that has some brilliant art in it. Robbie Reyes is a very compelling character and the only real downside of the issue is that I wish they spent a little more time on Reyes and Morrow rather than going through the Grumpy and scientist story. Overall, though, this is still a top book and continues to impress me. I highly recommend it because it's a wild ride... pun intended.

Have to wait another week or two to read this (dang getting comics by mail) this has been a great series so far, glad it's getting reviewed

I'm probably the biggest fan of the series. I live in the SoCal/Los Angeles area and I'm Latino. I have enjoyed the series so much, only thing I dislike is the long wait until I get to read the next issue. SPOILERS! I had read that they were going to change Robbie's design and I guess it turned out to be true, bummer. Hope this series lasts.

@jrod64: In all honesty, it should not be that big of deal many characters are made to look like pop stars as long as Robbie does not meet him like the Thing and Johnny met the Beetles it will be all good :p

This book is just awesome, it's so stylized and feel like I am reading a live action anime that Kohta Hirano designed.

never thought id like this series...but its starting to grow on me

Tradd Moore has some of THE most dynamic artwork in the industry. Great stuff.

I also love the way the darkness of this series is always balanced out by just how damn good an older brother he is. It's extremely touching.

Hate this book.

Hate the art, hate the story.

@ripcurl: So don't but it or read it.

It's a great title. One of the top 3 that I look forward to each month. It's nice to have a new character that people actually like.

@ripcurl: Thank you for your great addition to the discussion.

This is one of my all time favorite titles each month. Just something about it always hits with me. I'm liking a lot of the elements they're throwing in the book. lol I found myself aggreeing with the girls and their opinion of him shaving his head, hopefully he grows it back, cause I don't trust Eli one bit. Nope.

Was it confirmed anywhere that spirits name is Eli Morrow? If it was I think I missed that part.

Loved that Cyclops "cameo"

@clawfist: I heard a couple weeks ago that they were going to change his design to avoid confusion with Zayn, the guy from One Direction, who happened to have a similar hairstyle to Robbie. I guess it turned out to be true. I wish they would've just removed the blonde streak instead.

@jrod64:

I wish they would of just left his design alone. The blonde streak felt like a foreshadowing to the forehead blower on his Ghost Rider form, a lot like how Logan's hair matches the horns on his mask, you know? I liked it alot. I can accept the change if it's story related, though. He's slowly being influenced by Eli, and when he finds out Eli isn't as benevolent as he appears, maybe he grows his hair back out. >:D

I forgot the name of the spirit inside of him, but I like their dynamic. And I like who it it likes his little brother.

@xthumper32x:

Ok, I won't but it or read it.

:p

liking this book