Last month, Hellhunters introduced a Bucky Barnes who was less “kid sidekick” and more “juvenile delinquent”, and had its titular team battle a massive Kaiju made of corpses and powered by an ancient demon. How does Hellhunters #4 top that? By having them blow the aforementioned Kaiju right back to hell. That task involves shooting a tank, having Bucky and Sal Romero, aka Ghost Rider ’44, commandeer another tank and start shooting, and Soldier Supreme Sebastian Szardos grants his fellow soldiers magical weapons that help them turn the tide.
In fact, the opening pages of Hellhunters #4 have me convinced that Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Adam Gorham are pushing the envelope to see just how much they can pull off in this miniseries. But let me be clear – that’s a feature, not a bug. The Marvel Universe is a wild, wild place; Sorcerers Supreme and Thunder Gods rub shoulders with blind vigilantes and guys who shoot spiderwebs. The history of this world shouldn’t be any less crazy.
Gorham is clearly having a blast drawing Hellhunters, as the opening pages more or less directly pick up from where Hellhunters #3 left off: Romero gunning his bike, flaming chain in hand, while Bucky peppers the fleshy Kaiju in front of them with machine gun fire. It’s an insane visual that is only topped by the sheer level of gore that happens when the Hellhunters finally take this monster down; its head explodes in a burst of meat and blood that will upset even the strongest stomach.
That’s nothing compared to the upgrade the Hellhunters get from Zatharos, who gives them supernatural weapons to take out the Unhallowed forces. These weapons, much like Romero himself, are wreathed in reddish-orange hellfire, which Frank Martin gives an eerie glow. I also love how Gorham gives each of the Hellhunters a weapon that matches their future – Logan is sporting flaming claws that resemble the ones he’ll wield as Wolverine one day, while Bucky’s arm is wrapped in a fiery sheath meant to evoke the Winter Soldier.
Speaking of Bucky, Johnson writes a great dynamic between Bucky and Romero. Romero more or less takes the younger man under his wing, telling Bucky that he reminds him of one of his long-lost friends. It’s this dynamic that reminds the reader that underneath all the vengeance and hellfire, Romero is still a man, and it’s a marked contrast to when he literally explodes with fury at Szardos for even suggesting they can’t help defeat the Unhallowed’s Nazi forces. Romero is fast becoming one of my favorite Ghost Riders, and Johnson’s a large part of the reason why.
Hellhunters #4 doesn’t leave anything off the table as it races toward its finale, filling its pages with blood, hellfire and vengeance. It’ll be a tall order to deliver a great finale for this book, but Johnson and Gorham seem more than up to the task.
Hellhunters #4 is available wherever comics are sold.
You must be logged in to post a comment.