The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 6

"The Coming of...Witch-Woman!"

Cover Date: December 1992; On Sale Date: October 1992

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Tom Sutton; Inker: Jim Mooney; Letterer: John Costanza; Colorist: Stan Goldberg; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Mark Pacella

The Ghost Rider races through the Arizona desert with the comatose Roxanne Simpson in his arms, desperate to get her to a hospital before the snake venom in her system kills her. Back at the Apache reservation, Snake Dance's followers turn against him, finally realizing that he's nothing but a charlatan. Sam Silvercloud strings the old medicine man up to a tree, preparing to hang him, but the men are stopped by several rifle shots. They turn to see a young woman, Linda Littletrees, Snake Dance's daughter returned from college. Linda unties her father and convinces all the men to return to the reservation.

Meanwhile, Blaze races through the nearest city, the welfare of his girlfriend the only thing concerning him. He roars through the emergency room doors of the local hospital and demands a doctor to save Roxanne. After a little persuasion of the hellfire variety, the doctor agrees to help. After a quick examination, however, the doctor tells Johnny that she will still die, because the hospital has run out of snake bite serum. Back at the reservation, Linda is appalled that her father almost killed a girl because of superstitions. Snake Dance assures his daughter that Roxanne WILL die, because he knows the white men have no serum. He shows that he has the only vial of the serum, but accidentally allows Linda to take it from him. The young girl runs out the door and hops on her motorcycle, praying to an unseen "master" that she reaches Roxanne in time.

At the hospital, the doctor tells Blaze that the only thing they can do is a complete blood transfusion, but it would be very dangerous and she may not live through the procedure. The Ghost Rider tells the doctor to do what he must, and walks out of the hospital. Johnny rides his bike away from the motorcycle, just missing the arrival of Linda with the serum. The police catch sight of the speeding Blaze and follow in pursuit. Linda, meanwhile, gets the serum to the doctor in the nick of time, saving Roxanne's life. The doctor tells Linda the girl's name, and it rings strangely familiar to the Apache.

Johnny is chased by two motorcycle cops, which he tries to stop with a few blasts of hellfire. The cops continue their chase, until Blaze manages to trap them behind a wall of flame. The police radio in an all-points bulletin on the Ghost Rider as he rides away. Elsewhere, Linda recalls why she recognized Roxanne's name. When she was a little girl, she was rescued from being run over by a motorcycle cop named Officer Crash Simpson, who she had heard started a motorcycle show a few years later. She goes back and talks to the doctor, who tells her that Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, was the one that brought Roxanne to the hospital. Linda, thinking it ironic that the man her master sent her to kill is involved with the daughter of the man that once saved her life, walks outside the hospital in time to see Blaze speed by, several police cars on his tail. Realizing that she must rescue Johnny from the police so she can kill him herself, Linda jumps on her bike and gives chase. She easily passes the police cars, and takes a shortcut to a set of Indian cave ruins. Johnny is surprised when a police helicopter cuts off his escape route, but then a shimmering portal opens in front of him. The next thing Johnny knows, he's standing before the costumed Linda Littletrees, who refers to herself as...the Witch Woman!

"The Hangin' of Angus O'Donnel!, Part 1"

Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Dick Ayers; Letterer: Dick Ayers; Colorist: Mike Worley; Editor: Evan Skolnick 

Sheriff Brown takes the dead mailman to the undertaker, who gives the sheriff the previous undertaker Cletus' journal. William wakes up in Carter Slade's home; Jamie Jacobs tells him that Phantom Rider asked Carter to watch over him. The two youths go into Bison Bend to witness Angus' hanging, but Floyd and Red shoot the hangman's noose and Angus escapes.

No time to be picky, Blaze!

THE ROADMAP

This issue is a reprint of Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 10.

This issue also included an all-new back-up story featuring the old western Ghost Rider, Carter Slade, now re-named the Phantom Rider as of West Coast Avengers # 19.

Phantom Rider told his secrets to the dying Cletus Brown in The Original Ghost Rider (1992) # 3, and the undertaker recorded what he was told before he died.

The synopsis for the Phantom Rider story comes from Ghost Rider: The Official Index to the Marvel Universe.

CHAIN REACTION

It still stuns me how authentic the Phantom Rider serial is to the original Ghost Rider comics of the 1960s. I mean, Dick Ayers is the common thread, but everything from the story by Dan Slott to the production values makes it feel like you're really reaching back in time to 1967 for an unpublished Carter Slade story.

While I will always continue to question the decision to not just publish new Johnny Blaze stories as back-ups, the Phantom Rider 4-pagers have at least been a curious anecdote that I didn't appreciate fully when the series was first published.

Foreshadowing!