Marvel Now Reviews

All-New Ghost Rider #1 is a gritty, more adult oriented take on an old character who was in dire need of a reimagining. This Ghost Rider is a new character altogether and one who hopefully will eventually be a bigger part of the Marvel Universe, because this first issue was awesome.

Robbie Reyes is the new Ghost Rider, and as the covers and previews have shown, he's less about bikes and more about cars. His life has been spent protecting his young handicapped brother and earning a wage to support his family, but things don't quite work out so well and the spirit of vengeance enters the picture. This first issue sets a pretty dark tone for the rest of the book, and it's a little more graphic than I was expecting. Not that that's a bad thing.

Tradd Moore's art is as good as his work on Luther Strode, so fans of the style will enjoy this. Felipe Smith lets Tradd do a lot of the talking in certain sections, many of which are just atmospheric and silent panels. For those who aren't fans of the art style, there's still a lot to be enjoyed from the pacing and the story itself.

This seems like one of the All-New Marvel NOW! titles that's easy to overlook, or even one of the books that fits a niche reader base, but All-New Ghost Rider has been one of the better titles of the lineup. Whether or not that momentum can sustain at $3.99 will have to wait to be seen, but if the rest of the series is anything like this first issue, there shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully more fans unfamiliar with Ghost Rider will give this one a shot.

Silver Surfer #1

It's been a while since Silver Surfer has had his own book, and Marvel chose a good creative team to breathe new life into the character. This first issue is a good choice for fans of the Surfer, and it offers a bit of insight into his role as Herald for newcomers.

Not much to say about the story as of yet, as it really only picks up with the final couple pages. It seems like Bendis (unsurprisingly) has a long term plan with this one, but hopefully it'll branch out to some of the other cosmic Marvel titles after a while and experiment with a few other characters.

Allred's simple art style was a good choice, though it might not be for everyone. Bendis is as good as he ever is with story and dialogue, so fans of his other work should enjoy Silver Surfer #1 as well.