Ghost Rider: Círculo vicioso

Ghost Rider (2006) (Collected Editions) #1

by Daniel Way, Mark Texeira (dibujo), Javier Saltares (dibujo)

Contiene Ghost Rider vol. 5, 1-5 USA.
¡La colección 100 % Marvel continúa con la nueva serie del Espíritu de la Venganza y su primer arco argumental: “Círculo vicioso”! Johnny Blaze hizo un trato con el Diablo. Ahora, atrapado en el infierno, ha encontrado una manera de escapar, pero, ¿cuál será el precio? Junto a él, alguien más ha huido, y el Motorista Fantasma debe llevarle de vuelta, antes de que consiga instaurar el hades sobre la faz de la tierra. En el camino, encontrará a ciertos enemigos que prefieren verle fracasar en tal misión. Y tal vez lo consigan. Guión: Daniel Way Dibujo: Mark Texeira, Javier Saltares

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Horror, Superheroes, Fantasy, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2007

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny Blaze the Ghost Rider is still in Hell being tormented by demons – that is until he meets someone who can help him escape back to Earth! But all is not as it seems…

Vicious Cycle wasn’t bad but I’m getting a bit sick of storylines where Ghost Rider 1) is stuck in Hell, and 2) gets easily tricked by supernatural creatures into unwittingly doing whatever for them. Johnny’s really coming off as a braindead dolt who kinda deserves his repetitive punishment!

We get to see Ghost Rider unleash his unique array of powers from the fire-breathing to the chains to the Penance Stare, which, coupled with his awesome bike and looks, makes him one of the coolest, and underrated, heroes Marvel has. He also has a fun fight/misunderstanding with Doctor Strange.

Mark Texeira’s painted art looks great too but then you’d have to be a pretty terrible artist to make Ghost Rider look bad – dude’s a flaming skeleton on a motorbike!

It’s a bit of a shallow and inconsequential story but Vicious Cycle is a decent start to Daniel Way’s Ghost Rider run and an entertaining enough story. The best Ghost Rider is still Jason Aaron’s who takes over from Way later on down the line but I’d still recommend both writers’ books for readers interested in this character.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...The fact of the matter is that you are so screwed that the truth of it all is better than any lie even I could come up with!"

Johnny Blaze was cursed to carry the Spirit of Vengeance which transforms him into the Ghost Rider whenever he is in the presence of evil. And now he's stuck in Hell. Every time he tries to reach Hell's gates to escape, he gets devoured by a mass of demons. Eventually, Johnny escapes but not without a "little" hitchhiker (AKA Lucifer). But while transitioning to Earth, Lucifer's physical form broke into 666 pieces which scattered to reanimate various recently deceased people. Now that the Ghost Rider is back, he'll have to kill every one of Lucifer's hosts on Earth to stop the rising chaos. The only problem is that every time a part of Lucifer gets destroyed, the other hosts all increase in strength and power. When there's only one left, not even the Ghost Rider himself will stand a chance.

Basically, this whole volume is just Johnny digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole, and it's strangely entertaining.

As the first Ghost Rider comic I've ever read, I'd have to say this was pretty good and satisfying. It might not have blown me away, but I still really enjoyed it. Actually, I'm not a huge fan of Johnny's personality as of now because he's not too bright at times, especially when it comes to his vengeance. But then again, it could just be due to his sad back story and trust issues.

Side note: That Doctor Strange cameo was gold. Love him.

I also liked the art style a lot, especially when the hell cycle and the Ghost Rider's skull came into play. Nice attention to detail.

Great start to this series. I recommend Ghost Rider: Vicious Cycle to all. 3.75

[L. McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

SUPER FAST REVIEW:
It’s hard to review books like this. It’s because this book is stupid but it entertained me at the same time.
I enjoyed the action and there’s some very good art but it also has terribly cheesy dialogue and the story is a tad silly. At the same time, it is sorta fun and has interesting elements but I don’t think I’ll be coming back for volume 2. That being said it’s not bad, it’s sorta entertaining but I wouldn’t make it a priority on your reading list.

3/5

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The new series begins, and once again, Johnny Blaze is tormented trying to escape hell every night.

Except this time...he makes it out. Only problem? Lucifer hitched a ride...

The Rider is back, and Blaze as his host is alive...ish...once more. However, Lucifer also made the trip back, but as he had no Earthly host, he bonded to 666 souls who were dying as he crossed over with Ghost Rider.

As he inhabits each dead person, Rider must take him out, but each time he does it, Lucifer gets stronger, until the last one will be all powerful...or so,I gather.

The weakest link here is Blaze. He's needing more dimensions. We get a cool run in with Dr. Strange, who The Rider thinks is Lucifer in a form, so Ghost Rider fucks Strange up. Not something you see every day!

A good strong start, but similarities with other series are present, in that the art is forefront, and the story isn't as bad as some, but there's room to grow.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting start. This is my first Ghost Rider book so slightly confusing. Is Doctor Strange a normal part of G.R.?

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! So I think this is what I was looking for when I wanted to get into Ghost Rider Comics earlier in the year! From what I read I did not like the direction Garth Ennis took; and although I like Robbie Reyes, I hated everything else about Felipe Smith's run! But this was almost perfect! So the story(at least for the first 5 issues), is Johnny Blaze is trapped in hell, by the devils doing, so he escapes, however he accidently brings the Devil with him to earth, so now Ghost Rider has to deal with him! The Story was quite good and original, and is just Daniel Way at his best! The Artwork is also quite good, its not your typical comic book art, and it just suits Ghost Rider so well! I would have given this 5 stars for the first arc alone; but then we have arc 2... So the last issues of this volume is a mini arc; which is again Ghost Rider vs The Devil; but with some of the most butt ugly artwork I have ever seen! Story wise it was fine, the artwork was a let down compared to the first arc! But overall, highly recommend for a Ghost Rider fan!

[Grant Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not read any Ghost Rider before but it interested me, flaming motorcycle and all, and the whole Heaven v Hell theme grabs my attention like an all you can eat buffet. But instead of something tasty to munch on it's an intriguing puzzle pieced together bit by bit.

[Kaotic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the current Ghost Rider series that I'm reading and I love it, the writing and art are both really great.

Mind you, I own the individual comics, not the trade paperback. Which is what this is, but this is the only version I saw that looked right, and I've read past this point.

I don't know why everyone is hateful of this series, it's got wonderful art (I am an artist so I am INCREDIBLY critical of others art, it's not an easy profession, trust me), a compelling story, and great wit.

I guess people are just never happy. This is quite a detailed and interesting series from what I've read so far.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as hard-boiled, flame-headed comics go, this was a good example of the form. A solid setup for a series, but not quite compelling enough for me to continue at this stage—the art in the following volume looked more like MAD magazine material than the kind of quality I prefer, which was enough to turn me off continuing.

[Elli]

This was an entertaining read. Trust me to wait till last second to read it before it as to be back at the library. It kept me busy for a while and I loved the artwork. Also, bonus, Doctor Strange was in it!

[David López-Brea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una lectura para matar el tiempo. Eso sí, me flipa el personaje. Me flipa el dibujo.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Qué sé yo... Está bien, mucho fuego y quilombo y maldiciones y malos malosos y toda la bocha. El dibujo está muy bonito y la ambientación está bien lograda, pero tampoco es un comic imprescindible. Como me pasa con la mayoría de comic de Marvel que agarro: no está mal, pero tampoco es ninguna maravilla. Si la intención de los autores era entretener un rato, aprobado.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Book 50.
Here we get the tale of how Johnny Blaze originally became the Ghost Rider as well as learning about his later escape from Hell.

I've always like Ghost Rider, largely on the basis that he's got a flaming skull for a head, rides a motorcycle with flaming wheels and delivers ungodly vengeance to evildoers. It's a great premise for a dark comic book character by any measure.
Despite always liking him, however, I never knew the full story of the origins of the character and was intrigued to find out. It was a huge disappointment then to find out that not only is Ghost Rider's origin cheesy garbage, but the character of Blaze himself is, from day one, a complete moron.

There is something almost painful about finding out that this iconic character's famed deal-with-the-devil came about because someone he liked had cancer and Johnny's immediate response was to summon Satan to save that person from the cancer.
There is neither drama nor surprise when said character dies anyway, just not from cancer. But old Johnny Blaze acts like he's such a poor victim to have been so cruelly misled. By Satan. THE Satan.

The far more modern 'Vicious Cycle' by Daniel Way at least continues this theme, with Lucifer tricking Johnny into releasing him from Hell and going on to repeatedly trick Blaze over and over, constantly pointing out how stupid he is. There's not many stories where you sort of root for the Devil to defeat the hero on the grounds that the hero is blindingly stupid, but this is one.
Unfortunately, there's no resolution nor great cohesion to Way's portion of this book and it too feels hugely disappointing.

A big let-down for a long time Ghost Rider fan who was looking to learn a bit more about this ostensibly fascinating Faustian character.
Maybe it's because I grew up with the Danny Ketch incarnation...

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *

[Knižní Mixér · Rating 5 out of 5]

Na Ghost Ridera jsem byla opravdu zvědavá, přeci jen jde o postavu, která se dost vymyká běžnému prototypu marvelovského superhrdiny. Johnny Blaze je na první pohled sympaťák - obyčejný dobrosrdečný chlap, který naletěl ďáblovi, upsal svou duši a teď neví, jak z téhle šlamastyky ven. Nedivím se, že jeho příběh čtenáře zaujal od prvního čísla. Starší sešit "Marvel Spotlight" mě překvapivě hodně bavil. Kresba nebyla úplně nejhorší, dalo se na to koukat a i příběh plynul svižně a byl plný zajímavých zvratů. Novější "Začarovaný kruh" byl perfektní, a kdyby se i zbytek držel jeho kvality, dala bych jasných 100%. Líbila se mi kresba, bavil mě příběh a vysvětlení příchodu démonů na Zemi bylo prostě epické. Připomnělo mi to ty lepší řady seriálu Supernatural (Lovci duchů), kdy Sam s Deanem bojují proti Lilithiným pečetím. Skvělý nápad a já byla zvědavá, jak to dopadne. Samozřejmě se v tomto svazku rozuzlení nedočkáme - příběh končí nedokončeně a je mi to docela líto. Je mi jasné, že celou řadu (35 sešitů) do jednoho NHMka narvat prostě nejde, ale i tak je to škoda. Zajímalo by mě, jak to Johnny nakonec rozlouskne. A to i přesto, že mě poslední dva sešity docela zklamaly. Neladily ke zbytku knížky jak kresbou, tak zmateným stylem vyprávění a nejvíc mi vadilo, že se vytratilo to mrazivé temno, které mi ke Ghost Riderovi prostě sedělo. I tak hodnotím tento svazek velmi kladně a rozhodně jde o jedno z nejlepších dílek vydaných v rámci NHM...

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satan loves to dish out torture, be it physical or psychological. The Ghost Rider, formerly Johnny Blaze, is Satan's favourite subject. Satan uses Johnny's hope against him to torture the man within. But maybe the slug Greexix is something Satan didn't account for. Maybe it can help Johnny escape hell. It turns out to be another ruse authored by Satan to reach Earth.

Satan begins a murder spree, while Johnny struggles to stop him. Doctor Strange gets in the way. Johnny believes Strange is the devil in disguise and attacks, achieving the upper hand at first. He uses the Penance Stare, only to realise he is not facing the devil. Numecet shows up to bring Strange back to life and to clarify Johnny's position.

Johnny can travel freely between hell and Earth because he had an Earthly body that became the Spirit of Vengeance. Upon leaving hell, the devil broke up into 666 pieces that took control of as many dying people on Earth. The only way to send the devil back to hell is to kill the hosts. This is something the devil himself also wants - to eventually have his soul coalesce into a single body that contains his whole essence and power.

Johnny begins his quest, knowing that with each kill, the devil's remaining hosts will become stronger. It's uncertain if even he will have the power to defeat the devil once he becomes whole.

[Βαλάντης Δοξάκιερ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Johnny Blaze as ghost rider even the first movie with Nicholas Cage but I prefer now on even way more Frank Castle as the New Ghost Rider The Ghost Rider and I will always love even more the cosmic ghost rider than Johnny blaze's ghost rider which jhonny blaze's ghost rider used to be my favourite ghost rider now he is my second after cosmic ghost rider!!!! I like very much the origin story of Johnny Blaze in this graphic novel as the ghost rider and his first encounter with the doctor strange even the action is a little short and minimal for this graphic novel to focus mostly in the plot I still like very much this modern version of the Johnny Blaze origins as ghost rider!!!! The action even though not much is still good but the story and the dark hellish vibe and atmosphere and the characters are very fascinating and interesting and well done!!!! The artwork is not the one I prefer personally too much for a ghost rider graphic novel story but still good!! Overall this first volume of ghost rider graphic novels is very good!!!! I am ready for the second volume who continues the story of Johnny Blaze of this first graphic novel of ghost rider!!!!

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny Blaze di ritorno dall'inferno insieme a un clandestino: Lucifero. Solo che l'angelo caduto non ha il potere di camminare impunemente fra i due contesti (almeno non qui, nei fumetti Marvel), quindi all'ingresso nella terra esplode in (guarda caso) 666 frammenti che popolano altrettanti morenti destinati all'inferno. La missione di Ghost diviene uccidere tutti i pezzi di lucifero per impedirgli di ricomporsi e dominare sul pianeta. Con l'inconveniente che alla morte di un pezzo il suo potere si distribuisce nei rimanenti. Il volume narra l'inizio dell'epica sfida, con bei disegni di Texeira e splendidi disegni di Richard Corben.Buone le sceneggiature di Daniel Way e Stuart Moore (per l'ultimo episodio)

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Precedida por la historia original del personaje (servida por Roy Thomas, Mike Friedrich y Mike Ploog), los números que arrancan una etapa liderada por el guionista Daniel Way no terminan de cuajar. Una premisa interesante, algunos giros atractivos y un destacado grupo de ilustradores (los familiares Xavier Saltares y Mark Texeira junto al célebre Richard Corben) encajan a medias en un conjunto desordenado, que vuelve a repasar los traumas de Johhny Blaze sin pasar de la anécdota, desaprovechando la oportunidad de brindarle algo de profundidad al Motorista Fantasma lo cual - en perspectiva - ha sido su punto débil a la hora de desarrollarlo. Interesante, pero daba para mucho más.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s good. It’s Ghost Rider.

The first issue was fun, watching Ghost Rider try to escape from hell.

It wrapped up in a bit of an anti-climactic fashion. Really quickly.

The issues read super fast. It’s one of those situations where, as I’m reading I’m thinking, “I’ll read this for free, but I couldn’t imagine paying for something that will only bring me a short time’s worth of pleasure.” I’m not sure what my sweet spot is when it comes to comics and how they read, but I know this reads too quick and is quite spare.

Art is great here, as usual.

[Mark Ohrenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is really exciting, but what makes this book spectacular is the art. Oh man, there are like 10 different pages in here that could make amazing posters. I was blown away by how good the drawings were. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-star comic for me is its brevity. The "Vicious Cycle" storyline presents a plan for the Ghost Rider to get out of the predicament the story sets up, and then it just concludes with Blaze driving off to pursue that plan. I left me wishing I could go on the adventure, too, but disappointed that I wouldn't get to see it play out.

[Shevek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Sin ser un experto, el vete y ven del Motorista Fantasma entre el infierno y nuestro mundo suena a lo de siempre. Aún con todo, el cómic no arranca mal y se lee con cierta facilidad. Cuando entra el Dr. Extraño y la trama sigue avanzando, la cosa se empieza a desmoronar y a perder el poco interés que tenía. El dibujo, sin llegar a los niveles de atrocidad de Clayton Crain en otro cómic que leí hace poco del personaje, tampoco supone un aliciente tal como para compensar lo ramplón que es el guion.

[Benja Calderon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de esos tomos que podrían haber obtenido las 5 estrellas, porque la historia de origen y la historia moderna son bastante buenas

Pero pasa que, extrañamente, nos sobran números, concretamente el 6 y el 7, porque hasta el 5 deja una historia cerrada y bien contada, abriendo un flanco que no era necesario y que no se cierra, ni tampoco llama tanto la atención como para que uno decida continuarlo

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost Rider escapes Hell, but unfortunately Lucifer escapes along with him. Now it's up to Ghost Rider to send the devil back to Hell, which won't be easy since the devil has been split into 666 different bodies. Dr. Strange puts in an appearance as well. Great art from Ghost Rider fave Mark Texiera.

[Myrmidon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buon punto di partenza per chiunque voglia cominciare a leggere storie di Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze (anche se, considerando come poi si evolverà la serie, conoscere un po' la lore di questo e altri personaggi non fa certo male, ma non è comunque imprescindibile).
All'inizio, ritroviamo Johnny come lo avevamo lasciato alla fine della miniserie di Garth Ennis: all'inferno, costantemente braccato da orde demoniache, mentre cerca in tutti i modi di trovare una scappatoia che, puntualmente, si rivela essere un'illusione di Lucifero (sì, qui come antagonista abbiamo proprio Lucifero/Satana e non invece Mefisto).
Ad ogni modo, Blaze riuscirà finalmente a fuggire dagli inferi, salvo poi scoprire che il successo di questa sua impresa altro non era che il primo punto di un machiavellico piano di Lucifero, intenzionato a servirsi del Ghost Rider come suo strumento... Resta da vedere se Johnny Blaze, di nuovo nel mondo dei vivi, glielo permetterà.

[Kasiopeia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etant une grande fan de ghost rider, je trouve que ce comics est franchement pas dingue. L'histoire est bancale et trop "enfantine" à mon goût. Le seul point positif est que l'on retrouve notre cher Johnny Blaze.

[Ramón S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aunque no tenga una calificación alta el arte de Javier Saltares y Mark Texeira suben el nivel, la historia no está tan tan mal y Johnny Blaze es un perdedor al que se le coge, personalmente, bastante cariño

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous drawing. A compelling story. A perfect prince of lies, tricking Ghost Rider with impunity but in a believable way. The best that I've read of this character. Kicking Doctor Strange's ass is a great plus. Didn't like much the two comics at the end, but they're passable.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty serious for a superhero comic. A surprisingly thoughtful look at vengeance and how evil tricks us. Also, there is a surprise ending.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4,5

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot to rate lol.

This was crazy, read as one of 12 recommendations for 2025