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| Cover Artist: Al Milgrom |
Original Price: $.50
Title: "You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometime You Just Might Find You Get What You Need!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Sal Buscema
Letterer: Diana Albers & Artie Simek
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Al Milgrom
Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter
SYNOPSIS
Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and the Teen Brigade are prisoners of the Corrupter, who has used his "evil touch" to enslave the Hulk in a mindless rage. Threatening the lives of the Teen Brigade, the Corrupter has Rick send out a signal to the Avengers, hoping to lure them to his old Spanish mission and enslave them as he has the Hulk. However, the signal never reaches the Avengers, and is instead heard by five other heroes who all operate out of the southwest. Red Wolf, Firebird, Texas Twister, and Shooter Star all answer the call for help; and at an archaeological dig Hamilton Slade hears the message as well. He is immediately taken over by the spirit of his ancestor and begins the ghostly Night Rider.
At the mission, the Corrupter orders the Hulk to kill Jones, but the Night Rider arrives in time to stop the monster. The Rider's horse Banshee kicks the Hulk through the wall of the mission just as the other heroes arrive outside. They all take their turns fighting the Hulk and each of them are defeated, with the Night Rider being accidentally shot by Shooting Star's special guns. Before the Hulk can kill them, Rick runs to him and is able to calm him down, allowing Bruce Banner to regain control. The Corrupter is taken out by Lobo, the Red Wolf's animal companion, and the heroes all briefly discuss staying together as a team called the Rangers.
ANNOTATIONS
The Night Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 56, which was also the first appearance of Hamilton Slade as the modern day incarnation of the character.
The Night Rider, and the Rangers as a team, appear next in West Coast Avengers (1985) # 8.
REVIEW
The Night Rider makes his way onto a superhero team that was even more doomed to failure than the Champions in this issue's introduction of the Rangers!
As much as I appreciate the work done during this time in comics history by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, who were otherwise excellent creators that wound up having a substantial run on the Incredible Hulk, this is not a very good comic. We're looking it at, of course, because of the Night Rider's appearance, and yes this is in that brief time that was after the name change from Ghost Rider but before he became the Phantom Rider. This was also one of the rare appearances of the modern day, Hamilton Slade version of the character, who had made his debut earlier that year in the pages of Ghost Rider. Marvel clearly wanted this character to be more popular than he was, and giving him a spotlight in the pages of a mainstay series like Hulk was certainly a good idea (look what it had done for Wolverine). Saddling him with a bunch of left-over southwestern characters like the Rangers, though, wasn't such a great move. It obviously doomed the character to obscurity for the next several years, along with the rest of this team, until Steve Englehart decided to bring him into his West Coast Avengers series.
I can't say as I'm surprised the Rangers didn't take off, because Mantlo spends this issue giving the characters only the slightest hints of personalities outside of broad stroke types. Red Wolf is the brash warrior who can't shut up about being an Avenger, even though he was never more than just an associate of the team if my memory serves, Shooting Star and Texas Twister are showboating opportunists, and Firebird is the saintly one there to remind the others to work together. Night Rider is the only standout character of the lot, mainly because of his role as the "mysterious one". His otherworldly powers and the fact that his ghost horse can kick the Hulk through a wall immediately made him the most interesting character in the series. It's not just the Rangers who get the short end of the personality stick, though, because NONE of the characters in this comic are anything other than overly-dramatic cardboard cutouts. Rick Jones pontificates like he's in a soap opera, Betty Ross is the fainting female, and the Corrupter has the nuanced motivation of "evil for no reason". If you've noticed, I have yet to mention the Hulk, who despite being the title character of the comic is only there to punch the Texas Avengers.
Sal Buscema is even having an off day, because his artwork is really unattractive and lacks the power and dynamism that his work usually shows off in spades. Perhaps he was rushed on this one, or maybe its because he was inking himself, but the characters are all stiff and emoting wildly out of proportion to what's going on around them. Plus, Rick Jones is wearing a lime green neckerchief, and that will never ever look anything less than ridiculous. It's so flamboyant that not even Johnny Blaze in full-on rhinestone cowboy mode could pull it off.
The Rangers were an interesting footnote that will at least get somewhat of a send-off about 5 years later when they show up in West Coast Avengers, but you can tell here that Mantlo was hoping to have captured that Avengers/Defenders/X-Men lightning in a bottle. In reality, they couldn't even get a one-shot, and even the Soviet Super-Soldiers got one of those.
Grade: D
At the mission, the Corrupter orders the Hulk to kill Jones, but the Night Rider arrives in time to stop the monster. The Rider's horse Banshee kicks the Hulk through the wall of the mission just as the other heroes arrive outside. They all take their turns fighting the Hulk and each of them are defeated, with the Night Rider being accidentally shot by Shooting Star's special guns. Before the Hulk can kill them, Rick runs to him and is able to calm him down, allowing Bruce Banner to regain control. The Corrupter is taken out by Lobo, the Red Wolf's animal companion, and the heroes all briefly discuss staying together as a team called the Rangers.
ANNOTATIONS
The Night Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 56, which was also the first appearance of Hamilton Slade as the modern day incarnation of the character.
The Night Rider, and the Rangers as a team, appear next in West Coast Avengers (1985) # 8.
REVIEW
The Night Rider makes his way onto a superhero team that was even more doomed to failure than the Champions in this issue's introduction of the Rangers!
As much as I appreciate the work done during this time in comics history by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, who were otherwise excellent creators that wound up having a substantial run on the Incredible Hulk, this is not a very good comic. We're looking it at, of course, because of the Night Rider's appearance, and yes this is in that brief time that was after the name change from Ghost Rider but before he became the Phantom Rider. This was also one of the rare appearances of the modern day, Hamilton Slade version of the character, who had made his debut earlier that year in the pages of Ghost Rider. Marvel clearly wanted this character to be more popular than he was, and giving him a spotlight in the pages of a mainstay series like Hulk was certainly a good idea (look what it had done for Wolverine). Saddling him with a bunch of left-over southwestern characters like the Rangers, though, wasn't such a great move. It obviously doomed the character to obscurity for the next several years, along with the rest of this team, until Steve Englehart decided to bring him into his West Coast Avengers series.
I can't say as I'm surprised the Rangers didn't take off, because Mantlo spends this issue giving the characters only the slightest hints of personalities outside of broad stroke types. Red Wolf is the brash warrior who can't shut up about being an Avenger, even though he was never more than just an associate of the team if my memory serves, Shooting Star and Texas Twister are showboating opportunists, and Firebird is the saintly one there to remind the others to work together. Night Rider is the only standout character of the lot, mainly because of his role as the "mysterious one". His otherworldly powers and the fact that his ghost horse can kick the Hulk through a wall immediately made him the most interesting character in the series. It's not just the Rangers who get the short end of the personality stick, though, because NONE of the characters in this comic are anything other than overly-dramatic cardboard cutouts. Rick Jones pontificates like he's in a soap opera, Betty Ross is the fainting female, and the Corrupter has the nuanced motivation of "evil for no reason". If you've noticed, I have yet to mention the Hulk, who despite being the title character of the comic is only there to punch the Texas Avengers.
Sal Buscema is even having an off day, because his artwork is really unattractive and lacks the power and dynamism that his work usually shows off in spades. Perhaps he was rushed on this one, or maybe its because he was inking himself, but the characters are all stiff and emoting wildly out of proportion to what's going on around them. Plus, Rick Jones is wearing a lime green neckerchief, and that will never ever look anything less than ridiculous. It's so flamboyant that not even Johnny Blaze in full-on rhinestone cowboy mode could pull it off.
The Rangers were an interesting footnote that will at least get somewhat of a send-off about 5 years later when they show up in West Coast Avengers, but you can tell here that Mantlo was hoping to have captured that Avengers/Defenders/X-Men lightning in a bottle. In reality, they couldn't even get a one-shot, and even the Soviet Super-Soldiers got one of those.
Grade: D
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