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| Cover Artist: Robert Brown |
Original Price: $0.99
Title: "The Joker's Wild"
Writer: Bruce Sakow
Artist: Robert Brown
Inkers: Tom Palmer, Brad Vancata, Bud LaRosa, & Mike Witherby
Letterer: Michul Higgins
Colorist: Ashley Posella
Editor: James Felder
Executive Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras
SYNOPSIS
In Cypress Hills Cemetery, Ralphie - last of the Cypress Pool Jokers - rides a crudely fashioned skull-themed motorcycle. Two years ago to the day, Ralphie watched as Blackout murdered his best friend, Angel, while the Ghost Rider stood and watched. Ralphie has spent the last two years in hospitals, driven to the point of insanity, and now the day has come for his revenge against the Ghost Rider. Donning a skull helmet, Ralphie tosses his first grenade into a neighborhood home - the home of Francis Ketch, who is being visited by her son, Danny, and his girlfriend, Paula. The explosion injures Mrs. Ketch, and as an ambulance arrives Dan leaves to find out what caused the explosion. He finds Ralphie in the Cemetery, where onlookers mistake him for the Ghost Rider. Dan undergoes the transformation into the Spirit of Vengeance, who immediately confronts Ralphie. The young man rants and raves about how the Rider destroyed his life in Cypress Hills, but the Ghost Rider fails to recognize him or understand what he's talking about.
Meanwhile, Stacy Dolan listens to the newscasts about the "Ghost Rider" rampage. She tells herself that it must be false, that the chaos isn't the Ghost Rider - or Dan's - style. She then receives a telephone call from Ski, who tells her that the Team is being reactivated to take down the Ghost Rider once again.
Ralphie leads Ghost Rider out of the cemetery and into the city, where they eventually come to a subway train. Ralphie holds the conductor at gunpoint and tells him to speed the train up even though it means they'll ram the train ahead of them. While this is happening, Stacy and Ski assemble the rest of the Task Force at their headquarters and take flight in their helicopter. In the hospital, Paula is upset that Dan left them - but Mrs. Ketch tells her to give Dan time, that he tends to run away to be alone when tragedy happens. Paula accepts this just before the doctor enters to give Mrs. Ketch a clean bill of health.
Back on the subway, Ghost Rider manages to stop the train before the collision occurs and resumes his pursuit of Ralphie. While the two race through the city, the Task Force arrives overhead and begins to fire upon them. The chase heads to the Brooklyn Bridge and finally to the East River, which is jumped by the two bikers. They land on the Staten Island Ferry in the middle of the River, and with nowhere else to run Ralphie turns to fight. The Ghost Rider easily disarms the last Joker and unmasks him, finally recognizing him. The Rider tells Ralphie that he was not responsible for Angel's death, and the man breaks down in defeat. The Task Force fire a missile at the ferry from their helicopter, blowing it up in hopes of killing the two vigilantes. As the smoke obscures the river, the Ghost Rider emerges from the water on his motorcycle with Ralphie in his arms. Later, at Bellevale Hospital, Ralphie is visited by Dan and Stacy, who tell their old neighborhood friend that everything is going to be okay now.
ANNOTATIONS
Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 68 and he makes his next appearance in Ghost Riders: Crossroads # 1.
The Cypress Pool Jokers last appeared as a group in Ghost Rider (1990) # 25.
Blackout did indeed murder the Joker named Angel in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Ghost Rider (1990) # 3. However, Ralphie wasn't present for this due to his parents having been murdered by Blackout as well in Ghost Rider (1990) # 2.
Stacy Dolan and the Ghost Rider Task Force last hunted - and successfully apprehended - the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (1990) # 61. Stacy learned that Dan and the Ghost Rider were one and the same in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 18.
REVIEW
Over the Edge was one of several series released by Marvel in the mid-90s at a discounted price to try and attract new readers to their established book. Unfortunately, most of them - this one included - weren't very good.
It's interesting that writer Bruce Sakow chose such a forgotten bit of Ghost Rider continuity to explore, and I give him full points for finally addressing the whereabouts of the Cypress Pool Jokers after they disappeared from the main series right before "Rise of the Midnight Sons". It wasn't a story that needed to be told, but it still gives a nice bit of closure to some characters that made a handful of appearances in the book's early days. However, it's even more odd that Sakow would choose a forgotten plot point with Blackout and Angel and Ralphie but get the history of the event completely wrong. I just don't understand how that could happen, honestly. If Sakow did the research into the Cypress Pool Jokers and the events in the first arc of Ghost Rider - which he obviously would have had to have done to write this story - then how could he have come to such an incorrect conclusion?
Ralphie wanting revenge on the Ghost Rider is a good idea, because he had absolute just cause to want this (through his addled and damaged mind, of course, twisting the memories of the event). But the problem is a big one: Ralphie wasn't present when Angel was killed by Blackout. Instead, Ralphie hadn't appeared since the issue before that, when his entire family was murdered by Blackout - with only a last minute save by the Ghost Rider keeping him from dying as well. For all the good will Sakow gained by touching back on the years-old story, he lost it by screwing it up completely.
Regardless of continuity nitpicking, this story is just barely above average. It's a chase scene that's short on characterization and heavily reliant on action. But really, Over the Edge wasn't meant to be a massive study of characters - instead, it was a series meant as a teaser for the ongoing books. So the relatively simple script could perhaps be overlooked.
The artwork is by Robert Brown, who illustrated both Ghost Rider stories that appeared in Over the Edge. I'm not overly familiar with Brown's work outside of these two Ghost Rider stories, but the influence of comic legend Todd McFarlane is heavily recognizable. While Brown does a credible job with the action sequences, his work still looks fairly amateurish in quite a few places - and really, aping the style of such a distinct artist as McFarlane isn't really a good idea if you want to make an identity for yourself in the comic world. It's serviceable artwork, but nothing overly fantastic.
By nature, the stories produced for Over the Edge are forgettable, but decent enough for what they are.
Grade: C+
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