Cover Date: October 1994; On Sale Date: August 1994
Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; 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
At the Medi-Kwik health clinic in Transverse City, the Ghost Rider arrives with the comatose Kylie Gagarin and freed prisoner of D/Monix Doctor Neon and begs for someone to help the girl. The doctor, Sandoz, was a friend of Zero Cochrane, and when the Ghost Rider invokes his past name Sandoz agrees to help. After an examination, Sandoz determines that Kylie was injected with Mnemopromethylene, which has put her brain in a state of a memory feedback loop. Her only chance is a psychoactive drug called Nootropine, which was banned by the government and even the chemicals necessary to manufacture it are highly controlled substances. After being told that Kylie's condition is irreversible in 48 hours, Zero leaves her in the care of Sandoz and Neon and goes off to find the chemicals he needs.
At D/Monix headquarters, CEO Dyson Kellerman gives former employee Jackson Womack a "demotion" for his betrayal over the Singapore Archive, sending him off to be a lab rat for experimental study. Kellerman then sees Harrison Cochrane and asks to talk about Harrison's son, Kenshiro and the Ghost Rider. Meanwhile, reporter Willis Adams learns from his producer that the footage and interview he did with the Ghost Rider was flagged by D/Monix for "spin control", against Adam's wishes.
At the Bar Code, Zero has another meeting with proprietor Anesthesia Jones and asks to make another deal. When she calls him out on being nothing but a cheap hustler, Zero drops his hologram and reveals himself to be the Ghost Rider. However, when Zero attempts to tell her about the Ghostworks, he finds that he's been installed with an inhibitory program that keeps him from talking about them. Though angry, Zero puts it aside to ask Jones about a recharge and scoring some Nootropine. She points him in the direction of a "black pharmacist" named Max Synergy, the only man in Transverse City who could help.
On level three of Saint Vitus's Danceteria night club, Zero finds Synergy in the middle of the dance floor, his office walled off in a "quiet zone" that keeps out the club patrons. Zero makes his presence known and asks Synergy about making the Nootropine, which Synergy says requires a supply of 2-4-5 Trioxidiclorizide. The chemical is made by only one company, who would not be inclined to share. After Synergy gives him the information on the company, Zero rides out of town, headed for Alchemax in New York City.
CHAIN REACTION
Ghost Rider 2099 slows down on the action while a new regular artist comes on board, giving the series a drastic shift in its visuals.
Kyle Hotz signs on as the book's regular artist with this issue, which is mainly a stock-taking chapter that starts the book's second arc. Hotz has a very interesting art style that lends itself very well to the bizarre future visuals of 2099, but it's also a serious departure from the book's signature look from the first five issues. It was, I assume, editor Evan Skolnick that was responsible for keeping the book's artistic identity so on point through that first arc, utilizing three different artists all with similar styles to keep things looking tidy. With a new arc, however, the dramatic change in art style is understandable and welcome. While I would have personally preferred either Peter Gross or Mark Buckingham (who does come back for a fill-in issue a few months down the road), Hotz is a great choice for some of the stranger aspects of the new two storylines.
As this is the opening chapter to the book's second story-arc, Kaminski slows things way down to give the readers a much-needed breather. The first five issues were pretty much non-stop action, which while still moving the story forward was beginning to get monotonous with its break-neck pace. Unfortunately, what this slow-down really means is that we're given an extensive multi-page info-dump about pharmaceutical use in 2099. It's all pretty interesting stuff, colored with a bit of conspiracy theory about drug companies pushing narcotics that are known to keep people pacified and dumb, but it also comes across as a bit dry. Things do pick up considerably when Kaminski introduces another fantastically conceived location, St. Vitus's Danceteria, which showcases one of my favorite aspects of the series. Kaminski just went all-out with wild ideas and settings for this series, which makes it feel even more alien and futuristic than his 2099 counterparts. In fact, I'd say this series was the most realized depiction of 2099 out of all the series, at least until Warren Ellis comes to write Doom 2099 perhaps.
Ultimately, though, this is a series defined by fantastic action sequences and here's an issue with nothing like that in its pages. I appreciate the breather, readers needed it desperately, but even with the writer's spot-on futurist ideas and the enduringly abrasive personality of the lead character the comic still reads like a Wikipedia page.
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