Ghost Rider (1990) # 18

"Lost Souls"

Cover Date: October 1991
On Sale Date: August 1991

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mark Texeira
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Nelson DeCastro

Ghost Rider and John Blaze ride to Cypress Hills Cemetery, where John Blaze says his goodbyes, threatening to return if he learns that the Rider is indeed the demon Zarathos.  Ghost Rider assures him that this is not the case and transforms into his human host, Danny Ketch, who also says goodbye to the departing Blaze.  Danny returns home, worried about his mother, who has fallen in with a shady church leader named Reverend Styge.  Elsewhere in a small farm house in Millbrook, New York, Styge visits his "master", who demands that Styge bring him what he needs.  The master created Styge to be his Sin Eater and reminds him that he can just as easily unmake him.

At their home in Brooklyn, Danny tries to talk to his mother about her inability to deal with the death of his sister, Barbara.  One of Styge's deacons arrives to take her away, and when Danny protests he gets punched in the face by the driver.  His mother apologizes and says that Styge is going to bring Barbara back to life tonight.  Danny follows the car to the cemetery, where he sees Styge welcoming his mother into a small congregation.  Styge leads one of his parishioners into a mausoleum, claiming to be able to reunite the man with his deceased loved one.  The other parishioners outside hear a scream, and then only Styge exits the tomb.  He drops a handkerchief and tells them that the man must be left alone to enjoy his reunion.  Styge and the congregation depart for another part of the cemetery, while Danny investigates the mausoleum.  He finds the parishioner dead and looks at the handkerchief that Styge dropped, covered in blood.  Dan transforms into Ghost Rider.

At the grave of Barbara Ketch, Styge prepares to kill Mrs. Ketch, his hand turning into claws.  Ghost Rider stops him, revealing Styge as the monster he is.  Styge admits to being a cannibal that strips the flesh and energy from his victims to satiate the hunger of his mysterious master.  Ghost Rider beats Styge nearly to death and departs with the unconscious Mrs. Ketch.  Later, in their home, Danny and his mother pack away Barbara's things, having finally come to terms with her death.  Elsewhere, Styge is brought to his master, who removes the preacher's eye for his failure.  However, when Styge mentions the Ghost Rider his master stops and decides to let his servant live, stating "you have stirred a distant memory".

You're a scumbag, Mr. Styge.

THE ROADMAP

Ghost Rider appears next in Cloak & Dagger (1988) # 18.

Mrs. Ketch began attending Reverend Styge's church in Ghost Rider (1990) # 13.  Styge first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 16 and he makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 2.

The identity of Styge's master is revealed to be Centurious in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 10.  Centurious last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 81, where he was imprisoned in the Soul Crystal alongside his archenemy, Zarathos.

Ghost Rider (1990) # 39 reveals that Mrs. Ketch knows that her son and Ghost Rider are one and the same.

CHAIN REACTION

Mackie and Texeira return the book to form with "Lost Souls".

Even the end point would be extremely disappointing (looking at you, "Road to Vengeance" and "Siege of Darkness"), the build-up to the returns of Centurious and Zarathos were extremely suspenseful for older Ghost Rider readers.  The teases of what would be coming in year three start here with the mysterious "master" behind Reverend Styge.  Most readers naturally caught on with this very issue that said master was a returned Centurious, what with Styge being given the "Sin Eater" moniker and other hints and teases laid throughout the dialogue.  It was pretty ingenious to start laying the ground work of this deeper mystery of an older villain returned just as Johnny Blaze's reintroduction reaches its initial end point.  Readers didn't know when Blaze would be back in the series (though it was inevitable, given the positive reaction to his return), and he was the only link so far to anything from the 1970s series. 

Outside of that stuff building in the background, this issue is exactly what I expect from this creative team, harkening back to the excellent Scarecrow story from issue # 7.  Danny is acting like a real person again instead of a bloodthirsty rageaholic; even though the last two issues have both featured his mother in mortal danger, his reactions are far different.  Instead of threatening biker gangs and talking sass to John Blaze, Danny actually surveys the situation and uses caution.  This is more in line with the character as established and much more interesting to read about.  More importantly, this issue has an emotional core to it that the previous arc lacked, namely how to deal with the loss of a loved one and how grief can make you do some highly illogical things.  Barbara Ketch's death had sort of faded into the background during the Johnny Blaze/Blackout/Hobgoblin stories, and it's nice to see that the characters haven't just walked away from such a trauma unscathed.  Having a parasite like Styge take advantage of Mrs. Ketch is a good way to flag up the denial that she (and Daniel both, considering how badly his sister's death affected him at first) feels after losing her daughter.  Naturally, this is kind of blunted by later issues revealing in succession that Barbara (and Dan) were adopted and that Mrs. Ketch knows all about the Ghost Rider, but you can't fault this issue for those later unnecessary revisions.  As a one-off story used to tie off the bloody stump of Barbara Ketch's lingering presence, this one works beautifully.

Also working beautifully is Mark Texeria's artwork, who seems recharged after last issue's problems.  His work provides the appropriate mood and darkness that this series, and especially this issue, demands.  Coupled with the brilliant colors by Gregory Wright, this issue just jumps out at you and slaps you in the face, demanding you take notice of it.  Also, I don't think I've mentioned it yet in a review (and if I have, sorry), but whoever decided to go with black panel borders for the pages deserved a raise, because it enhanced the title's dark tone considerably.  Oh, and the art team was able to make a priest in a black and white jumpsuit look fucking terrifying, so there's that as well.

This is probably my favorite issue of the book's second year, and those Centurious teases were just so damn exciting at the time. 

A really creepy scumbag!