On Sale Date: November 1982
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Bob Budiansky
Inker: Dave Simons
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor In Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Bob Budiansky
Johnny Blaze wakes up in a desert cave, having stopped to rest on his way back to the Quentin Carnival. He receives a vision in his mind of his friend The Great Vincenzo, the Carnival's magician who had disappeared weeks before. He follows Vincenzo's voice for hours, finally coming to a rundown house in the middle of nowhere. He sneaks into the house and finds Vincenzo cowering in the corner of the attic. His friend is barely able to speak, saying that things were done to his brain, which Blaze surmises must have given him telepathic abilities. The lights of the attic come on and Blaze finds himself surrounded by an army of grotesque freaks, the same ones that had worked for Renaldo not long ago. Johnny fights the freaks, refusing to let Zarathos out, but is quickly knocked unconscious.
Back in the mindscape, the mysterious voice resumes telling his story to Zarathos. The prince makes his way to the City of Ten Thousand Souls, where the giant Zarathos is preparing to devour the soul of the princess. The prince jumps between them and offers his own soul in her place, but when Zarathos grabs him he does not burn, instead it is the demon that bellows in pain. This causes the cult members to feel doubt in their master, which allows Mephisto to appear on Earth to challenge his rival. The prince and princess flee, but the prince explains that he cannot stay with her; in order to save her, he had to give Mephisto his soul, cursing him with emotionless immortality. Mephisto swiftly defeats Zarathos and destroys the city, along with all of its inhabitants, then transforms Zarathos' body back into stone. Mephisto then removes the living flame that was Zarathos' essence and power, enslaving it to his own will, and leaves the stone body to be covered by the desert sands. Zarathos howls in pain, finally remembering his own past, and is led through the mindscape by the voice to the dimension of dreams. There he meets his aide, the demon Nightmare.
Meanwhile, a young woman has stopped in a diner to ask about the Quentin Carnival, and is told she just missed them a few weeks before. Johnny Blaze wakes up in an operating room surrounded by doctors, Renaldo and his freaks standing by. Renaldo explains that the Ghost Rider's hellfire has given him unrelenting nightmares and now his master has decided to deal with him once and for all. The doctors, having used drugs to hinder his ability to transform, will be transforming Blaze into a cybernetic half-man, half-motorcycle freak. In the dream dimension, Nightmare finishes his story by revealing that Mephisto has used Zarathos as a pawn for centuries before erasing his memory and placing him within Blaze. Nightmare offers Zarathos his freedom with a plan to forever trap Blaze in the dream dimension, giving the Ghost Rider full access to the mortal realm. Zarathos agrees, then feels the call to transform; for the first time, Blaze is begging him to come out. Nightmare, though, tells Zarathos to hold and resist the call so they can plan their trap. Blaze frees himself from the operating table and lunges at Renaldo, but when he's grabbed by the freaks decides he needs to unleash the Ghost Rider. To his surprise, the transformation doesn't happen, and he's soon knocked unconscious again. He's strapped back onto the table, with a triumphant Renaldo gloating over him.
Zarathos was defeated by the Spirits of Vengeance when he attempted to use the Medallion of Power for evil purposes, and while part of his essence was trapped within the Medallion his body was transformed into stone and left buried for the tribe to find here centuries later. This was revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 43.
The Great Vincenzo was presumably killed by Steel Wind in Ghost Rider (1973) # 75. He was instead taken and experimented on by Renaldo and the Freakmaster, who last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 70.
The prince that sold his soul to Mephisto to stop Zarathos will be revealed as Centurious in Ghost Rider (1973) # 80. Centurious made his first appearance only a few months before this issue in Ghost Rider (1973) # 74.
Nightmare will tell this origin story again to the Noble Kale and Danny Ketch in Ghost Rider (1990) # 11, believing that Ghost Rider to be the same entity as Zarathos.
The unknown woman has been searching for Johnny Blaze and the Quentin Carnival since Ghost Rider (1973) # 74. She will be revealed to be Roxanne Simpson in Ghost Rider (1973) # 79.
Deep within the subconscious of Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider rages at his human host. The demon has learned that his true name is Zarathos and is furious that he lost his chance to be free from Blaze during their recent race through Hell. He is addressed by a mysterious voice who offers to return his lost memories and a vision of the ancient past appears for Zarathos to see. A beleaguered tribe of nomads go deep within the caverns of the earth, led by their high priest K'Nutu to find the dormant stone body of Zarathos. K'Nutu recites the spells to reanimate the demon, then offers up the tribe's chieftain to the demon as a sacrifice. The tribe rally around Zarathos, whose hunger for souls is fed by the human sacrifice of their enemies, causing the power of both the demon and the tribe to grow. This is eventually noticed by Mephisto, lord of Hell, who realizes that Zarathos is destroying souls that should rightly belong to him. He enacts a plan involving a prince and princess of a neighboring tribe that is soon attacked by the Cult of Zarathos, the princess taken captive and the prince left for dead. When the dying prince begs for the ability to rescue his beloved, Mephisto appears before him to make a deal. Inside Blaze's mind Zarathos seethes with pain and newly awakened memories.
Johnny Blaze wakes up in a desert cave, having stopped to rest on his way back to the Quentin Carnival. He receives a vision in his mind of his friend The Great Vincenzo, the Carnival's magician who had disappeared weeks before. He follows Vincenzo's voice for hours, finally coming to a rundown house in the middle of nowhere. He sneaks into the house and finds Vincenzo cowering in the corner of the attic. His friend is barely able to speak, saying that things were done to his brain, which Blaze surmises must have given him telepathic abilities. The lights of the attic come on and Blaze finds himself surrounded by an army of grotesque freaks, the same ones that had worked for Renaldo not long ago. Johnny fights the freaks, refusing to let Zarathos out, but is quickly knocked unconscious.
Back in the mindscape, the mysterious voice resumes telling his story to Zarathos. The prince makes his way to the City of Ten Thousand Souls, where the giant Zarathos is preparing to devour the soul of the princess. The prince jumps between them and offers his own soul in her place, but when Zarathos grabs him he does not burn, instead it is the demon that bellows in pain. This causes the cult members to feel doubt in their master, which allows Mephisto to appear on Earth to challenge his rival. The prince and princess flee, but the prince explains that he cannot stay with her; in order to save her, he had to give Mephisto his soul, cursing him with emotionless immortality. Mephisto swiftly defeats Zarathos and destroys the city, along with all of its inhabitants, then transforms Zarathos' body back into stone. Mephisto then removes the living flame that was Zarathos' essence and power, enslaving it to his own will, and leaves the stone body to be covered by the desert sands. Zarathos howls in pain, finally remembering his own past, and is led through the mindscape by the voice to the dimension of dreams. There he meets his aide, the demon Nightmare.
Meanwhile, a young woman has stopped in a diner to ask about the Quentin Carnival, and is told she just missed them a few weeks before. Johnny Blaze wakes up in an operating room surrounded by doctors, Renaldo and his freaks standing by. Renaldo explains that the Ghost Rider's hellfire has given him unrelenting nightmares and now his master has decided to deal with him once and for all. The doctors, having used drugs to hinder his ability to transform, will be transforming Blaze into a cybernetic half-man, half-motorcycle freak. In the dream dimension, Nightmare finishes his story by revealing that Mephisto has used Zarathos as a pawn for centuries before erasing his memory and placing him within Blaze. Nightmare offers Zarathos his freedom with a plan to forever trap Blaze in the dream dimension, giving the Ghost Rider full access to the mortal realm. Zarathos agrees, then feels the call to transform; for the first time, Blaze is begging him to come out. Nightmare, though, tells Zarathos to hold and resist the call so they can plan their trap. Blaze frees himself from the operating table and lunges at Renaldo, but when he's grabbed by the freaks decides he needs to unleash the Ghost Rider. To his surprise, the transformation doesn't happen, and he's soon knocked unconscious again. He's strapped back onto the table, with a triumphant Renaldo gloating over him.
 |
| Oh Zarathos, your origin used to be so simple. |
THE ROADMAP
The Ghost Rider's name, Zarathos, was revealed by Mephisto in Ghost Rider (1973) # 76.
Zarathos was defeated by the Spirits of Vengeance when he attempted to use the Medallion of Power for evil purposes, and while part of his essence was trapped within the Medallion his body was transformed into stone and left buried for the tribe to find here centuries later. This was revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 43.
The Great Vincenzo was presumably killed by Steel Wind in Ghost Rider (1973) # 75. He was instead taken and experimented on by Renaldo and the Freakmaster, who last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 70.
The prince that sold his soul to Mephisto to stop Zarathos will be revealed as Centurious in Ghost Rider (1973) # 80. Centurious made his first appearance only a few months before this issue in Ghost Rider (1973) # 74.
Nightmare will tell this origin story again to the Noble Kale and Danny Ketch in Ghost Rider (1990) # 11, believing that Ghost Rider to be the same entity as Zarathos.
The unknown woman has been searching for Johnny Blaze and the Quentin Carnival since Ghost Rider (1973) # 74. She will be revealed to be Roxanne Simpson in Ghost Rider (1973) # 79.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Ghost Rider (1973) # 77 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
 |
| Zarathos, did you buy a copy of Wheels on Fire? |
No comments:
Post a Comment