On Sale Date: October 1982
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Don Perlin
Inker: Dave Simons
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Bob Budiansky
In the nether-regions of Hell, the demon Asmodeus travels to the realm of Mephisto and offers the demon-lord a "suggestion" concerning Johnny Blaze and the Ghost Rider. Mephisto comments that the Ghost Rider's true name is Zarathos, but allows Asmodeus to continue. The lesser demon offers to lift the burden of Blaze from Mephisto, to which the Hell ruler replies that Zarathos would be crucial to Asmodeus' attempt to rule Earth. Mephisto decides to turn the "suggestion" into a contest, where Zarathos shall run a gauntlet in Hell, with his freedom as the goal. If he fails, he will belong to Asmodeus.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Johnny confronts Ralph Quentin about the incident with Steel Wind. During the argument, Blaze suddenly feels faint, so he excuses himself to go get some air. Riding on his motorcycle into a secluded area, Johnny is jumped by a pack of demons, who knock him unconscious and carry him through a shimmering gate. Blaze wakes up and is surprised to see both Mephisto and Asmodeus standing before him, as he is chained to an upright altar of sorts. Mephisto brings forth the Sword of Demonicus, which he uses to cleave the true form of Zarathos out of Blaze's body. Mephisto tells Zarathos that both he and Johnny must race through Hell to a mystic portal back to Earth. If both of them reach the portal together, they will forever be separated and free from one another.
Blaze and Zarathos begin their race through Hell, but Asmodeus immediately sends his minions out to stop them from reaching their destination. The two riders reach a bridge, where they encounter a giant named Saturnyne, a demon with an immense hatred toward the Ghost Rider. Blaze rescues Zarathos from the giant, and the two then trick Saturnyne into impaling himself on a piece of the broken bridge. The two continue down the Road of Lost Souls, where Johnny encounters what he believes to be the ghosts of his parents. Zarathos loses his temper and blasts the two shades with hellfire, forcing them to reveal their true demonic forms.
The two continue farther, but their path is soon blocked by a twisted mass of flesh called Mount Avarice. Zarathos explains that the Mount is made of the souls of men that were concerned only with themselves, and must spend eternity entwined with each other. If the souls sense a kinship with them, then they will drag them down among them. Blaze soon experiences a feeling of self-doubt, and begins to sink into the mass of limbs. Zarathos reluctantly turns back and saves Johnny from his fate, pulling him through the entwinement of souls. The two continue their journey on foot through a narrow tunnel, only to see two of Asmodeus' demons cut the rope tying down a large boulder that takes up the entire space of the corridor. Zarathos uses his hellfire to stop the boulder's descent toward them, but finds that their path is now blocked. Blaze turns, only to find that the souls of Mount Avarice are coming up the tunnel after them. Zarathos turns to the boulder and uses all the hellfire at his command to shatter the blockade, though it knocks him unconscious in the process. Blaze drags the Ghost Rider through the tunnel, but is unable to get away from Mount Avarice. Zarathos then awakens and blasts the souls with his hellfire, forcing them to retreat. The two run the rest of the way, finally coming to the portal that will take them back to Hell. Both of them then decide, however, that only one must step through the portal, in order to ensure that they will never be bonded together again. The two struggle, and during their fight they fall through the portal together.
Johnny awakens on Earth, at the place where he was attacked and taken. Realizing that Zarathos is inside him once again, Johnny pounds on the rock furiously, and in the process transforms into the Ghost Rider, who swears vengeance on Mephisto. Back in Hell, Mephisto explains to Asmodeus that had Blaze and Zarathos simply walked through the portal together, they truly would have been freed from each other and the curse of the Ghost Rider would have been lifted. Mephisto then decides to take his prize for besting Asmodeus, destroying the demon with a bolt of hellfire. As the netherruler watches the Ghost Rider through a scrying glass, he states that as long as he rules, the Ghost Rider will never be free.
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| IN ALL HIS GLORY! |
THE ROADMAP
Steel Wind attacked the Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider (1973) # 75.
Asmodeus first appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 53, and again in Ghost Rider (1973) # 64.
Mephisto was revealed as the "Satan" responsible for Blaze's curse in Ghost Rider (1973) # 68.
This is the first mention of the Ghost Rider's true name, Zarathos, and several hints are offered at his origins. Zarathos' origin will be revealed to him by Nightmare in Ghost Rider (1973) # 77.
Believe it or not, the demon Saturnyne that appears in this issue makes a re-appearance decades later as the main villain of the X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back mini-series. Talk about a deep cut! Similarly, Asmodeus will re-appear alive and once again a ruler of Hell in the 2013 "Hell on Earth War" storyline in X-Factor.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Ghost Rider (1973) # 76 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
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| Such a great transition! |
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