Avengers #22-25: Challenge of the Ghost Riders

CHALLENGE OF THE GHOST RIDERS

Written by Jason Aaron
Penciled by Stefano Caselli
Published July-Oct 2019

   After yet another incident where Robbie Reyes' car tries to kill his little brother, he decides it's time to part with the spirit of vengeance. During an experiment at Avengers Mountain, Black Panther summons Daimon Hellstorm, the son of Satan, to help. Unfortunately, Robbie is instead sent to Hell and now faces original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze for a race for his power.

Oh, hello fellow flaming skull head man.

   Meanwhile, Damian accidentally allows the Avengers' armory to be possessed by demons. Further, the entire celestial that comprises their headquarters is reanimated, crying blood until Blade's tiny Man-Thing is able to get control over it. Eventually the demon takes it's form as Frank Castle - the Punisher, now Cosmic Ghost Rider of the future who's been expelled from hell by Johnny Blaze himself.

Haha! It's me! Another flaming skull head man.

   Their battle rages, and before long as he takes on as much as the Avengers can dish, they discover they're kind of on the same side. They prepare to take on Johnny Blaze together, but they'd better hurry. Robbie's hands are full, and now he has his deranged Uncle Eli squaring off against him in the body of a dead celestial. Using trickery like pulling out his dead parents, Eli smashes the Hell Charger to bits as Johnny Blaze takes the lead.

What a dick. First you pull out the dudes parents in hell, then you smash up his car.

   Finally getting the upperhand, the Avengers swing into battle. Joining Robbie with their own hell ship, they bring the fight directly to Johnny. While Thor and Blade take on Blaze together, Hulk uses a gamma blast to put Robbie in the lead. Coming down to the final push, Robbie wins... but before he's able to give a proper victory speech, Johnny Blaze disappears. Now finally free of his Uncle Eli's curse, Robbie bids his parents goodbye and decides that taking on the mantle of Ghost Rider isn't so bad.

BYEEEEEEEEEEE!

   The story concludes with Robbie taking his little brother on the ride of a lifetime.  And as the two brothers bond, Cosmic Ghost Punisher returns to the ethos. But as we finally catch up with Iron Man, it seems that the skull he’d found at the beginning of this series was his own fossilized head. It emits a burst of electricity and we see him trapped a million years BC just trying to survive. But what’ll happen next? We’ll have to wait to find out as this story comes to an unfinished conclusion. 

Hey wait guys - what about ME?!

   So nothing to drop for Jason Aaron’s Avengers run, and honestly that’s a good thing for a change. We all know what he’s capable of doing and every now and then, a simple story does the trick. Plus it adds more to the mysteries of Robbie Reyes as Ghost Rider. I liked it. A good quick read, and I give it an 8/10.

If you like this review, check out my video of it HERE.

You can also buy my physical copy of this book below:

Avengers #22 (Sold)
Avengers #23 (Sold)
Avengers #24 (Sold)
Avengers #25 (Sold)

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