Ghost Rider (1990) # 69

Cover Artist: Salvador Larroca

Published: Jan. 1996
Original Price: $1.95

Title: "...Living Spirit of Vengeance"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Salvador Larroca

Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Mike Rockwitz
Editor: James Felder
Editor In Chief: Bobbie Chase

SYNOPSIS

Dan Ketch rides his mystical motorcycle through a police barricade, transforming into the Ghost Rider as he leaps into a group of high-tech terrorists. With information supplied to him by a mysterious informant named "Deep Throat", the Ghost Rider received information on an operation implemented by Anton Hellgate, and within moments he's defeated the terrorists and is one step closer to Hellgate himself. The next day, at Hellgate's Westchester estate, the crime lord kills one of the men defeated by the Ghost Rider. He tells his minions to contact Choam to eliminate the Rider once and for all.

Elsewhere, Dan's girlfriend Paula Harris sits in her apartment as her phone rings. She knows who's been calling nonstop for the past half-hour, and when a knock sounds on her door she fears who it could be. She answers and finds Dan, who hears the phone and correctly assumes that its her ex-boyfriend, who has been calling and threatening her. Dan answers the phone and yells at the caller, telling him not to call back. Paul then tells Dan to leave, since he's scaring her just as much as her ex does. Later, Hellgate tells the brute named Choam that all he has to do is cause plenty of blood to run in the streets and the Ghost Rider will find him. Dan leaves Paula's apartment, and stumbles across a mugging. He stops the criminals and savagely beats one of them until the mugger's victim begs him to stop.

Later, in Cypress Hills, Choam goes on a rampage in the streets, killing as many people as he can find. The police are useless, unable to stop his destruction as Choam waits for the Ghost Rider. Meanwhile, Dan goes to visit his mother. She asks him if the Ghost Rider is trying to take over again, but Dan tells her that it's the opposite: he's becoming obsessed with vengeance...and what's worse, he likes the feeling. Back at her apartment, Paula's phone begins to ring again. She looks out her window and sees her ex-boyfriend Duane at the payphone outside.

During their visit, Daniel and his mother are visited by the police, who tell them that they're evacuating the neighborhood due to Choam's rampage. Dan's palm begins to glow, and he races off toward the chaos. When he gets there, the Ghost Rider attacks Choam, only to find that his Penance Stare has no effect on him. Enraged by Choam's flagrant disregard for human life, the Ghost Rider kills the brute by choking him with his chain. Afterward, the Rider looks at his hands and asks "what have I done?"...only for Choam to stand back up and resume the battle. Choam tries to goad him into killing him again, but the Rider refuses - then ends the fight with a single punch. Ghost Rider leaves Choam chained up for the police, and is then approached from the crowd by Ms. Ketch. She whispers to him that Paula called for Dan, saying she's in trouble.

A short while later, Duane breaks into Paula's apartment with a gun, but finds Danny instead. Duane points his gun at Dan, but then has a gun placed to his head from behind. Stacy Dolan and her partner place Duane under arrest, and Paula comes to hug Dan. Stacy thanks Dan for calling her, and Dan thinks to himself that he almost let the lust for vengeance cloud his mind. While vengeance may not have been served, the law has.

ANNOTATIONS 

Ghost Rider appears next in Over the Edge # 4.

Danny started dating Paula in Ghost Rider (1990) # 58, and she started receiving calls from her ex-boyfriend in Ghost Rider (1990) # 66. Paula appears once more after this issue in Over the Edge # 4, then has a break-up with Danny following that story. She'll return as a host for one of the Furies in Ghost Rider (1990) # 79.

The mysterious "Deep Throat" began helping Ghost Rider target Hellgate's criminal activities in Ghost Rider (1990) # 66. The identity of "Deep Throat" will be revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 73.

REVIEW

It's the end of an era as this issue marks the last by series creator Howard Mackie, the writer responsible for the majority of Ghost Rider's stories (including spin-offs and guest appearances) throughout the 1990s. Unfortunately, he doesn't really go out on a high note.

Howard Mackie was a writer with three very distinct eras on Ghost Rider: the first third of his run being what catapulted the character to superstardom and the second, the Midnight Sons era, being what nearly drove the book to cancellation and dismal sales. This final issue by the writer caps off the third era of his tenure, a back-to-basics approach after the failure of the Midnight Sons experiment - and, with a few exceptions, the last twenty issues of Ghost Rider were of high quality. This, I'm afraid to say, is one of those exceptions.

We're essentially given a stock plot in this issue; worse, a stock plot that we've seen before in this title. The story's villain, Choam, is another riff on the utterly forgettable Slaughter Boy from # 51 - a villain that has piss poor motivation other than "evil". But really, Choam's involvement is there for no reason other than to put some action in and take up space to hide the fact that this issue's real plot couldn't feasibly be stretched out for 22 pages. So to extend things a bit we're given yet another "Hellgate sends flunky out to kill Ghost Rider", something we've seen multiple times in the last 30 issues. It's boring and trite, and I don't think anything else can really be said about it.

The more interesting part of the story comes from the resolution of Paula's subplot. Poor Paula has been hanging around the book for about a year now, and she still has the personality of a cracker; she's likeable, but I just don't care about her in the slightest. She especially pales in comparison to Dan's last romantic partner, Stacy Dolan, who IS a fleshed-out believable character. But regardless, Mackie's taking the time to finish off her abusive ex-boyfriend/stalker plotline, and he does so with a nice little twist at the end. Throughout the story, I was anticipating the ex-boyfriend to get a vicious Ghost Rider beat-down, with the demon influenced and corrupted by Dan's own rage and need for vengeance against the person threatening his girl. Instead, we get Dan confronting him with supernatural intervention being substituted with police action in the form of ex-girlfriend Stacy coming to Dan's aid. It's a very human wrap-up, and it's something we rarely get to see in this title: a happy ending for Danny with Paula (we'll just ignore the fact that Paula's cast out of the book by incoming writer Ivan Velez with hardly a mention).

Salvador Larroca, who stays on with the title after Mackie's exit, turns in an admirable artistic attempt. It's too bad he's been paired this month with Al Milgrom, a completely incompatible inker that sucks all the life from Salva's artwork. It's like creative motivation was shot with a hollowpoint between the eyes in this issue.

So, while this issue did have its merits, it's really just a paint-by-numbers Ghost Rider story. Honestly, I was expecting more from Mackie's last issue.

Grade: C