Cover Date: July 1993
On Sale Date: May 1993
Writer: D.G. Chichester
Artist: Richard Pace
Inker: Temujin
Letterer: Vickie Williams
Colorists: Kevin Somers & J. Paes
Editor: Marcus McLaurin
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
On Sale Date: May 1993
Writer: D.G. Chichester
Artist: Richard Pace
Inker: Temujin
Letterer: Vickie Williams
Colorists: Kevin Somers & J. Paes
Editor: Marcus McLaurin
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover Artist: Richard Pace
Later, in London, Terror meets with another ally named Rekrab, who is an occult information broker. Rekrab chastises Terror for only seeking half-measures in his search for penance, and reluctantly gives him a business card for Borderline Investigations in Boston. Terror meets with Frank Drake, of both Borderline and the Nightstalkers, and asks for confirmation of Ghost Rider's membership in "the Nine", who protect Earth from demonic forces. Drake confirms the information and warns Terror about standing with the forces of darkness.
In Cypress Hills Cemetery, Terror uses Sabaist's severed arm to again open the portal to Culex's dimension, using the reality breach as bait. Ghost Rider arrives, snapping off Culex's arm that had emerged through the portal. Terror closes the portal and discards Sabaist's arm as he asks Ghost Rider to use the Penance Stare on him, which Ghost Rider refuses to do. As they talk, they are unaware that Culex's arm has consumed Sabaist's arm, allowing Culex to form in this world. Culex attacks and begins to drain Ghost Rider of his life force to make himself stronger. Terror uses a shovel to cut off Culex's arm and snatches an eye from the demon's face. Though the limbs quickly grow back, Terror uses the severed body parts to call forth the portal once more, which sucks Culex back to his home dimension. Ghost Rider destroys the demon's body parts that Terror had used, then decides that Terror does indeed deserve the Penance Stare. The Penance Stare allows Terror to relive his past sins, including how he became what he is and the death of the one woman who had loved him. Later, Terror meets his business manager, Ms. Primo, in a restaurant and the two discuss their future before sharing a dance.
CHAIN REACTION
Terror was a great concept mired in confusion, straddling the line between Marvel's horror books (the Midnight Sons) and the imprint it actually launched under, the "Big Guns". That was the early 1990s imprint (and I use that word very loosely) that spawned Punisher War Zone, Cage, Silver Sable & the Wild Pack, and Nomad. Terror was the odd book out of those launches, because even though it featured a mercenary as the lead character, the "big guns and bad attitudes" of the line didn't really apply. It also didn't help that the character was being adapted from the Shadowline books from Marvel's Epic imprint, which was outside Marvel continuity and read by very few people. Terror's gimmick, that he could graft the body parts of other people onto himself to employ whatever skills they had, was fantastic and grossly inspired. Unfortunately, the writer responsible for bringing him into the Marvel Universe was D.G. Chichester, who despite being the character's creator was pathologically incapable of writing a coherent story.
Actually, that's unfair to Chichester, who was a perfectly decent writer on a lot of Marvel properties around this time. Nightstalkers was solid, and the first half of his Daredevil run was quite good, but as a writer he had a really frustrating style. His plots were often straight-forward and clear, but when it came to the scripting and especially the narration his bad habit kicked in. He was a writer who could take a simple statement and overload it with words and double meanings, which muddled things so much I still can't understand parts of it. Why use one word when ten will take more space, I suppose? This issue, for example, dances around the central premise of Terror seeking penance for his past sins so much that by the end there's a question of whether it was resolved or not. That wasn't a plot choice, it was a point of confusion, at least for me. All of his titles had this, but Terror seemed to suffer from it the worst, and it made the book really difficult to read.
Ghost Rider's appearance (and the brief connection to the larger Midnight Sons imprint via Frank Drake) isn't handled too badly, but it follows what had become a cliché by this time. Numerous characters had brought in Ghost Rider for the "self-inflicted Penance Stare" as an attempt to justify what was hoped to be a sales boost. In fact, Chichester himself had just used that same plot in an issue of Nightstalkers a few months before this. Still, I guess it was an easy justification for Ghost Rider's involvement, and here at least it fit the titles direction from the last few issues, where Terror had turned to monastic religion seeking redemption and failing to find it. This issue was full of some great touches, and I thought the idea behind Culex and the way Terror has to defeat him was handled nicely.
The best part of the comic, though, has to be the artwork. I'm not real familiar with Richard Pace outside of this series, which is a shame because he certainly had potential to go far. There's a real kinship in his style with artists like Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham, and Peter Gross, which I always thought lent itself well to Ghost Rider. He's appropriately disgusting in his renderings of Culex and the way Terror has to dispatch him, but I wonder how difficult it must have been to keep a book like this tame enough for the Comics Code Authority given its subject matter. Terror does rip off body parts and stick them to himself, which is hard to draw tastefully I imagine. The real star of the art team, though, is inker Temujin, who is probably who I should credit the most. Compare Pace's cover against his interior work, the contrast is striking and it all comes down to the inker. The final page, which features the dance between Terror and Alexis, is beautiful.
Terror, Inc. was a book and character I really hoped would have more of a life, but alas not even a Ghost Rider appearance could save it. The whole series is still an interesting, if not great, read.
Terror and his ally Hellfire are in the process of exterminating a cult of demon-worshippers that have kidnapped a young girl to sacrifice to their god, Culex. Terror chases the cult's leader, Sabaist, who opens up a portal to Culex's realm. Terror kills Sabaist and attaches the cult leader's arm to his own body, using its skills to close the portal before Culex can escape. He and Hellfire rescue the girl, and back at Hellfire's monastery Terror is disappointed that the monks there can not offer him the forgiveness he desires.
Later, in London, Terror meets with another ally named Rekrab, who is an occult information broker. Rekrab chastises Terror for only seeking half-measures in his search for penance, and reluctantly gives him a business card for Borderline Investigations in Boston. Terror meets with Frank Drake, of both Borderline and the Nightstalkers, and asks for confirmation of Ghost Rider's membership in "the Nine", who protect Earth from demonic forces. Drake confirms the information and warns Terror about standing with the forces of darkness.
In Cypress Hills Cemetery, Terror uses Sabaist's severed arm to again open the portal to Culex's dimension, using the reality breach as bait. Ghost Rider arrives, snapping off Culex's arm that had emerged through the portal. Terror closes the portal and discards Sabaist's arm as he asks Ghost Rider to use the Penance Stare on him, which Ghost Rider refuses to do. As they talk, they are unaware that Culex's arm has consumed Sabaist's arm, allowing Culex to form in this world. Culex attacks and begins to drain Ghost Rider of his life force to make himself stronger. Terror uses a shovel to cut off Culex's arm and snatches an eye from the demon's face. Though the limbs quickly grow back, Terror uses the severed body parts to call forth the portal once more, which sucks Culex back to his home dimension. Ghost Rider destroys the demon's body parts that Terror had used, then decides that Terror does indeed deserve the Penance Stare. The Penance Stare allows Terror to relive his past sins, including how he became what he is and the death of the one woman who had loved him. Later, Terror meets his business manager, Ms. Primo, in a restaurant and the two discuss their future before sharing a dance.
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| That's one way to attract attention, I suppose. |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider last appeared in The Punisher War Journal (1988) # 57-58 and makes his next appearance in Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 2.
CHAIN REACTION
Terror, Inc. has its final issue, celebrating with a guest-appearance by Ghost Rider and an absolutely baffling finale.
Terror was a great concept mired in confusion, straddling the line between Marvel's horror books (the Midnight Sons) and the imprint it actually launched under, the "Big Guns". That was the early 1990s imprint (and I use that word very loosely) that spawned Punisher War Zone, Cage, Silver Sable & the Wild Pack, and Nomad. Terror was the odd book out of those launches, because even though it featured a mercenary as the lead character, the "big guns and bad attitudes" of the line didn't really apply. It also didn't help that the character was being adapted from the Shadowline books from Marvel's Epic imprint, which was outside Marvel continuity and read by very few people. Terror's gimmick, that he could graft the body parts of other people onto himself to employ whatever skills they had, was fantastic and grossly inspired. Unfortunately, the writer responsible for bringing him into the Marvel Universe was D.G. Chichester, who despite being the character's creator was pathologically incapable of writing a coherent story.
Actually, that's unfair to Chichester, who was a perfectly decent writer on a lot of Marvel properties around this time. Nightstalkers was solid, and the first half of his Daredevil run was quite good, but as a writer he had a really frustrating style. His plots were often straight-forward and clear, but when it came to the scripting and especially the narration his bad habit kicked in. He was a writer who could take a simple statement and overload it with words and double meanings, which muddled things so much I still can't understand parts of it. Why use one word when ten will take more space, I suppose? This issue, for example, dances around the central premise of Terror seeking penance for his past sins so much that by the end there's a question of whether it was resolved or not. That wasn't a plot choice, it was a point of confusion, at least for me. All of his titles had this, but Terror seemed to suffer from it the worst, and it made the book really difficult to read.
Ghost Rider's appearance (and the brief connection to the larger Midnight Sons imprint via Frank Drake) isn't handled too badly, but it follows what had become a cliché by this time. Numerous characters had brought in Ghost Rider for the "self-inflicted Penance Stare" as an attempt to justify what was hoped to be a sales boost. In fact, Chichester himself had just used that same plot in an issue of Nightstalkers a few months before this. Still, I guess it was an easy justification for Ghost Rider's involvement, and here at least it fit the titles direction from the last few issues, where Terror had turned to monastic religion seeking redemption and failing to find it. This issue was full of some great touches, and I thought the idea behind Culex and the way Terror has to defeat him was handled nicely.
The best part of the comic, though, has to be the artwork. I'm not real familiar with Richard Pace outside of this series, which is a shame because he certainly had potential to go far. There's a real kinship in his style with artists like Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham, and Peter Gross, which I always thought lent itself well to Ghost Rider. He's appropriately disgusting in his renderings of Culex and the way Terror has to dispatch him, but I wonder how difficult it must have been to keep a book like this tame enough for the Comics Code Authority given its subject matter. Terror does rip off body parts and stick them to himself, which is hard to draw tastefully I imagine. The real star of the art team, though, is inker Temujin, who is probably who I should credit the most. Compare Pace's cover against his interior work, the contrast is striking and it all comes down to the inker. The final page, which features the dance between Terror and Alexis, is beautiful.
Terror, Inc. was a book and character I really hoped would have more of a life, but alas not even a Ghost Rider appearance could save it. The whole series is still an interesting, if not great, read.
 |
| "The Penance Stare is not a party trick!" |
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