Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 14

Cover Artist: Mike Manley

Published: Sept. 1993

Original Price: $1.75

 

Title: Road To Vengeance: The Missing Link, Part 2: "Truth Is Only Skin Deep!"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mike Manley
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colorist: John Kalisz
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco

 

SYNOPSIS

At a truck stop along a New York highway, the Lilin named Skinner murders a trucker. Vowing revenge on both Lilith and John Blaze for the death of his children, Skinner begins his hunt. Meanwhile, the Ghost Rider tears down a Pennsylvania road, searching for Blaze. When he comes across the spot that the remnants of the Quentin Carnival have been occupying, he sees them in a vicious battle with the Lilin. The demons are there to kidnap John, alive and unharmed. The Ghost Rider intervenes, forcing the Lilin to retreat through one of Pilgrim's portals. Blaze is reluctant to hear what the Ghost Rider has to say, unwilling to endanger his friends and family any more than he already has. GR transforms back to Dan, who explains that Lilith and another have kidnapped his mother. Blaze asks who the other person was, and upon hearing Centurious' name, angrily agrees to help.

 

At their secret location, Centurious and Lilith interrogate the terrified Francis Ketch. When she fails to cooperate, Centurious decides to torture her. Elsewhere, Seer arrives at the Nightclub, where she is confronted by the mystic form of one of the Blood. The Blood tell Seer to bring the Ghost Rider to the Nightclub immediately, while they deal with the Caretaker themselves. Back on the highway, Dan and John ride toward a town called Holly, the place where Zarathos and Centurious were locked away in the Soul Crystal. As the two travel toward the small town, they are both unaware that Skinner is following them in a stolen semi-truck.

 

Three miles outside of Holly, John and Dan stop at a diner to get some food while they have an opportunity. Skinner then attempts to run them over with the semi, but the two manage to evade the truck. After Dan transforms, the Ghost Rider goes to save the people in the diner from the burning semi-truck, leaving Blaze to fight Skinner alone. John is quickly outmatched, and is sliced open several times by Skinner's bone blades. Ghost Rider then returns, allowing John to crawl away. GR quickly defeats Skinner and turns his attention toward Blaze, whose wounds are covered in a strange flame. Before the Ghost Rider can reach his friend, Centurious and Lilith appear between them. Centurious offers to exchange Blaze and Dan's mother for the medallion on GR's motorcycle, which the Rider promptly refuses. Centurious tangles the Ghost Rider in his own chain, then disappears, taking Lilith, Skinner, and Blaze along with him. As Ghost Rider frees himself from his chain, he sees a vision of the Caretaker, who tells him to find Seer and then wait for him. As the vision fades, Seer appears and takes Ghost Rider's hands, promising the answers to his questions.

 

ANNOTATIONS 

This story was continued from Ghost Rider (1990) # 41, and the Road to Vengeance crossover continues into Ghost Rider (1990) # 42.

 

Skinner first appeared in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 3, where he was sent by Lilith to kill John Blaze.

 

Although this issue shows Steel Wind as a part of Centurious' forces, this is an error. She is actually being held in a government facility built over the ruins of Blaze's carnival, which was destroyed in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 10. Steel Wind's next true appearance is Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 20.

 

Blaze's final confrontation with Centurious in the town of Holly took place in Ghost Rider (1973) # 81. The Soul Crystal, which had imprisoned Zarathos and Centurious, was last seen in Mephisto's possession in The Mighty Thor (1966) # 430.

 

The mysterious flame that pours from John's wounds was first glimpsed in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 12, when he was grazed by a bullet in the shoulder. He assumed he was shot with an incendiary round, but the flame is in fact hellfire.

 

REVIEW

The Ghost Rider Greatest Hits Villain Menagerie - also known as "Road to Vengeance: The Missing Link" - continues into the second chapter with the return of Skinner.

 

Now that the arc has made its way over to Spirits of Vengeance, Blaze and his supporting cast are brought into the story by the Ghost Rider, who's driven to find his sometimes-partner by Centurious' parting words in the first chapter. "Road to Vengeance" is remembered most for the radical changes to Blaze in the latter parts of the crossover, when he's transformed into a cyborg a la Deathlok or Cable, an event that was understandably loathed by fans. Mackie wrote Blaze very well, with his character being spot-on even when the story surrounding him was bad, and until we get to the cyborg change in chapter 4 Mackie holds true to that pattern. John Blaze doesn't want to be involved in the Ghost Rider's life, even when Dan begs him to help him save his mother, until he hears the name Centurious. That name kicks things up several notches for Blaze, bringing back memories of his final days as the Ghost Rider. He knows that if Centurious is loose than there's a chance that Zarathos is as well, and that's as close to a personal Hell as John can imagine.

 

But that's not to say John gets off easy in this issue, either, as he's given a return engagement with Skinner. Howard Mackie later named Skinner as his favorite character from the Ghost Rider series, and he's easily one of the strongest villains throughout the run due to the power of his back story. Skinner is a monster in the trappings of a man that blames everyone but himself for the murder of his family that he was "forced" to commit. I love Skinner, easily one of my favorite Ghost Rider villains, and his presence here as this chapter's main antagonist helps to push it up from merely mediocre to good.

 

Unlike Skinner, whose background and motivations are clear and appropriate, Mackie also gives us characters like Centurious and the Blood. Mackie had a clear fondness for these nigh-omnipotent characters who knew everything about the plot but refused to speak in anything other than cryptically vague sentences. In fact, it seems like everyone in the story knows everything about the plot but our lead characters and the readers themselves.

 

Now that Adam Kubert has departed the series for the greener pastures of Wolverine, veteran artist Mike Manley steps up to fill in until a new regular can be found. Manley is a chameleon, aping the styles of other artists - such as John Romita Jr. on Punisher War Journal or Bruce Timm on Black Panther - and here he's vaguely channeling the Kubert brothers in his rough, sketchy style. It's certainly decent enough work, but there's nothing real engaging about it. In fact, the work is almost too cluttered with abstract panel designs and POVs. Nothing special, but it gets the point across well enough.

 

"Road to Vengeance" is now two chapters behind us, and things are looking up slightly despite the frustrating vagueness of it all.

 

Grade: C+