Graphic Novel Review: The Ride: Burning Desire

Primarily an anthology series about stories all revolving around one car, this Volume of THE RIDE ties things together in a more cohesive tale. Samantha Vega, ex-detective, now bodyguard at a club specializing in fetish dancers, gets involved in the life of one of the dancers, Nance (dressed as an angel), much more than she ever thought she would. To start, Nance has an issue with bringing her deaf daughter Annabelle to work with her, which has Vega left watching her often. Secondly, Nance runs with a bad crowd. One night when Nance goes missing, Vega is drawn down a path that she didn’t choose… and all in the accursed car.

The story divides itself well between issues, but each issue has a different short story that it ends with. At the beginning of these, I figured they were just going to be crazy stories that take place in the same universe. Cleverly, they are disguised as the origin stories for many of the dancers at the club. Note: these side tales are not for the faint of heart, as they deal with some very dark and sensitive topics.

Author Doug Wagner (PLASTIC, WITCHBLADE/RED SONJA) has his hands full with a unique cast of characters, but does an amazing job linking together their tales, all while not fully revealing everything to the reader immediately. THE RIDE: BURNING DESIRE is able to set itself apart from the previous series Volumes by giving a full picture, and an entertaining one at that. As this title does contain violence, gore and many different sexual situations, this one is for ages 18 and up.