Wolverine/Ghost Rider: In Acts of Vengeance


By Howard Mackie, Mark Texeira & Harry Candelario (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0022-9

From that dubious period of “Grim ‘n’ Gritty” super-heroics in the early 1990s comes this slight but entertaining fast-paced pairing of Marvel’s (then) most savage champions which originally ran as the lead series in the fortnightly anthology Marvel Comics Presents #64-70, although dyed-in-the-wool continuity buffs should be warned that the connection to the company’s crossover event Acts of Vengeance is oblique – if not downright tenuous.

From his insalubrious bar on the pirate stronghold of Madripoor the globe-trotting mutant Wolverine is lured back to New York by a blatantly inept attack carried out by ninjas belonging to vampiric super-villain Deathwatch. Meanwhile Dan Ketch, human host of the fearsome Ghost Rider, finds one of his oldest friends also the target of similar ninjas.

The heroes’ paths cross with a karate instructor whose family also has a grudge against the criminal mastermind and all converge on the life-leech’s skyscraper headquarters for a surprise or two and a climactic showdown…

This yarn is just a stylish excuse for a big chase and huge fight – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – so on those terms, this is a visceral, vicarious, effective use of the creators’ talents, with the added bonus of the introduction of yet another mutant superstar-in-waiting (I think he’s still waiting, even now) in the form of the unstoppable martial arts manhunter code-named Brass.

Sometimes no-frills cathartic comics combat is all you want from graphic narrative, and if you ever get that feeling this might be the book to buy…
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