Ghost Rider (1990) # 17

"You've Got to Have Faith!"

Cover Date: September 1991

On Sale Date: July 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

The religiously-crazed Hobgoblin has kidnapped Mrs. Ketch, and both Ghost Rider and Spider-Man are attempting to locate them.  Spider-Man tells Ghost Rider to back-off, believing that he wants to kill Hobgoblin.  Their argument is ended by John Blaze, who interrupts with a blast of hellfire, causing Spider-Man to swing away to find Hobgoblin on his own.  Ghost Rider and Blaze ride to Cypress Hills Cemetery, where Blaze attempts to give the Rider advice on his relationship with his human host, Daniel Ketch.  Ghost Rider transforms back into Danny, who is determined to kill Hobgoblin and rescue his mother.  Unbeknownst to them, Spider-Man is following them since he is unable to sense the spider-tracer he placed on Hobgoblin during their last fight.

Ketch and Blaze go to a local bar, where Danny threatens the owner, who is also an informant, for information on Hobgoblin's whereabouts.  This angers some of the owner's friends, who threaten to kill Danny, forcing Blaze to place his shotgun in the gang leader's face.  Elsewhere, Hobgoblin has taken Mrs. Ketch to his lair, thinking she is someone devout in need of his protection.  She discovers the bodies of people he has killed and throws a candleholder at his glider, reactivating the spider-tracer when it hits.  Hobgoblin decides that Mrs. Ketch is a deceiver just like everyone else he's attempted to "save".  Back at the bar, Danny and Blaze are rescued by Spider-Man, who leaves again when he senses the spider-tracer reactivating.  Danny transforms back into Ghost Rider, and all three heroes head to Hobgoblin's hideout, a mausoleum in Cypress Hills Cemetery.  Spider-Man rescues Mrs. Ketch, trusting Ghost Rider's word that he will not kill the villain.  The mausoleum explodes with Spider-Man, Blaze, and Mrs. Ketch outside, joined quickly by an unharmed Ghost Rider.  Hobgoblin jumps out of the wreckage, but the three heroes hit him simultaneously, knocking him unconscious.  They notice that, just for an instant, Hobgoblin transforms back in to his human form while unconscious.  Ghost Rider is satisfied that vengeance has been served, and Spider-Man offers to take Hobgoblin into custody.

Johnny B. in the mentor role.

THE ROADMAP

When Ghost Rider next encounters Hobgoblin, his demonic side will have been split off into a separate being called Demogoblin.  Ghost Rider will encounter them both again in the "Spirits of Venom" crossover between Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 5-6 and Web of Spider-Man (1985) # 95-96.

Ghost Rider teams up with Spider-Man next in Spider-Man (1990) # 20.

CHAIN REACTION

The 1990 series produces its weakest issue to date, with an unnecessary sequel to a guest-appearance taking the lead over some far more interesting subplots.

I can't say I was ever much of a fan of the religious zealot version of the Hobgoblin, though I did like the demonic transformation angle.  I can see why the juxtaposition was appealing for writers, to have a clearly demonic villain believing himself a crusader for God, but the constant spouting of hollow ideology really makes for an aggravating read.  Hobgoblin doesn't come off as menacing or even really scary, he's just kind of sad.  Todd McFarlane, who introduced this new take on Hobgoblin during his Spider-Man run, made the character's madness sympathetic, because even though he was murdering people based on delusions of faith there was an undercurrent of blamelessness throughout.  The Hobgoblin portrayed by Mackie, however, has none of that intentional sympathy, instead coming across as a merely pathetic.

However, as aggravating as Hobgoblin may be in this issue, it holds nothing to how irritating Danny Ketch has become in the last few issues.  Gone is the kid who wanted nothing more than to help his sister, replaced with a bloodthirsty "tough guy" persona that swings Danny too far in the other direction.  While Danny did need an injection of personality, desperately needed it in fact, Mackie takes it too far and makes his protagonist actively unlikeable.  I appreciate the decision to integrate the personalities of Danny and Ghost Rider into one another, with Ghost Rider becoming more than just a vengeance-driven machine, and I can see where the idea that the fury usually seen in Ghost Rider can bleed into Dan came from.  The level it's taken to in this issue, though, makes the character not just reckless but idiotic. 

The other two principal characters in this issue don't fare so well either, I'm afraid.  Johnny Blaze comes out looking the best, positioned as the voice of reason amidst all the insanity, but instead of showing Blaze as a hero on his own he's relegated to following around an erratic Danny to try and keep him out of trouble.  I like Blaze's role as mentor to both Dan and the new Ghost Rider, but with the way both of them act in this issue I have to wonder why John even bothers.  Finally, we have Spider-Man, whose presence is just as grating as the rest, perhaps more so due to him acting as the mouthpiece opposition to Danny's bloodlust.  Spider-Man can, at times, come off as self-righteous, but man is that turned up to 11 in this issue.

Sadly, not even the artwork in this issue is up to par with the usually high standards of the series.  Perhaps he was in a rush to complete this issue, but Mark Texeira's usually detailed artwork seems sloppier and looser here.  His Ghost Rider continues to look fantastic, but the other characters appear distorted and out of proportion during his action sequences.  His depiction of Spider-Man also continues to pose a problem, due to the character clashing hard against the artist's style, making him leap off ever panel he appears in (and not in a good way, rather a massively distracting one).

Ghost Rider was coming off a run of some really great issues, so it's perhaps unfair to judge the Hobgoblin storyline so harshly.  It is definitely my least favorite arc of the series so far, though.

So polite, he even says "please" in the next panel!