Mythos: Ghost Rider # 1

Cover Date: March 2007

On Sale Date: January 2007

Writer: Paul Jenkins

Artist: Paolo Rivera
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Executive Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada

Cover Art: Paolo Rivera

On an interstate six miles north of Las Vegas, one minute before dawn, two state police troopers sit in their squad car and have a conversation. They're interrupted by a skeletal biker - the Ghost Rider - who roars pat them at an approximate speed of 200 miles per hour. The police give chase but, unable to keep up with the Ghost Rider's mystical motorcycle, lose sight of him as the sun creeps over the horizon. They finally catch site of a lone rider ahead of them, but pass by when they see Johnny Blaze on his dirt bike. As Blaze rides back to the arena where he's expected to perform, he thinks back to the death of his father, Barton Blaze, and how his mother left him immediately afterward. He was adopted by his dad's partner in the stunt riding circuit, Crash Simpson, and over the years Johnny learned to ride even better than his dad. He almost gave it up countless times and had numerous reasons to leave, but he found one good reason to stay: Roxanne Simpson, who is working on fixing a bike as he rides by.

Johnny parks his bike and is approached by his head mechanic, Davie, who chides him for having spent yet another night missing in action. Despite Davie's warnings to the contrary, Johnny dismisses his nocturnal habits and tells his mechanic to check out the bike before the big surprise during tomorrow's show. Davie asks about the "big secret", but Blaze tells him that he'll find out tomorrow, just like everyone else. After he enters his trailer, Johnny sits down in front of his mirror and sees the Ghost Rider staring back at him. He thinks back again, about how Crash's wife, Marie, died in a fire one night. The show went on without her, until the day Crash started coughing. He was dying of colon cancer, and he had six months to live. Two weeks away from the biggest show of their lives, Crash took a turn for the worse - he was going to die.

Roxanne enters Johnny's trailer and while hugging him complains about how his morbid side is starting to get to be too much. Blaze shrugs her off, then reminds her to play the new music he's picked out during the next stunt - Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" has become old. Roxanne comments that she hates surprises, then hugs Johnny again before leaving the trailer. Blaze returns to his thoughts, thinking back to the night at the bar when he was approached by a mysterious stranger. This stranger, who quickly proves himself to truly be the Devil, offers a deal to Johnny - his foster father's recovery from the cancer in exchange for Johnny's services in the future. Johnny takes the shot of alcohol offered by Satan, slams it back, and asks where he has to sign. Satan answers, "you just did". The Devil kept his promise: Crash didn't die of the cancer - instead, he died during a fatal motorcycle accident.

The next day, one minute before dusk, Johnny sits at the edge of a ramp. The stunt involves him jumping through a giant skull to land several hundred yards away on a second ramp. Roxanne stands next to him and Johnny flips down his helmet's visor, telling her he's ready while a vision of Satan appears to him on the ramp. The new song chosen by Blaze begins to play - "Ghost Rider in the Sky" by Willie Nelson - and while the crowd roars and the giant skull bursts into flame at the end of the ramp Johnny thinks back one last time. In the cemetery where Crash and Marie are buried, he confronts Satan one last time. While Johnny calls him a liar, Satan remarks that the timeframe for his service starts in ten minutes, at sunset. Blaze starts to ride off, saying he doesn't repay debuts unless he gets something in return, causing Satan to become angry. The Devil tells Johnny that if he rides off now, he'll only make a bad situation worse - that he'll be his for good. As Johnny rides off, he declares that he'll fight him...Satan answers, "it'll hurt, burn your soul to a crisp". Johnny's only reply is "good".

Back in Vegas, Johnny finally starts down the ramp while the music plays, and he flies through the phantom vision of the Devil. The sun sets just as he crosses the threshold of the burning skull, and he emerges into the sky as the Ghost Rider, fire exploding around him. The Ghost Rider lands on the ramp, breaking it into pieces, and rides out of the area while the crowd goes wild. Roxanne stands dumbfounded, and the Ghost Rider rides through Las Vegas with no destination in mind. Johnny realizes that while it's God who creates our tragedies, it's the Devil who makes us care.

Don't make John Tesh angry!

THE ROADMAP

This special is an attempt at a more modern retelling of the Ghost Rider's origin, which was first told in Marvel Spotlight # 5.

CHAIN REACTION

The third Mythos special takes a look at the origin of the Ghost Rider with its bizarre attempt to modernize the comic with the movie - or at least, that was the publicized intent. I'm just left with one question: "what the hell was the point of this?".

Over the years, Marvel has given us countless retellings of the Ghost Rider's origin, some of which being straight adaptations of his first Marvel Spotlight issue. With all of the changes made to the classic story in this one-shot along with the attempt to set it during the present day, it's obvious that it's not intended as canon for the character's mythology. Plus, as a story meant to introduce people to the character, it fails to even explore what the Ghost Rider's powers or mission are after his initial transformation. Honestly, I can't view it as anything but a failure given what the comic was intended to do.

But when we get to the story itself, writer Paul Jenkins doesn't do half bad. The main crux of Jenkins' alterations to Blaze's origin comes in the fact that the Devil comes to Johnny instead of the established vice versa, but it works here in a story that's more or less operating in its own little world. Gone is Johnny's dabbling in the occult and Roxanne's "pure heart" saving him from damnation and instead it comes down to the one simple deal. It's simplified, and if this were intended to be the character's definitive origin in continuity it just wouldn't work - but here, in this one "mythological" retelling, it suits things just fine.

But where Jenkins stumbles is the attempt to set the story in the modern day while keep Johnny as a stunt biker, a concept that's unfortunately dated badly in its 1970's creation. There's a slight change with Blaze now being an X-Games sport-bike rider, but it still doesn't help. You can give us the date as many times as you like, the story will always feel like it's taking place decades ago - it's just the nature of the concept itself. But regardless, Jenkins does a fine job of getting inside Johnny's head and the details behind his deal with Lucifer. Blaze has always been the everyman, the loveable loser, and you can still see that aspect shining through the gruff exterior in this story.

The main selling point of the book, of course, is the fully painted art by Paolo Rivera. Visually, the book is stunning to look at, but Jenkins stumbles here as well by robbing the artist of what he's come to paint. Throughout this issue, we're given 5 pages that feature the Ghost Rider, and I can't help but feel a bit robbed by that. Rivera still does an excellent job with his renditions of Blaze and Roxanne, but c'mon - the book isn't called Ghost Rider for its health. The only thing about Rivera's art in itself that bugged me was his decision to make Satan resemble the celebrity John Tesh. Yes, it's a cute little joke, but damn if it didn't pull me right out of the story once I caught onto the resemblance. There's also a confusing bit near the end, with Satan standing on the ramp when Johnny does his stunt - is the Devil really there, or is it all in Blaze's head? It really could've been made more clear, because as it stands it makes little sense.

Mythos: Ghost Rider is an odd animal; in theory, the book doesn't work, but the application wasn't half bad. Is it essential for Ghost Rider readers? Most definitely not. But it's still a decent story with some visually gripping artwork...it's just, well, completely unnecessary.

That's some seriously gorgeous artwork.