The Ride: Burning Desire

The Ride #3

by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard (Artist), Adam Hughes (Artist)

After serving a hard 15 years in prison on a murder plea, former Atlanta P.D. detective Samantha Vega is now making her living as the bouncer at an exotic dance club. But when a dancer is found dead and her daughter missing, the cops write it off as just another drug user who overdosed and a runaway kid. With her former colleagues on the force more concerned with giving her a hard time than doing their job, Vega must decide if she's willing to risk her freedom in order to help the people with nowhere else to turn.

From the award-winning team of PLASTIC (Doug Wagner & Daniel Hillyard) and art from industry-greats Adam Hughes (Wonder Woman), Cully Hamner (Red, Batman and The Signal) Tomm Coker (BLACK MONDAY MURDERS), Chris Brunner (Spider-Gwen, LOOSE ENDS), and more.

Collects THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE #1-5

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Crime

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2020

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw this was from the same f'd up team who created Plastic, the story of a serial killer and the blowup doll he's in love with, I knew I had to read this. This has that same sick, twisted kind of humor. However, it does delve into some real sick shit as the plot moves along.

Samantha Vega, is an ex-cop out on parole after going to prison for 15 years. Now she's the bouncer at a weird cosplay / strip club. (The cover of the book kind of says it all.) Her past comes back to haunt her and her friends. There's also a backup story in each issue showing the screwed backstory for all the dancers working in the club drawn by whoever did the cover of the issue. Wagner could have delved into Vega's past more as the story went along to make things less confusing. I didn't know why things were happening for a good chunk of this. But I was having so much fun, I ignored it.

Received a review copy from Image and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up surprised by this. The first issue established its story well and in the end, there was a great, weird backup story. At the end of every issue, there is a short story, describing what broke those people. The main story itself got the right combination of humor and action.

[Alex Sarll]

Yes, it was the cover that caught my interest - a woman in a unicorn kigu who appears to have just beaten someone to death with a spanking paddle (and that does indeed happen in the story). But it's also by the team behind Plastic, a screwball romantic comedy about a serial killer and his sex doll, and that was fun in a fucked-up sort of way. Initially, so is this - a disgraced former detective working security in a very niche fetish dance club, desperately trying not to violate her parole, and the strange found family around her. As it goes along, though, it gets more into the territory that leaves me less keen on modern crime stories - less weird, more just plain nasty. Great art, though, reminiscent of a grittier Ryan Ottley. Plus, back-up stories drawn by the likes of Tomm Coker and Cully Hamner, which fill out the characters' backstories.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really kinda cool. Quite wacky as well. A bouncer at a weird dress up strip club gets caught up in some drama and things quickly escalate. Shes recently been released from prison, oh and was an ex cop. I really liked the artwork in this plus we get some extra little story in each issue of one of the dancers, drawn by a different artist. Really cool and can be read as a standalone. Kinda wished I'd read the other two as this was really fun

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was part of an older series but honestly I don't think it matters much if you've read it before or not, felt pretty self-contained.

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5

Total review score: 2.7

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ride: Burning Desire by Doug Wagner contains comic book issues #1 -#5 of this violent and thrilling crime graphic novel. A gritty tale of redemption and revenge on the seedy back alleys of Atlanta.

Summary -

After serving 15 years in prison on a murder plea, disgraced Atlanta PD Detective Samantha Vega finds herself free and making a quiet living as a bouncer at an exotic dance club. Vega is trying to lay low, keeping her distance from the police force and from the crime bosses that may be hunting her down when the murder of a young dancer forces her to step out into the light. The dancer is found dead, in a low rent hotel room, overdosed. The cops are writing it off as another drug addled hooker who took her vice too far. But Vega knows that it didn't go down like that. Even worse, the dancer had a little girl and the little girl is now missing.

But Vega knows that if she gets involved, she just might be risking her freedom. But if she does nothing, the little girl will be sold into the worst kind of servitude. Beneath it all, Vega has the sinking feeling that it may just have to do with her and the past she will never put behind her.

Review -

The Ride: Burning Desire is a strong noire suspense crime thriller that is steeped in the seedier aspects of prostitution and drugs and the criminals that take advantage of it. It is hard-boiled and well written with just enough of humanity that gives the reader hope for a happy outcome. But that kind of story comes at a cost and The Ride will go along way before it lets you have one.

Tense and atmospheric with a good strong main character in Vega driving the story along.

A good ride and a good read!

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit the cover art by Adam Hughes is initially what drew my attention to this collection of The Ride. I actually enjoyed the story and was pleasantly surprised by the way the story unfolded throughout the issues. I appreciated the artwork and felt it was an excellent complement or even a driver for the story. This was unusual and worth the read.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.

[Kathrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique and awesome, but too confusing to give it 5 stars

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/4 stars for the artwork
2.5 stars for the story
This one's a really mixed bag, with an excellent roster of artists, and a throughline (after rereading the first couple of chapters) that mostly holds together, but there are a couple of frankly gratuitous moments that took me out of the narrative and a weird hint at demonic/supernatural elements that's never followed through especially with regards to 'nun' drawn by Tomm Coker. Also, the main character Samantha Vega, an ex-Atlanta PD detective who's supposed to have served 15 years of hard time in prison is never drawn as looking older than mid-twenties.
Muddled, but an interesting well-drawn to read.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ride is a series I never really heard of but enough to make a comeback. After feeling the energy of this series, it's hard not to see why. There's a lot of action but also motivation. Every character on display want to be themselves and deal with their pasts. Unfortunately the world is not a fair place, especially to a bunch of judgmental people. That includes cops and the villains. At the end of the day, people more or less lie to themselves to justify their actions or prejudices. It's the ones who can confront their demons as well as finding comfort in forgiveness that matter most.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

1st book of 2021.

So .... Based on its synopsis this was a coherent story about a female ex-detective who spent 15 years in the pen. It is not remotely coherent. Some additional interview material at the end makes it clear that it is an anthology collection of 5 stories connected around the 1968 Camaro that appears, often quite briefly, in each story. That info would have helped from the start. Like, immensely. I would have given it at least one more star and possibly two if that important bit of info was presented from the get go.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite the wild ride, so to speak. Wagner took what could have been a so-so story and made it memorable with the characters. The way there is a backstory laid out for each of the more colorful characters made me really enjoy this book. Instead of caricatures, they were real people to me. That made a difference. I would like to see where this goes from here. I hope there are some more volumes on the way.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is there a story here? It feels like random action scenes with stilted dialogue. There are scenes that make sense and then scenes that make me go WTF? I really wanted to enjoy this as it has some amazing characters but I felt lost most of the time. What does the car have to do with anything?
ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre crime for those who like gimp suits and cars cursed with giving off a malicious vibe in amongst their violence.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review submitted to Diamond Bookshelf for possible publication.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is called the ride, but I am not sure that the safety warnings and procedures were prominently displayed before getting in.

[Sal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid ex-con story, this time with a more psychedelic-surreal vibe, given the protagonist is a bouncer at a fetish bar. Feels operatic, very much akin to the John Wick universe' OTT vibe.

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the concept and protagonist though, structurally, was quite confusing and all over the place.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Violenta, dura e intensa secuela en la línea de las sagas anteriores, que tiene como gancho para sus lectores el rescate de la antagonista Vega. Efectiva.