On Sale Date: May 1991
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mark Texeira
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover Artist: Mark Texeira
Ghost Rider, having been severely injured by John Blaze, attempts to make his way to Central Park to stop Blackout but crashes his bike on the way there. Unable to take the pain, he transforms back into Danny Ketch, who is immediately attacked by a group of punks who cut him with a knife and steal his motorcycle. The punks are stopped by two agents of H.E.A.R.T., who are gathering up all of the bikes in the area to take to their employer, Deathwatch. Dan watches as the women take his bike, but since he can do nothing to stop them he continues on his way to Central Park. Meanwhile, John Blaze experiments with his shotgun, which is now shooting hellfire.
Later that night, the agents of H.E.A.R.T. have brought all the bikes they could find to Deathwatch. On the radio with the women's leader, Tyler Meagher, Deathwatch tells her not to attempt to apprehend the Ghost Rider or to interfere with the killings going on in Central Park. At the park, a woman and her daughter are attacked by Blackout, and the screams are heard by both a severely wounded Danny and the approaching Blaze. When Meagher learns that the serial killer is working for Deathwatch, she orders her two agents to leave immediately; but just then, the Ghost Rider's motorcycle breaks out of Deathwatch's penthouse and makes its way to the park as well.
Danny stumbles across Blackout, who has hidden the young daughter as insurance. Before Blackout can kill Danny, the motorcycle arrives, transforming him again into a still-injured Ghost Rider. Blaze arrives and blasts the Rider with the hellfire shotgun, allowing Blackout to get away. Ghost Rider grabs Blaze and tells him to stop interfering, again telling him that he is not Zarathos. Before he can catch Blackout, Ghost Rider is attacked from behind again, this time by Tyler Meagher. He destroys her weapon and continues his search. He finds Blackout holding the young woman he kidnapped hostage. Black and Meagher arrive, and Tyler shoots Blackout before he can escape with the woman. Ghost Rider grabs Blackout and tells Blaze to shoot them both before he can kill the girl. Blaze fires, blowing off Ghost Rider's hand and further disfiguring Blackout's face. The Rider beats Blackout into unconsciousness, but is stopped from killing the villain by Blaze, who tells him that Zarathos was a murderer. Ghost Rider thanks Blaze, telling him that is not a killer, and leaves just as the police arrive to arrest everyone.
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| "I'm being polite here!" |
THE ROADMAP
John Blaze began his hunt for the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (1990) # 10 and finally caught up with Dan Ketch at the end of Ghost Rider (1990) # 13.
Ghost Rider last encountered both Blackout and H.E.A.R.T. in Ghost Rider (1990) # 9.
Blackout was betrayed by Deathwatch and had his face ruined by hellfire in Ghost Rider (1990) # 3. He has been stalking Dan Ketch since Ghost Rider (1990) # 7, where he killed Dan's sister Barbara.
Blackout returns in Ghost Rider (1990) # 25, Deathwatch returns in Ghost Rider (1990) # 21, and H.E.A.R.T. returns in Ghost Rider (1990) # 33.
CHAIN REACTION
All of the plot threads of the last few issues come crashing to a head as Ghost Rider has his showdown with Blackout and Johnny Blaze!
The return of Johnny Blaze to this series was a huge event for the title's second year, and Mackie weaves it in nicely with the other subplots that have been boiling along lately. As stupid a concept as H.E.A.R.T. may be, seeing them as pawns of Deathwatch (though how can they be surprised that a guy they call "Deathwatch" is a villain?) is a nice wrap-up of their story. We also get the temporary conclusion to Blackout's revenge attempt, though we also seemingly got this way back in issue # 9 as well. Still, seeing Mackie so seamlessly weave all of this together (4 antagonists!) is very, very cool.
The big development in this issue, outside of the resolution to Blackout, is Blaze's realization that this Ghost Rider is different than Zarathos. The "is he or isn't he?" plot concerning Zarathos had been hanging over the series since Nightmare brought it up four issues ago. Every fan of the previous series was wondering what the resolution to this would be, and though we never really got a straight answer about it during Mackie's run (his scripts read as though GR was not Zarathos, but Mackie has later claimed that he always intended the two to be the same, so who knows?) having Blaze enter the series and become swayed by the new Ghost Rider's actions is a powerful indicator of where things were originally headed. Blaze himself is handled very well, he was an interesting reinvention of the original character, all grizzled and hard yet still struggling with the idea of again wielding hellfire.
The overwhelming theme of this issue, the whole series to a fault really considering Mackie hammers it over the readers' heads at every opportunity, is the effect that vengeance has on people. Blackout is consumed by revenge for what happened to his face, Deathwatch for his previous defeat by the Ghost Rider, Tyler Meagher by the actions of Blackout killing innocent people, and of course Blaze for his previous possession by Zarathos. Johnny doesn't just want to protect people from the Ghost Rider, he wants to destroy him as payment for the years of misery he went though as the previous host. He weighs it at the end, whether it's worth sending more souls to Mephisto to get his revenge, and he's the only character who actually chooses the higher road. Well, and Ghost Rider himself, of course, who is slowly learning that the pursuit of vengeance isn't worth the cost of innocent lives.
Mackie's excellent story is matched by some tremendous artwork by Mark Texeira, who has stepped up to heroically fill in the gap left by Javier Saltares' departure. Texeira draws a perfect Ghost Rider, and he performs heroically during the running battle between all the different parties in Central Park. The artwork is enhanced by the vibrant colors provided by Gregory Wright, justifying what at the time was a higher price for a better page quality. I also have to mention that fantastic cover, sporting a cover enhancement that made perfect sense for the series.
The second year of this series was by far the highest point the title would reach during its lengthy run, and this issue is a perfect example of why.
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| Oh Blackout, you rascally scamp, you. |
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