X-Men - Ghost Rider: Brood Trouble in the Big Easy

1 rating: 3.0

X-Men and Ghost Rider Crossover

The X-Men's Gambit has always had a somewhat mysterious past, but even his teammates are surprised when his estranged wife, Bella Donna, shows up at the mansion determined to bring him back to New Orleans. It seems that arranged marriage of the couple's … see full wiki

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The Children of the Atom join forces with the Spirit of Vengeance to avenge a few cajuns.

Sep 23, 2011

by Madpenguin
posted in Speech Bubbles: Comics & Graphic Novels

Rating:

On the grounds of the X-Mansion, the X-Men are greeted by a woman named Belladonna who claims to be Gambits wife. She alerts Gambit that the ceasefire pact between their two warring guilds have been broken and the two clans are killing each other once again. The X-Men journey to New Orleans and find themselves in the middle of a Brood nest. -summary

In the early 90's, Marvel was making some serious noise and the X-Men were one of the two biggest reasons for that with Spider-Man being the other. Despite them receiving a massive amount of Marvel's attention, it didn't stop them from doing something that DC would always fail to do, and that's develop their B and C list heroes to the point where fans cared to follow their stories. Ghost Rider was among those B list heroes that Marvel put a good deal of effort into, by injecting him into crossovers such as these. Ghost Rider was doing pretty well at the time and had a very solid following from what I remember, but there was nothing wrong with a bit more exposure, which lead to this short crossover. X-Men and Ghost Rider: Brood Trouble in the Big Easy reprints X-Men issues 8 - 9 and Ghost Rider 26 - 27. The story delivers some background on Gambit's shady past (and this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface) as well as continue Ghost Rider's internal struggles that became a lot more complicated, when his nemesis Blackout severely wounded his human host Dan Ketch.

The artwork for the X-Men delivered by Jim Lee is still awesome today and doesn't feel the least bit dated. It isn't completely over the top with those dead sexy poses normally delivered by Psylocke, but it still gets the job done. The character designs are indeed strong with some really neat lines and finishes. The action panels are entertaining and easy to follow. The artwork for the Ghost Rider stories by Ron Wagner aren't on the same level, and at times, it can be on the weak side with Jubilee looking like a little boy on one occasion. In any case, it's alright at best just don't expect to be blown away.

The combination of the X-Men and Ghost Rider would appear to be an odd meshing, and it does feel that way. For some reason they just don't seem to jell together and it's kind of noticeable too. Ghost Rider belongs with the creatures of the night or other dark vigilantes; the likes of Punisher and Daredevil, not a band of mutants who sometimes squeeze in some off base comedy. Seeing Jubilee and Beast on the same page with Ghost Rider just doesn't look right. Thankfully, someone notices this and the focus shifts on two of the deadlier X-Men who don't clash with him.

The plot follows them all as they descend underground to battle against the alien race The Brood, who captures their victims and the Brood Queen implants eggs into the host turning them into more of their race. The story has its entertaining moments but this is not on par with earlier Brood stories from the pages of Uncanny X-men. Those who aren't familiar with Ghost Rider or his situation may find it distracting with the pacing, but there is a small amount of info provided to bring some sense to things.

Even though this has always felt like an average crossover. I still think it did its job in giving X-Men fans a taste on what Ghost Rider is about, it didn't do as great a job back then as other crossovers featuring him in the pages of Sleepwalker or even Deathlok, but his thirst for vengeance was well exploited. Overall, this is a solid story that I recommend to serious Marvel fans.

Pros:
-Some solid artwork, good action moments

Cons:
-A couple of X-Men members could have been left at the mansion

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FM_ALEX September 24, 2011

"The artwork for the X-Men delivered by Jim Lee is still awesome today", yes indeed. I liked this cross over but I agree they did feel a bit weird together. Ghost Rider actually fits more with even Spider-Man then he does the Mutants of the X.

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woopak_the_thrill September 23, 2011

Didn't Wagner do the art in this or was it Thibert? This was pretty entertaining but not really all that impressive. I liked the way Wolvie sensed something was amiss with Ghosty LOL!

Madpenguin September 24, 2011

It was Wagner for the Ghost Rider series. Yeah, it's not a great story but Marvel did everything they could to promote other characters and sell books. It did work on some occasions.

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