Marvel Two-In-One (1973) # 8

"Silent Night...Deadly Night!"

Cover Date: March 1975; On Sale Date: December 1974

 

Writer: Steve Gerber; Artist: Sal Buscema; Inker: Mike Esposito; Letterer: Charlotte Jetter; Colorist: George Roussos; Editor: Len Wein; Cover Artist: Ron Wilson

On Christmas Eve, Johnny Blaze is riding through the Arizona desert. When three mysterious men on camels appear in the road in front of him, Blaze swerves and wrecks his bike. The men check on him, unshaken by his flaming skull, and they tell Johnny that they are three kings following a star toward a child of prophecy. Understandably confused by what's happening, Blaze rides ahead of the kings in order to find answers.

Meanwhile, in New York City, the Fantastic Four are celebrating the Christmas holiday - all except for Reed Richards, who is too busy studying the new star that's appeared in the sky despite the advice of Ben Grimm, the Thing. Back in Arizona, Ghost Rider arrives at a city that appears to be from biblical times, only all the residents are Native Americans. While investigating the town, Blaze finds the stable, within which is an Indian couple and their baby in a manger. Then, Blaze is startled by a shadowed figure who forbids him to enter the stable. The unknown man claims to be the child's creator, and he sweeps Johnny and his motorcycle into a tornado, which carries him back to the hills outside the city.

At the Baxter Building, Richards has discovered that the new star is pointing toward the Indian reservation of their friend, Wyatt Wingfoot. Reed is preparing to go investigate, but Grimm offers to go in his place so Richards can spend the holiday with his family. The Thing takes off in the Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane, and within an hour he has arrived at the reservation where he's met by Ghost Rider, who fills Grimm in on what he's seen. They see the three wise men approaching on their camels, and Blaze stops them with a ring of hellfire and demands their help. Later, Ghost Rider and the Thing sneak into the town, disguised as two of the three wise men. There they find an old enemy of the Fantastic Four, the Miracle Man, who transforms the stable animals into beasts to restrain the heroes. The Miracle Man explains that he had been imprisoned by the Indian mystics the Cheemuzwa, but he managed to escape and steal their power. In order to attain godhood, he transformed the Cheemuzwa and the reservation into a replica of Jerusalem, where he has created a new immaculate messiah.

Suddenly, though, the Miracle Man's powers fade away when he attempts to kill Ghost Rider. The Thing frees himself and attacks, but Miracle Man's powers work just fine against Grimm. Miracle Man sets fire to the city, hoping to destroy it and the heroes, before fleeing to the hills. Blaze tells the Thing to go after the villain while he rescues the spellbound Indians. The Thing catches up to his foe, and after a brief fight he manages to knock the Miracle Man unconscious. At that moment, the villain's spell fades; the town and its residents return to their normal state. The freed Cheemuzwa appear and take Miracle Man away with them, but the "messiah" child remains at the reservation to be cared for by the Native Americans. Ghost Rider and the Thing say their goodbyes, but while he drives away Johnny tries to figure out why the Miracle Man's powers wouldn't work on him.

God bless Benjamin Grimm.

THE ROADMAP

This story takes place between Ghost Rider (1973) #s 11 and 12.

Johnny Blaze again meets the Thing, years later, in Marvel Two-In-One (1973) # 8.

CHAIN REACTION

Ghost Rider meets the Thing in this very bizarre story from one of my favorite writers, Steve Gerber!

So, yeah, this is one weird as hell comic. Steve Gerber was one of a few writers (along with guys like Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, and J.M. DeMatteis) that brought really surreal and existential elements to Marvel comic books. Gerber, in specific, was the master of satire; just read an issue of his most beloved series, Howard the Duck, to see what I mean. Surreal satire is a perfect way to describe the events of this Marvel Two-In-One issue. On first glance, the comic is hung on an idea that's just straight-up insane, but upon closer observation there are subtle elements that speak to a much larger world than superheroes. 

I don't want to make any assumptions about what Gerber intended this story to represent, but I can think of a few possibilities. On one hand, you have the idea of Christmas becoming a holiday that's at the mercy of whoever has the most power (or money, even) and can hijack it for their own good. For example, after 9/11 you had the government telling people to spend money during the 2001 Christmas season or "the terrorists would win", when it was really just a way to try and pump up the economy after the stock drop following the terror attack. On the other hand, and I think I like this idea more, is the thought that Miracle Man's plan to "birth" his own "messiah child" is an allusion to unscrupulous religious leaders who use their status to amass power (and again, money).

But now I'm veering off topic, when I should really be talking about how great a comic this was as just a straight-up (if strange) superhero story. The team-up books of the 70s/80s had a big challenge for the writers, who had to think up logical reasons for Spider-Man or the Thing to meet a new hero every single month. Ghost Rider in particular provided a problem in this respect, as his stories usually took place on the west coast, far away from the New York home of most other superheroes. So, Gerber used a pretty novel approach with this story to get his two stars together, and it's so crazy that it works. Miracle Man wasn't a villain I was too informed about, other than knowing his name, due to me not being much of a Fantastic Four reader. But his back story here is fairly straight-forward, if not (again) totally off the reservation (pun intended).

Providing the artwork is Sal Buscema, who was a staple of Marvel Comics from the 1970s all the way through the mid-1990s. He adhered closely to the Marvel house style of the time, but his renderings of the Thing and Ghost Rider in particular are quite good. His Ghost Rider is appropriately evil looking, even making the "eyeballs in the skull" look menacing and creepy.

"Silent Night...Deadly Night!" is one of those stories that the original Ghost Rider all-too-rarely enjoyed (like "Deathrace!" by Jim Starlin), a story that isn't afraid to throw crazy ideas against the wall to see what sticks. Steve Gerber is one of my favorite writers for a reason, and this comic is a pretty good example why.

Never fails to make me laugh!