Ghost Racers #4

Writer – Felipe Smith
Artist – Juan Gedeon
Colours – Tamra Bonvillain

The last issue left off with Gabe being forced to take part in the races at the Killiseum and this book picks right up as the race is on and Gabe discovers that for one, he does not like being an active part in the race and for another, he is actually a Spirit of Ignition as well.  None of that matters to Robbie and with Eli’s help, the spirit he is attached to, he rushes in to save the day but unless he can stop all of the other Ghost Racers, it may not do any good.  Juan Gedeon and Felipe Smith ramp things up before putting on the brakes to this series and it could not have gone any better or been any more exciting.  With its Death Race 2000-like story and the electrifying artwork by Gedeon, the book moves at a mile-a-minute and once it is over the only thought you have is that you wish it would continue.  Though it is good to see Robbie Reyes in action and his brother Gabe as well, it is the other Ghost Riders that really tug at the feelings as they have not been in action for quite some time.  If there is one thing you can be thankful for due to Secret Wars, it is that there are a lot of characters and concepts that are seeing the light of day once again.  Though a new Ghost Rider title would be great to see when this big event ends, an ongoing Ghost Racers title that features all of these characters would be even better.  One of the more interesting choices in this book was to make Arcade the villain, but as the book was essentially framed around a competition, it more than made sense.  Even better was the inclusion of Zadkiel, a little extra bit of Ghost Rider mythos to put the book just over the top.  The only thing that this book did not accomplish was furthering the Secret Wars storyline in any measure.  Where some books do, it seems that some books do not and frankly, that is perfectly all right.  What this title about an alternate dimension/timeline team of Ghost Riders did achieve, was telling the best possible story it could thanks to Smith and Gedeon. This was a highly entertaining series and worth every minute.

4.5 out of 5

Aquaman #44

Writer – Cullen Bunn
Artist – Alec Morgan, Art Thibert, Jesus Merino
Colours – Guy Major

Aquaman takes a step back from the action this issue and it finds our hero confronting Mera over where it all went wrong.  Suffice it to say, he soon finds out how, if not where.  Reuniting with Mera had to happen at some point and Cullen Bunn gives the reader the opportunity to see that sooner, rather than later.  It is a bittersweet moment for Arthur, but as he soon realizes, things went bad for a reason when the big reveal is made.  The man is more than little shocked and he now understands that everything that has been happening has not been due to Mera whatsoever, though just how he is going to fix it remains to be seen, especially after the cliff-hanger that we were left on.  Hopefully Bunn does not drag this tale out longer than is necessary, not that the man is known for doing so, but with the way the book was left off, you cannot help but wonder just where it will be going next.  Stepping in for Trevor McCarthy this issue on pencils is Alec Morgan with a little assistance.  His work is good, though a little more animated in nature than the title has seen ever since it began, but it would not be something you would want to see on the book very often due to the somewhat serious nature of the storylines that it tends to sport.  His style was a good fit for this particular story, but it will be nice to see McCarthy back on full-time. Still, this was a very well-done issue and more like these would not be a bad thing.

3.5 out of 5