Exclusive Marvel preview: Muscle car carnage continues in All-New Ghost Rider #4

Readers looking for astoundingly kinetic action in their superhero comics need look no further than Felipe Smith, Tradd Moore, and Val Staples’ All-New Ghost Rider, which puts Marvel’s resident spirit of vengeance in the body of a young Latino teenager living in gang-ridden South Central Los Angeles. Robbie Reyes’ love for muscle cars gives Ghost Rider a new mode of transportation in the form of a 1969 Dodge Charger, and artist Tradd Moore delivers some of the speediest, most powerful vehicular action sequences ever put on the page. Paired with Staples’ bold, expressive color palette, Moore’s art makes each issue of All-New Ghost Rider a nonstop thrill ride, turning up the intensity with each turn of the page.

Moore and Staples are an ideal team for writer Felipe Smith, who scripts an engaging, unpredictable tale about a young boy trying to support his disabled brother while fighting gangbangers hopped up on drugs that turn them into hulking monsters. Smith’s take on classic Avengers villain Mr. Hyde as an inner-city drug supplier has given Robbie a strong nemesis for his first arc, and Moore is clearly having a lot of fun drawing the inhumanly exaggerated musculature of Hyde and his drugged-out goons.

In this preview of All-New Ghost Rider #4, Robbie’s bond to his demonic possessor strengthens after a white-knuckle fight choreographed like a pro wrestling match on speed, showcasing the incredible energy Moore brings to each panel. Marvel’s September solicitation for this series contains the ominous line, “A blazing hot trail comes to an end,” but hopefully, that doesn’t mean this title is ending. All-New Ghost Rider is one of Marvel’s most captivating character reinventions, and this wild ride should be allowed to move forward until its creative team runs out of steam.