Ghost Rider (1990) # 48

"Under Fire, Part 2"

Cover Date: April 1994; Publication Date: February 1994

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Ron Garney; Inker: Chris Ivy; Letterer: Janice Chiang; Colorist: John Kalisz; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Ron Garney

In a special holding cell at the police station house, Michael Badilino is interrogating the injured Dread, who had been responsible for murdering members of Badilino's old team.  Badilino wants Dread to give up information on his employer, Hellgate, but has to be restrained from beating on the villain by his fellow cops.  Badilino is ordered by Captain Dolan to go outside and talk to reporters, who have labeled him a "hero" for bringing in the cop-killer, and he reluctantly does so.  In the crowd of reporters is Peter Parker, Spider-Man, taking pictures for the Daily Bugle.

Inside the station, Dread's injuries heal rapidly.  Outside, another of Hellgate's minions, a monster named Rak that Vengeance fought not long ago, jumps from a nearby building and makes his way to the station to rescue Dread.  While Parker runs off to change into his costume, Badilino attempts to stop Rak with bullets, which only results in the monster swatting him aside as he enters the building.  Badilino transforms into Vengeance, and the frightened crowd is calmed by the entrance of Spider-Man, who assumes that Vengeance is a good guy due to his resemblance to Ghost Rider.  They enter the station house and find Rak and Dread killing more cops before they turn their attention toward the heroes.  The villains manage to escape, but Spider-Man is able to track them via a spider-tracer to an abandoned warehouse.  Vengeance and Spider-Man find the two villains hooked up to machines, which Vengeance destroys.  After a brief fight, Spider-Man stops Vengeance from killing Dread, saying that they have to be better than the villains they fight.  They're interrupted by Hellgate, appearing as a hologram, who says that he has become interested in Ghost Rider and now that attention turns to Vengeance.  He uses his power to punish Rak and Dread, killing them for their failure, before he disappears.  Vengeance explains to Spider-Man that Rak and Dread weren't actually alive, Hellgate reanimates the dead to do his bidding.  Vengeance thanks Spider-Man for his help, then tells him to stay out of his way.

THE ROADMAP

Vengeance makes his next appearance in Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 5.

Vengeance became the “new” Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (1990) # 46 following Dan Ketch's death at the hands of Zarathos in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 18.

Hellgate will make his full first appearance in Ghost Rider (1990) # 50.  It is revealed in this issue that he was responsible for sending Rak to find Ghost Rider's skull in Ghost Rider (1990) # 46.

CHAIN REACTION

Vengeance continues his brief run as the "new" Ghost Rider and meets Spider-Man along the way.

Mackie and Garney are now three issues into Vengeance's time as the book's headliner, and I'm still not sold on it.  As an antagonist, Vengeance was frankly more interesting than as this reluctant anti-hero, the latest in the line of villains Marvel was determined to turn into protagonists (see Venom and Sabretooth for other examples).  Vengeance simply doesn't have anything original about him when moved from the bad guy score card to the good guys.  He was created to be Ghost Rider's antithesis, which as a hero simply makes him a pale imitation of Ghost Rider.  His human side, renegade cop Michael Badilino, isn't any better, because from his attitude all the way down to his physical appearance he's merely a watered down version of the Punisher.

It could probably be argued that Mackie knew the Vengeance run would be a brief hold over merely meant to kill time until issue # 50, but I think had it proven to be the hit that Marvel was banking on we would have had Vengeance in the driver's seat of this series for a lot longer than four issues.  I don't so much mind the experimentation, a change in the book's status quo and point of view can be refreshing if handled right, and lord knows Ghost Rider needed something to change after the creative mire it had been drowning in for the last year, but Vengeance was not the solution to that problem.

This issue flags up the problems with Vengeance as the book's leading man by contrasting him with Spider-Man, which dredges up the exact same "killing is wrong/ends justify the means" debate that Spidey has with the Punisher every time they team up.  The interactions between Spider-Man and Ghost Rider are usually interesting, more so because of Ghost Rider's strict stance on violence and murder that's not so much opposite to Spider-Man's but more just slightly adjacent.  It makes them unlikely allies, Todd McFarlane not withstanding when he's the creator handling their team-up, and Mackie usually handled the two characters well.  Here it's all just cliche after cliche, with Vengeance coming off once again as a "more EXTREME dude!" alternative to a character that didn't need to be replaced at all.

Now, all of that said, this isn't a terrible comic, because Mackie and Garney are still able to craft a semi-interesting story involving the cop murders and the introduction of Hellgate.  It's nice to see Mackie taking the time to introduce a new villain with a slow burn, instead of just throwing out new concepts to bounce off the wall.  Garney, too, turns in his usual solid performance on art, and though his work isn't bad by any means I'm starting to get the itch to see someone new take over the art chores.  Plus, Garney's Spider-Man just doesn't look right to me, maybe he packs too much muscle onto Peter Parker or doesn't shade him without blacks, I'm not sure what it is.

The Vengeance Road Show continues for a few more issues of this series, Marvel Comics Presents, and even Spirits of Vengeance before Ghost Rider's expected resurrection.  I, for one, was more than ready for Vengeance to be given his pink slip so this book might have a chance at being interesting again.