Ghost Rider, Vol. 1: Vicious Cycle [Paperback]

Daniel Way (Author), Mark Texeira (Illustrator), Javier Saltares (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 2007

Once upon a time, Johnny Blaze made a deal with the Devil - and to no one's surprise but his own, he got shafted. Now trapped in hell, with the Spirit of Vengeance bonded to his immortal soul and weighing him down, Johnny may have finally found a way out. But at what cost? From the depths of Hell to the glittering spires of Heaven, the Ghost Rider rides again, blazing new trails and dispensing fiery vengeance in his wake. The demonic team of Daniel Way, Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares reunite to put ol' Flamehead back in the saddle where he belongs. Ready or not, here he comes! Collects Ghost Rider (2006) #1-5.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (January 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785122966
• ISBN-13: 978-0785122968
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #670,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghost rider rides again, March 18, 2007

By 

J. Bettini - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ghost Rider, Vol. 1: Vicious Cycle (Paperback)

Long time Reader of ghost rider comics. I was always intrested in a demon who despensed justice. After reading road to damnation I hoped that they would restart the ghost rider and they did in a big way. The return of Jhonny blaze as the host and a Spirit that seems to be Kale Noble (second ghost rider spirit). Is a great way to bring people back into old flame head. the story does a great job of summing up the basics of ghost riders history and were things will be going, a minor complant is I would like to know how much time had pasted in the marvel universe since the rider was last on the road. But if you are a fan of ghost rider I recommend this story or if you liked the movie enough to get intrested this is a great rebirth to one of marvels classics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly Entertaining Start, December 25, 2010

By 

J "iamJandyouarenot" (Wash DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost Rider, Vol. 1: Vicious Cycle (Paperback)

As Marvel tends to do anytime a new movie that has anything to do with their characters hits the multiplex, we have here a relaunch book starring an already established character.

With story from Daniel Way and art from the Ghost Rider veteran team of Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares we get a fairly good start to Ghost Rider's newest ongoing series.

I must admit that this is my first experience with Daniel Way. I hadn't heard many great things about his Deadpool or Wolverine work, but he's okay here. His writing certainly isn't fantastic, but he gets done what he needs to.

The plot is simple enough. Lucifer uses Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider to escape from hell. Lucifer's escape plan, however, hits a snag and he ends up scattering his own essence over the mortal plane. Blaze/Ghost Rider then vows to stop Lucifer from reunifying himself into one complete essence/being on Earth. Wackiness and much punching ensues.

Way does a good job of reintroducing the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider to an audience that may have more of a familiarity with the Danny Ketch incarnation of the character. Way's Blaze does however get a bit irritating fairly quickly as he has a tendency to try to solve all his problems by, you know, punching and kicking things a lot. A LOT. So, while Way's pacing is quick and gets the book to hit the ground running, his complexity and depth of character isn't too strong. But, really, this is a book about a motorcycle riding, flame-skulled skeleton fighting the devil, so I suppose in the beginning complexity and depth can take a pass. It does, however, make a reader a bit apprehensive for the rest of Way's run on the book. All action, no character development works to a degree for three issues or so, but for ten or fifteen issues? I think not.

The art is fantastic throughout. Texeira's heavily inked, dark, smokey, and smudged style have always appealed to me and it has always worked really well on darker, grittier books such as this one or as on his run on Punisher War Journal in the early 90's. The book looks good, like, REALLY good. Tex and Saltares have worked on Ghost Rider a fair amount at this point in their careers. They know what they are doing with the character and it shows.

So, it's an entertaining start. Way's writing is a little silly, sure, but snappy enough, and the art is very solid. Overall, it has its charms. If you're a Ghost Rider fan, pick it up.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghost Rider is Back!, August 26, 2008

By 

F. Keel - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ghost Rider, Vol. 1: Vicious Cycle (Paperback)

I never really got into the Ghost Rider comics until I recently saw the movie. The movie had this good old Americana style (the wild west, motorcycles, etc.) to it that I went ahead and picked up the new graphic novel called Vicious Cycle. It's a good read and it keeps you wanting to see more and more. I'm pretty sure it will affend some Christian and Jewish readers because it deals with Satanic themes including the character Johnny Blaze (aka the Ghost Rider) escaping from Hell and he brings the devil out with him. I am a Christian myself and I was troubled at times when the devil goes to the extreme to send people to Hell. The devil is portrayed as a sneaky evil liar, which is exactly how he is portrayed in the Bible. The creators even went to an extreme end to bring up the origins of how Johnny Blaze became the Ghost Rider in this issue. Ghost Rider is definately the darkest out of all the heroes in the Marvel Comics universe and is recommended for mature audiences. Vicious Cycle is a great graphic novel to pick up if you enjoyed the Ghost Rider movie.