Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 4

"Uncontrollable Urge"

Cover Date: August 1994; On Sale Date: June 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Peter Gross; Inkers: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Zero's best friend, Warewolf, has transformed into a mechanical monster hell bent on destroying the Ghost Rider. Despite his attempts to talk his friend down, Zero is forced to fully transform his robotic body to combat mode and fight back. Warewolf tries to resume control of his body, but finds himself unable to do so. While their fight continues, Kylie and Dr. Neon are led to Womack's office in D/Monix headquarters. Womack is given the Singapore Archive disc, and when Kylie lies about what she was caught doing he orders her sent down to "neuroterrogation". Womack contacts Harrison and tells him to load his decryption software to access the disc. When Kylie and Neon arrive in the neuroterrogation room, they find Zero's dead body on a table. Kylie freaks out, screaming that Zero still owes her money, forcing the security team to hold her down on a table while a technician injects her with a dose of Mnemopromethylne to gain access to her memories. Harrison is viewing a screen shot of Zero's body when Womack enters his office, prompting Harrison to comment about how the boy's parents must have been "unlucky". Womack shows Harrison the disc and asks him to decrypt it without informing Kellerman, noting the opportunity that's been presented to them. Unbeknownst to them, the holographic Kellerman is watching their conversation. Harrison views the progress on the dismantlement of the Ghost Rider's bike, but he's interrupted by a news report from Willis Adams about the Ghost Rider's battle with Warewolf.

Warewolf is briefly able to override the commands in his mind and he begs Zero to kill him. The police interrupt and fire on the two combatants, prompting Zero to attack them. Warewolf is shot, but when Zero saves him the battle between the two resumes. The cops warm up a antiparticle generator gun, but Warewolf regains control of himself long enough to place himself in the line of fire, saving Zero's life. As Warewolf dies, he tells Zero that it was Womack and Harrison at D/Monix that did this to him. Upon hearing Harrison's name, Zero flies into a rage and attacks the cops, using an optic laser to disable one of the armored officers. He tells the cops, "You'd better e-mail the body banks. Tell 'em to get ready for rush hour!"

Kylie's interesting way of mourning.

THE ROADMAP

Harrison is revealed to be Zero's father in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 5.

Following the injection of Mnemopromethylne, Kylie Gagarin will remain in a coma until Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 8.

CHAIN REACTION
Ghost Rider 2099 fights Warewolf, providing a necessary distraction from more police battles, while the cyberpunk intrigue ramps up inside D/Monix HQ.

Kaminski, Gross, Buckingham, and Sutherland continue the first Ghost Rider 2099 arc, and even with the changes in artists the story holds together seamlessly. I can only imagine that Chris Bachalo's abrupt departure likely through things into chaos mode, but I again have to hand it to the editor for keeping the artistic style consistent throughout the first five issues. It's rare to see something like that in a mid-90s comic series, when it would have been much easier to just get whoever was available to fill-in on the art. Gross and Buckingham perform great on this issue, and though you can tell when the finishes switch over to Sutherland (during Kylie's and Womack's scenes) everything still looks cohesive. Warewolf, who I assume was designed by Buckingham given the cover image for this issue, looks amazing as well, with the coils and metal giving the appearance of fur and muscle.

What really holds this series together, though, is writer Len Kaminski. Each issue of this series brings some new, crazy idea to the forefront with an ease that makes me envious as a writer. It would have been so easy to just transplant a Danny Ketch template to this series, and the decision to go in a completely opposite direction may have come from editorial or from Kaminski himself, it doesn't really matter. Kaminski sells Transverse City as a real place with real people. He makes you believe in the friendship between Zero and Warewolf, and he totally sells the rage Zero feels when he finds out who is responsible for killing his friend. Everything from the dialogue to the slang terms thrown out matter-of-factly just tosses the reader into the deep end of the 2099 pool, which in return makes the read not just entertaining but intellectually stimulating.

I've criticized that the first five issues of this series are really just one long, running fight scene, and this issue doesn't do much to negate that fact. Warewolf brings a welcome break from the constant thrashing on the fascist police force, though, and it gives just enough variation to be interesting. Most importantly, for the first time in the series, Zero isn't just wading through his enemies like a juggernaut, he's actively trying to keep from hurting his friend. Zero isn't the most likeable protagonist, he's selfish and brash, so seeing that he does truly care about someone goes a long way toward humanizing him and making him relatable. We also, of course, get another reason for this Ghost Rider to want vengeance against not just everyone around him but again against society itself.

I think the most enduring testament to this series is that it was written 20 years ago and depicts a future nearly a century away, yet it still feels futuristic when read today. It makes sense as a possible future for the world, as bleak and depressing as that may seem.

Yet another new weapon/ability for GR.