Ghost Rider #33

I haven't read Ghost Rider on a monthly basis since the days of Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares. When I heard that Jason Aaron was writing Ghost Rider regularly my ears perked up and my interest was piqued, but looking at the art in the issues previous to this one, I was not impressed and could not bring myself to reading them just for the writing.

Then, comes the news that Tony Moore's jumping on art duties. Now I'm in. After reading this issue, I'm sooo in. I don't know what happned before this, but that doesn't really matter as this issus is mostly a recap and setup for the upcoming arc and boy, what a setup this is. In one issue, Aaron sprints through nearly a couple hundred years of Ghost Rider legacy, from the Civil War, Reconstruction, Prohibition, Trail of Tears, World Wars I & II. The story has Heaven taken over by the archangel Zadkiel, and a young caretaker doubting whether she has the strength to fight on with all of her personal support system has died or been destroyed. Aaron weaves the emotion into this history lesson very well and makes you really want her to take up the mantle and fight on, if only to keep the lagacy going.

Tony Moore's artwork here is some of the best this reader has ever seen and after you're done reading you'll be having debates on who's the best Ghost Rider of them all. The detail in every panel is amazing and his storytelling skills are very clear and deceptively simple. It's in your face and never lets up to let you breathe.

This book reminds of a Quentin Tarantino movie. All of Aaron's and Moore's influences and fetiches are right there on the page and you can just feel the energy and enthusiasm that went into creating this project. It's beautiful to watch and I cannot wait for the next issue.