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Ghost Rider: One-Shots
Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: The Dark Design #1
The Spirit of Vengeance, the eternal soldier, and the very best there is! Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Wolverine unite to stop the darkness of Blackheart with the baddest hero team-up in comics!
44 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Howard Mackie
1,032 books35 followersHoward Mackie is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 26, 2016
Howard Mackie is still at it. In his previous GN Hearts of Darkness, Mackie told the tale of Mephisto's son Blackheart's attempt to lure Wolverine, Punisher and Ghost Rider into his service. When they demurred Blackheart kidnapped a young girl named Lucy, in order to force them to his side. Now in this book, it seems Lucy's importance has increased.
Now Blackheart is out to marry the 12 year old girl and establish a "kinder and gentler" Hell. OK then. Meanwhile Mackie keeps up the trend of having this strange trifecta, ostensibly connected by their ruthless approach to fighting their enemies. So Blackheart is back on Earth, angst driven and has created minions known as the Corrupt. The Corrupt look like the typical generic 1990's X-men enemy. Anyways, Blackheart seeks the girl. The heroes stop him. Mephisto shows up to laugh at his son and then Mackie does something bold. I will not spoil the ending, but I am confused if the ending is the case for this one shot story only-it must be.
The first version of this story I only gave a 2 star rating to. The second version at least seems to tie up the loose endings. I still find this trio to be a strange one, given that even the Punisher says "Should we be looking for Dr. Strange or the Avengers?". Exactly. But, as you will. The story is a little bit more interesting and the ending is actually rather intriguing. But the biggest improvement is the art. Gone is John Romita Jr. Ron Garney takes over. While his style is very '90's I still found it better than Romita Jr's art from the original.
Due to a better, but not by much, story and a very interesting ending and the better artwork-this sequel to Hearts of Darkness gets a 3/5. I recommend this one for the same audience- Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider or Meohisto/Blackheart fans. I don't know if any one else will really care. But it is better than the first one.
Now Blackheart is out to marry the 12 year old girl and establish a "kinder and gentler" Hell. OK then. Meanwhile Mackie keeps up the trend of having this strange trifecta, ostensibly connected by their ruthless approach to fighting their enemies. So Blackheart is back on Earth, angst driven and has created minions known as the Corrupt. The Corrupt look like the typical generic 1990's X-men enemy. Anyways, Blackheart seeks the girl. The heroes stop him. Mephisto shows up to laugh at his son and then Mackie does something bold. I will not spoil the ending, but I am confused if the ending is the case for this one shot story only-it must be.
The first version of this story I only gave a 2 star rating to. The second version at least seems to tie up the loose endings. I still find this trio to be a strange one, given that even the Punisher says "Should we be looking for Dr. Strange or the Avengers?". Exactly. But, as you will. The story is a little bit more interesting and the ending is actually rather intriguing. But the biggest improvement is the art. Gone is John Romita Jr. Ron Garney takes over. While his style is very '90's I still found it better than Romita Jr's art from the original.
Due to a better, but not by much, story and a very interesting ending and the better artwork-this sequel to Hearts of Darkness gets a 3/5. I recommend this one for the same audience- Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider or Meohisto/Blackheart fans. I don't know if any one else will really care. But it is better than the first one.
December 12, 2015
This is way way better than Part 1 (Heart of Darkness) that was released 3 years earlier. The art is good and doesn't look like they just grabbed some random artist for a spin-off. The story actually has Wolverine and Punisher killing large groups of minions. It's a pretty good time.
.. or Part 1 was so stupid my standards have fallen off a cliff.
.. or Part 1 was so stupid my standards have fallen off a cliff.
March 23, 2016
3,5 stars
Far better than round 1.
At last now mr Frank and mr Logan have a real reason to be there...
Blackheart recruiting them to kill Mephisto???
Guns and claws versus the good old Prince of Lies??? Come on.
And Ron Garney's Ghost Rider rocks!
Far better than round 1.
At last now mr Frank and mr Logan have a real reason to be there...
Blackheart recruiting them to kill Mephisto???
Guns and claws versus the good old Prince of Lies??? Come on.
And Ron Garney's Ghost Rider rocks!
February 23, 2024
The continuation of the 1991 One-Shot crossover between ‘Ghost Rider’, ‘Wolverine’, and ‘The Punisher’, “Hearts of Darkness”, its once again written by Howard Mackie, but this time, replacing Romita Jr., in the art department, Ron Garney enters the scenery. Four years passed since ‘Blackheart’ attempted to use the anti-hero trio to defeat his father, ‘Mephisto’, in order to break free of his role as the devil’s hitman on earth. Now, back on Christ’s Crown, the place of his birth, ‘Blackheart’ has contaminated the people in it, forging a palace for his own, all in order to look for the only pure soul left in the area, a girl that previously encountered the demon, Lucy Crumm, in order to conquer hell itself, and it’s up to the Rider, the Mutant, and the Killer to stop the threat, once again.
I don’t really know what it was exactly, but I liked this issue better than the last one. Nothing against the previous one, but that story could’ve used way better execution to its ideas. I guess Mackie sort of figured out that, if he wasn’t going to do something over-the-top, or straight up insane, the least he could do is some concise management on the plot. And, fair enough, the plot is way straight forward this time around; it’s your typical “super powered bad guy conquers a place, and there’s a resistance meant to defeat that villain, while also protecting something the villain wants”, adding a clearer depiction on the character of ‘Blackheart’, and he felt a little more fleshed out compared to the first issue. Now, talking about Ron Garney, I never saw any of his 90s works, the more I am familiar with are his takes on the ‘Spider-Man’ issues from the ‘Civil War’ era, following with the great ‘Back in Black’, and the difference is astonishing. Garney used to follow the trendy of 90s traits, so his style felt similar to those of Liefeld, Deodato Jr., or Portacio, but also, there was a certain individuality in certain aspects such as creature designs, the looks on ‘Wolverine’, ‘Ghost Rider’, and ‘Punisher’ (who all three looked terrific and quite imposing), being the females the ones looking generic and in tone with the decade’s standards, which I get, most comics from the era tried to grab more readers by depicting excessive amounts of violence, macho-looking protagonists, and overly-sexy looking femme fatales, and that’s okay, I only wished they came up with a more unique and individual style on their own. I have the feeling that, after Jim Lee pretty much conquered the aesthetic of the mainstream comic books in the late 80s, in the 90s everyone was ordered by the editorial to mimic the way he drew males and females, especially women who, yeah, had a certain sex-appeal to them almost too obvious to dismiss, with smooth, pointy and refined appearances, and sure, voluptuous and exuberant bodies, after Lee everyone tried to mimic his traits and, well, there’s only one Jim Lee, and everyone else’s attempts seemed more in the likes of Liefeld’s style which, yeah, wasn’t that highly regarded. No wonder why the 90s suffer of such infamy in the industry. But anyway. Garney style is clearly a product of its time, but you could still see the glimpses of the art he’d eventually develop further on.
As for the three protagonists, while Danny Ketch was still the one wearing the mantle of the ‘Ghost Rider’, I felt it was put to a better use this time around, I’m still not a huge fan of that alter ego, but his interaction with Logan, and Frank felt better developed. Also, I feel the action in here was way better presented in terms of drawing and framing. There were a lot of pages were Garney used gigantic designs of the main characters, adding a few frames in certain places to move the story further on, but still giving place to a full figure of a specific protagonist. I loved in particular how Garney drew ‘Wolverine’, he looked as feral as ever, and this is set in 1994 so this is a post “Fatal Attractions” event, that means we get to see Logan without his ‘adamantium’ claws, and I really liked that version of the character. As for the rest, I still don’t really see the need to team-up these three heroes in order to defeat ‘Blackheart’, when ‘Ghost Rider’ should be enough to do so, but at least I had a better time appreciating the art in here, and the story wasn’t that dumb, or pretentious for me to get tired; we get to see these characters fully embracing their violent purpose against the people ‘Blackheart’ corrupted, and that was a darker approach than the first issue. Mackie at least went full committed with the violence in this one. Again, I really liked this better than ‘Hearts of Darkness’, and I believe that’s a controversial take, since the first one is the one with the better rating, but I feel the plot was more engaging this time around, and then again, I’m not Romita Jr., biggest fan, so seeing a better artist take on something he previously worked on is always a relief to me. I still think there was better material to work with, and these ideas are not that fully fleshed-out considering the three leads. Nevertheless, it is a time capsule that I don’t mind returning to every once in a while; I’m a sucker for old-school comics, and the 90s is a pretty nostalgic era to me, so this is right up my alley, but I also understand that a lot of people don’t feel that way, and might find this pretty average stuff. To me, it’s some old-fashioned good time of simpler, more conventional times.
I don’t really know what it was exactly, but I liked this issue better than the last one. Nothing against the previous one, but that story could’ve used way better execution to its ideas. I guess Mackie sort of figured out that, if he wasn’t going to do something over-the-top, or straight up insane, the least he could do is some concise management on the plot. And, fair enough, the plot is way straight forward this time around; it’s your typical “super powered bad guy conquers a place, and there’s a resistance meant to defeat that villain, while also protecting something the villain wants”, adding a clearer depiction on the character of ‘Blackheart’, and he felt a little more fleshed out compared to the first issue. Now, talking about Ron Garney, I never saw any of his 90s works, the more I am familiar with are his takes on the ‘Spider-Man’ issues from the ‘Civil War’ era, following with the great ‘Back in Black’, and the difference is astonishing. Garney used to follow the trendy of 90s traits, so his style felt similar to those of Liefeld, Deodato Jr., or Portacio, but also, there was a certain individuality in certain aspects such as creature designs, the looks on ‘Wolverine’, ‘Ghost Rider’, and ‘Punisher’ (who all three looked terrific and quite imposing), being the females the ones looking generic and in tone with the decade’s standards, which I get, most comics from the era tried to grab more readers by depicting excessive amounts of violence, macho-looking protagonists, and overly-sexy looking femme fatales, and that’s okay, I only wished they came up with a more unique and individual style on their own. I have the feeling that, after Jim Lee pretty much conquered the aesthetic of the mainstream comic books in the late 80s, in the 90s everyone was ordered by the editorial to mimic the way he drew males and females, especially women who, yeah, had a certain sex-appeal to them almost too obvious to dismiss, with smooth, pointy and refined appearances, and sure, voluptuous and exuberant bodies, after Lee everyone tried to mimic his traits and, well, there’s only one Jim Lee, and everyone else’s attempts seemed more in the likes of Liefeld’s style which, yeah, wasn’t that highly regarded. No wonder why the 90s suffer of such infamy in the industry. But anyway. Garney style is clearly a product of its time, but you could still see the glimpses of the art he’d eventually develop further on.
As for the three protagonists, while Danny Ketch was still the one wearing the mantle of the ‘Ghost Rider’, I felt it was put to a better use this time around, I’m still not a huge fan of that alter ego, but his interaction with Logan, and Frank felt better developed. Also, I feel the action in here was way better presented in terms of drawing and framing. There were a lot of pages were Garney used gigantic designs of the main characters, adding a few frames in certain places to move the story further on, but still giving place to a full figure of a specific protagonist. I loved in particular how Garney drew ‘Wolverine’, he looked as feral as ever, and this is set in 1994 so this is a post “Fatal Attractions” event, that means we get to see Logan without his ‘adamantium’ claws, and I really liked that version of the character. As for the rest, I still don’t really see the need to team-up these three heroes in order to defeat ‘Blackheart’, when ‘Ghost Rider’ should be enough to do so, but at least I had a better time appreciating the art in here, and the story wasn’t that dumb, or pretentious for me to get tired; we get to see these characters fully embracing their violent purpose against the people ‘Blackheart’ corrupted, and that was a darker approach than the first issue. Mackie at least went full committed with the violence in this one. Again, I really liked this better than ‘Hearts of Darkness’, and I believe that’s a controversial take, since the first one is the one with the better rating, but I feel the plot was more engaging this time around, and then again, I’m not Romita Jr., biggest fan, so seeing a better artist take on something he previously worked on is always a relief to me. I still think there was better material to work with, and these ideas are not that fully fleshed-out considering the three leads. Nevertheless, it is a time capsule that I don’t mind returning to every once in a while; I’m a sucker for old-school comics, and the 90s is a pretty nostalgic era to me, so this is right up my alley, but I also understand that a lot of people don’t feel that way, and might find this pretty average stuff. To me, it’s some old-fashioned good time of simpler, more conventional times.
February 3, 2024
Like the other one shot featuring these three, The art is top notch. The book is very much a product of it's time (Marvel printed the words "now all you've done is make us mad, Blackie" to shorten Blackhearts name and that def didn't age well). Story is a bit thin as a stand alone. This was one of the first times we see this new gritty breed of hero come together, and the characters are handled well, but not knowing everything else going on in the Marvel U at the time makes it feel like you're missing part of the story.
August 25, 2026
Dark tidings
Mr. Mackie taps into the darkness in each of these heroes to give us one hell of a story. These three heroes are all at once darkness and light. And the demons of hell keep them busy chasing their darkness. Good story.
Mr. Mackie taps into the darkness in each of these heroes to give us one hell of a story. These three heroes are all at once darkness and light. And the demons of hell keep them busy chasing their darkness. Good story.
May 26, 2021
3.5/5
Better than the first part, fantastic artwork and coloring.
Better than the first part, fantastic artwork and coloring.
August 14, 2024
It’s pretty much exactly what I expected, which is not as good.
March 8, 2026
A Cool Team Up
These 3 have teamed up before and I gotta say I'm here for it! A short read but a fun read with action and a good story would recommend
These 3 have teamed up before and I gotta say I'm here for it! A short read but a fun read with action and a good story would recommend
September 18, 2026
the artwork is insane!!!!
November 27, 2018
It has improved a lot since "Hearts of Darkness" in history, drawning and also use of colors.
August 7, 2019
While not as good of a story as volume one, this was still pretty cool. I like this team dynamic.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews