Ghost Rider # 13 - Apocalypse Soon

I am amazed...most of the time these tie ins suck. But this and The Initiative was great. Hulk vs Ghost Rider...Yeah you know the Hulk is going to whip his ass. And the end was great showing the battered Black Bolt and Iron Man. Mr Fantastic and Dr Strange both worried as hell was also great. And the internal struggle to control the Ghost Rider was good. John trying to talk to Hulk because he understood the thing about something inside controlling you was funny because the Hulk was not interested in hearing it. I totally trashed this series last issue but this is great.

They were making a point with this book. Many readers were wondering why they had to take Ghost Rider off his path (a boring path by the way, but I'll stick with the cross-over story arch) to come and fight the Hulk. I honestly believed we'd see a "Champions" reunion of some sort. What I got was Marvel making a point about the current storyline. While it took away from what was presently going on, the point was made well. Whose really the villain in this whole affair. The answer to that question is what take World War Hulk from just a mindless massive cross-over event to a story that's about something.

(Spoilers Abound)

I think it's safe to say we all knew Ghost Rider wasn't going to be the one to take down the Hulk. The Rider's series only last for two comics inside th WWH saga, but it still was fun and interesting to see what

would unfold.

I was a little surprised at the destruction that took place in the tussle between these two. Let's add this up shall we?

1 sky-scraper completely destroyed - check

1 subway car pulled through from the underground - check

1 gigantic hole in the ground from Hulk smash - check

HALF a city block blown up by Ghost Rider - check

1 tank cut in two by Rider's motorcycle - check

What does all this add up to?

One enormous swift kick to the reader's balls.

Any questions?

Remember when you quivered in fear of the dreaded crossover tie-in, then you read World War Hulk: X-Men and thought maybe they finally figured out a way to do it right? Well you can thank Daniel Way for making sure you don't forget that most tie-ins suck.

After writing Ghost Rider for over a year now, Way still hasn't established his Ghost Rider clearly and remains inconsistent from issue to issue. GR's power levels here are completely inconsistent with everything that was shown in the last 12 issues. For some reason it seems Ghost Rider had just as much trouble (if not more) fighting Jack O'Lantern (possessed by Lucifer) as he did the Hulk. Here it seems the Rider can literally pull down skyscrapers with his chain and displays other power levels we haven't seen since the series rebooted. Why wasn't he displaying this kind of power while fighting the mediocre villains he has had to deal with thus far? Oh... and this issue even makes a point to tell us that his powers are only a fraction of what they usually are because Johnny Blaze is in control.

Speaking of Johnny Blaze... remember how much of a bad ass Blaze was back in the Midnight Sons? Well, something happened to that Johnny Blaze, because here he acts like he's never seen action before and doesn't know what to do half the time. I wonder if Daniel Way did any research into the character at all when he was given the assignment of being the regular writer on an ongoing Ghost Rider series? I doubt it.

What was the whole point of this WWH Tie In? I'll tell you... it was to deliver a message... a message that all the other tie ins have already pointed out, including The Incredible Hulk, and the main series World War Hulk. The events in this issue have no lasting effect on ANYONE. Not Ghost Rider, not Hulk, no one in the Marvel Universe... NO ONE.