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Preview art by
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By Marc Strom
One year later, Jason Aaron still rides with a vengeance.
Aaron celebrates one year of writing Johnny Blaze's ongoing adventures today with the release of GHOST RIDER #32, bringing the Earth-shattering "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" to its conclusion. The no-longer freshman writer tells us that "things played out pretty much like I expected" over the course of his first year on the title.
"I set a bit of a new tone for the series, brought Danny Ketch back along with some old-school GR villains, took the Spirit of Vengeance mythology global and brought things to a head with the war against Zadkiel," Aaron recounts. "After issue #32, it'll just be about picking up the pieces, if there are any left."
While the writer relates that his approach to the character of Johnny Blaze in general hasn't changed much over the past year, the tone of the individual stories has evolved on a case-by-case basis.
"I think my approach has fluctuated a bit, depending on the arc," Aaron elaborates. "The first arc had a gritty B-movie tone. Later arcs were more surreal or more epic in scope. It all depends on what the story is for that specific arc. Coming up
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Preview art by
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in the issues after 'The Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance,' we'll be getting back to that original dark comedy, grindhouse feel."
Of all the characters he's tackled so far, one of Aaron's favorites came a bit out of left field.
"The Orb really surprised me," the writer confesses. "Fans really responded to him in a big way, which I didn't expect. I initially planned on just killing him off, figuring nobody would care, but now I'm excited to bring him back and maybe even fill in his origin."
When asked about what he's most proud of having accomplished in his first year, Aaron points to another character that made his return during the writer's tenure:
"Making Danny Ketch a relevant character again, I suppose. Putting him back into play in the Ghost Rider world, hopefully for a long time to come."
The global setting of "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" has offered a contrast to the more local settings of Aaron's earlier stories, and the writer promises a similar variety of settings and scope in the stories ahead.
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Preview art by
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"We'll get a few single issue stories, each one focusing on a different character, and then we'll launch into a massive arc that'll make 'Last Stand' seem small and tame in comparison," teases Aaron.
Before that, though, Blaze and his co-stars have to make it through the current arc's conclusion.
"It's probably not what fans are expecting," Aaron says of the finale. "And it puts our characters in a very interesting position."
GHOST RIDER #32 by Jason Aaron and artist Tan Eng Huat motors into stores today. You can also look back at Aaron's first issue on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited!
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