Cover Date: June 1977
On Sale Date: March 1977
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Sal Buscema
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letterer: Irv Watanabe
Colorist: Jan Cohen
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Sal Buscema
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letterer: Irv Watanabe
Colorist: Jan Cohen
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Al Milgrom
On a night time New York street, a Hollywood production crew sets
up to shoot a live stunt for the Stuntmaster television show.
Coincidentally, the shoot is taking place directly in front of Peter
Parker's apartment building, prompting he and Mary Jane to stop and
watch. Johnny Blaze, the resident stunt cyclist for the show, suits up
and starts the stunt, unaware that danger lurks from a nearby rooftop.
As Blaze's bike touches down on the roof of a car, a sticky substance of
some sort is shot onto the wheel, ripping the front half of the bike
off. Unable to get the bike under control, Johnny transforms into the
Ghost Rider in order to survive. Luckily for him, Parker has climbed a
building and donned his trust web-shooters, which pull Blaze away from
what could have been a messy wreck. Peter dons his Spider-Man costume
and joins Blaze on the street, but before any explanations can come
about, a stream of fast-hardening paste wraps around Spider-Man's body,
carrying him into the air. Above them, the terrible Trapster says that
after he finishes Spider-Man off, he'll be back for Blaze!
Suspended from his flying platform by the paste
line, Spider-Man is forced to listen to the Trapster's explanation on how he
escaped from prison. Finally, using his web-line to gain leverage, Spider-Man leaps onto the platform to attack the Trapster. The villain gets
the upper hand, however, and hurls Spider-Man from the platform! Riding
on the street below on his mystical flame-cycle, the Ghost Rider sees Spider-Man's fall. Riding in a tight circle, Blaze creates a heat vortex
that slows the wall-crawler's fall and allows him to be caught without
injury. The Trapster, his sky-sled damaged from the fight, crashes on a
nearby aircraft carrier, followed quickly by Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. Blaze
follows the Trapster into the ship's nuclear weapon loading area, and
corners him in front of some volatile chemicals. Spider-Man tries to stop GR
from using his hellfire, for fear of causing a nuclear explosion, but
the hero is instead put on the receiving end of Blaze's soul-searing
flame. Ghost Rider then turns his attentions to the Trapster, blasting
him with a stream of hellfire, which burns not his body, but his soul.
The Trapster falls, screaming in agony, while Spider-Man condemns Blaze for
what he's done. He tells Blaze that they're supposed to be the good
guys, and that they should be better than the guys they fight. Blaze
merely responds with "I am what I am." before riding off, leaving Spider-Man to take the Trapster to a hospital.
 |
| SPLUT! |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 24 and appears next in Ghost Rider (1973) # 25.
Ghost Rider first encountered the Trapster in Ghost Rider (1973) # 13, when the villain attempted to kidnap actress Karen Page.
Marvel Tales (1966) # 255, which is a reprint of this story, also features a back-up story revealing the Trapster's fate after having his soul burned with hellfire.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Marvel Team-Up (1972) # 58 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
 |
| A fate worse than death. |
No comments:
Post a Comment