Shockin' kills me Marvel hasn't done more with this character.

I maybe bought this before, but got it with five issues of recent, modern Ghost Rider: from 2020, Ghost Rider 2099 #1, written by Ed Brisson, art by Damian Couceiro.

Part of the reason I maybe don't recollect reading this one before, is that it's mostly a reboot of the classic 1994 series, which had cyberpunk elements that were probably dated when it was on the stands, but was still a solid hook. In what used to be Detroit now stands the roads of Transverse City, which most strongly resembles the mopads from Judge Dredd. (It's a homage! Shh!) Hacker Kenshiro "Zero" Cochrane was part of street crew the Hotwire Martyrs, and what should have been a routine heist of some power cells turns out to be something else, when they find "a big, ugly droid" instead. (One member of his crew went by "2600," which is a dated reference now, by 2099 it would be like picking "Ogg" as your alias.) Said droid was the property of the D/Monix corporation, and their security specialist was getting an earful here, since Zero was his son: not any more, as he still opts to activate the truck's self-destruct. In cyberspace, Zero tries to warn his crew, but they don't get out in time, and Zero isn't able to disengage himself...

This sequence might be new, as Zero wakes up, in digital hell; but is offered an out by Blaze, "king of Ghostworks." Blaze is rocking a look close to his old mini-series, and shows Zero footage of his dad ordering his death; but he could maybe go back to earth, if he agrees to do the occasional "odd job" for Ghostworks. Zero agrees, and wakes up, in the big ugly droid; which survived the explosion untouched and was recovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on D/Monix's payroll. I don't know if the droid was always intended to have the flaming skull, or if that was an aftermarket feature added by Blaze, but Zero fights his way out, stealing a hoverbike to complete the Ghost Rider package.

Zero makes his way to his girlfriend Kylie's shop, and she's unconvinced; but the rival gang Artificial Kidz believes him. Still, they don't care, since they were also hired by D/Monix to recover the droid. Although they're easily killed, Zero realizes D/Monix was going to keep after him, unless he did something, like crash his dad's inquest: D/Monix was going to come down on him, but Zero wants that pleasure for himself. He warns D/Monix to stay off his turf, or the Ghost Rider would be back... 

We've mentioned before how Spider-Man 2099 has always maintained some visibility even when not in a comic, since the costume was often an option in video games. Ghost Rider 2099 has never been able to have that sort of tie-in with his present versions; but this maybe was an attempt for them to be more than merely tangentially related. Why Transverse City was "an ode to motivation, to technology and transportation" is a mystery to me, though. Maybe mobile domiciles, to avoid the effects of climate change, probably by causing more climate change...