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| Cover Artist: Gil Kane |
Original Price: $.25
Title: "...And Men Shall Call Him Sting-Ray!"
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Al Kurzrok
Colorist: None Credited
Editor: Stan Lee
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Al Kurzrok
Colorist: None Credited
Editor: Stan Lee
SYNOPSIS
At a barn dance benefit to raise money for text books, the people of Bison Bend are robbed by a costumed villain named Sting-Ray. While Carter Slade escapes to get his Ghost Rider outfit, the Sting-Ray uses his "paralysis bullets" to freeze Sheriff Brooks and Clay Rider in their tracks when they try to stop the robbery. Sting-Ray escapes, but when Ghost Rider arrives to purse him he is instead chased by a posse led by Sheriff Brooks. Using his ghost tricks, the Ghost Rider is able to escape the men and return to the barn as Carter Slade, just as Natalie Brooks is leaving with her fiancé Clay. Meanwhile, the Sting-Ray has returned to his identity as the operator of the town drugstore, where he concocted his "stun bullets". He thinks back to his previous criminal identity as the Scorpion, and after he escaped prison he began his string of robberies as the Sting-Ray. Now, in Bison Bend, he is ready to enact his plan to become "emperor of the West".
The next day, Ben Brooks talks with his men about catching the Ghost Rider, unaware that one of the men is secretly the Sting-Ray. That night, while the men ride off to set a trap at an incoming gold shipment, the Sting-Ray kidnaps Natalie to hold hostage in exchange for power. He takes her to the drugstore, but before he can hurt her he is confronted by the Ghost Rider, who followed the villain to the hideout. The two men fight and Ghost Rider unmasks Sting-Ray just as the Sheriff and his posse arrive. They attempt to arrest Ghost Rider, who barely manages to escape using his tricks. When Brooks attempts to fire his gun at the fleeing Ghost Rider he is suddenly disarmed by the Tarantula, who claims friendship with the Ghost Rider. The Tarantula rides away, but Brooks is now convinced that the Ghost Rider has to be a criminal despite Natalie's disbelief.
ANNOTATIONS
The next day, Ben Brooks talks with his men about catching the Ghost Rider, unaware that one of the men is secretly the Sting-Ray. That night, while the men ride off to set a trap at an incoming gold shipment, the Sting-Ray kidnaps Natalie to hold hostage in exchange for power. He takes her to the drugstore, but before he can hurt her he is confronted by the Ghost Rider, who followed the villain to the hideout. The two men fight and Ghost Rider unmasks Sting-Ray just as the Sheriff and his posse arrive. They attempt to arrest Ghost Rider, who barely manages to escape using his tricks. When Brooks attempts to fire his gun at the fleeing Ghost Rider he is suddenly disarmed by the Tarantula, who claims friendship with the Ghost Rider. The Tarantula rides away, but Brooks is now convinced that the Ghost Rider has to be a criminal despite Natalie's disbelief.
ANNOTATIONS
This issue is a reprint of The Ghost Rider (1967) # 4.
To avoid confusion with the then-current Johnny Blaze character and series, when Carter Slade was reintroduced in the pages of Avengers his name was changed to Night Rider. In this reprint series, all instances of the Ghost Rider's name were re-lettered to "Night Rider". Marvel would change the name again to "Phantom Rider" in the 1980s when they realized the white-garbed Ku Klux Klan called their soldiers Night Riders, an unfortunate coincidence to say the least.
To avoid confusion with the then-current Johnny Blaze character and series, when Carter Slade was reintroduced in the pages of Avengers his name was changed to Night Rider. In this reprint series, all instances of the Ghost Rider's name were re-lettered to "Night Rider". Marvel would change the name again to "Phantom Rider" in the 1980s when they realized the white-garbed Ku Klux Klan called their soldiers Night Riders, an unfortunate coincidence to say the least.
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