Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears

(Marvel, 2007)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

Travis Parham is a lieutenant in the Confederate Army. He was severely wounded on the battlefield but rescued by a free black man named Cabel who took him back to his family farm. Parham recuperates under the care of Cabel’s family and comes to a change of heart regarding his opinion about the Confederacy’s cause. The war eventually ended but Parham remained with his benefactor helping him clear the trees and work the land long past any obligation he owed.

One day as he is plowing Parham discovers something unsettling. Ancient rituals and African gods hold dominion over Cabel’s ancestors who are buried on the farm and they have their own ways of watching over their living descendents.

Garth Ennis, a master at creating horror stories with themes that linger with the reader and feature well-rounded, thoughtful characters, reimagines the occult-based character from the 1970’s, Ghost Rider. You won’t find a leather jacket or souped-up motorcycle, but a flaming head is a staple of the Ghost Rider milieu regardless of the century.

— George Haberberger

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