Cover Date: January 1993; On Sale Date: November 1992
Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Bret Blevins; Inker: Al Williamson; Letterer: Janice Chiang; Colorist: Gregory Wright; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Bret Blevins
After spending a night out stopping criminals, the Ghost Rider relinquishes control back over to Dan, who has begun to question the meaning of his life since his return from death. Following a bout of insomnia (which he believes to be perpetuated by his last confrontation with Nightmare), Dan decides to have a workout. While exercising, his mother interrupts, also unable to sleep. She confesses that there's something she's always wanted to tell her son, but only now has found the courage to do so.
Meanwhile, in a Soho loft, Madcap performs his cable access "Madcap Comedy Hour". Unable to feel pain of any kind, demonstrated by him stabbing himself repeatedly with a large knife, Madcap states that the people of New York City must be made to see that nothing in life truly matters. Back at the Ketch house, Dan is stunned by his mother's revelation: he's adopted. Slightly rattled and confused, Dan hugs his mother and immediately takes off on his bike. Elsewhere, Tyler Meagher address the rest of H.E.A.R.T. Their offices are rocked by an explosion, and all of the women but Meagher are killed.
Dan rides past Grand Central Station, where he's surprised to see an insane man crash through a plate glass window. Seeing the man's innocent blood, he automatically transforms into the Ghost Rider, who finds the early morning rush hour crowd transformed into a frenzied mob by the crazed Madcap and his hypnotic powers. Madcap tells the Rider that his mission is useless, as the dead people he avenges don't care what he does because they're dead (makes sense to me). Ghost Rider grabs Madcap and gives him the penance stare, which shakes the perpetually numb lunatic into spasms of pain. Content that vengeance has been served, the Rider leaves Madcap drooling on the floor. Back at H.E.A.R.T. headquarters, the assassins radio their leader, Mr. Stern, who tells them to bring Meagher in for a debriefing on her new target: Ghost Rider.
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider and Dan's last confrontation with Nightmare happened in Ghost Rider (1990) # 30.
H.E.A.R.T. last appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 15, where they were working for Deathwatch.
Stern first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 25, and took over the Firm by way of killing his superiors in Ghost Rider (1990) # 32.
The identity of Dan's real mother won't be revealed until years later, with the introduction of Naomi Kale in Ghost Rider (1990) # -1. Dan learns that John Blaze is his brother in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 16, and it is revealed in Ghost Rider (2006) # 5 that Barton Blaze is his father.
CHAIN REACTION
After the conclusion of "Rise of the Midnight Sons" and Dan's return to the living in the previous issue, this is the first story that attempts to get the book back on track after months and months of crossovers. Though it can arguably said that it started with the first chapter of "Rise of the Midnight Sons", this issue really began the downward slide of Ghost Rider, especially in comparison to the vastly superior Spirits of Vengeance title that was running at the same time. Along with an artist that didn't mesh well at all with the book, writer Mackie brought out a seemingly endless stream of characters and plots that either went nowhere or were frustratingly vague and "mysterious" (usually meaning that no plan for them past their initial appearances had been made).
This issue, for instance, begins the soon-to-be-abandoned subplot about Dan searching for his birth parents after learning he and his sister were adopted by the Ketch family. It's obvious from this and other issues that Mackie meant Dan's birth father to be a factor in the Ghost Rider curse, but with the later revelation that John Blaze is his brother it almost certainly means that - had the case with the father been true - Dan's dad would have been Barton Blaze. This forgotten plot was picked up years later by Ivan Velez, who instead made Dan and John's mother, Naomi Kale, the originator of their respective problems with the Ghost Rider. But at this point, it seems that Mackie could have had a plan in place for Dan's search for his parents, but it was either dropped due to editorial mandates or was simply lost in the shuffle amidst the numerous crossovers that would plague the title in the next year.
Mackie also trots out another one-shot villain for this issue; Madcap had previously been a Captain America villain (as had the Scarecrow, who had proven to be an intriguing addition to Ghost Rider's rogue gallery). What Mackie had planned for the character past this issue - if he had any plans at all, given the set-up for a sequel story at the end of this issue - is unknown, since Madcap and the Ghost Rider never crossed paths again.
This is Bret Blevins' second issue as the regular Ghost Rider artist, and it's becoming painfully obvious that he's been mismatched on this series. While his goofy, cartoonish artwork was perfect for a book like Sleepwalker, he simply couldn't bring the realism or darkness that this series demanded. Following artists like Javier Saltares, Mark Texeira, and even the mediocre-at-best Andy Kubert, Blevins work comes off as incredibly out of place.
Unfortunately, despite some good ideas and a wealth of interesting subplot material, this issue is brought down by the fact that so many of the story elements are never touched upon again.
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