Cover Date: February 1977
On Sale Date: November 1976
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Bob Layton
Letterer: Bruce Patterson
Colorist: Don Warfield
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze rides his skull-cycle through a desert canyon in Arizona, contemplating how he's maybe found true companionship with the Champions. He transforms into Ghost Rider in the presence of danger, which this time is an incoming stampede of cattle. He creates his hellfire motorcycle to replace his crushed bike, but before he can act the canyon is exploded on both sides by arrows, which traps the cattle. Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid have arrived with a group of ranchers, who are there to investigate strange lights coming from the nearby "Mesa of Lost Souls". Back in Los Angeles, the Champions are investigating the shoddy construction of their equipment with Black Goliath's assistance when their computer flags up a report of a flying saucer in Arizona. When they see Ghost Rider and Hawkeye on the screen fighting a group of possessed ranchers, they decide they need to join the fight via their Champscraft.
In Arizona, Two-Gun Kid sees that the ranchers are being possessed by shadow beings that are merging with the human shadows to take control of their bodies. The aliens are the shadow army of Warlord Kaa, who has attempted to take over the Earth on previous occasions only to find defeat. The other Champions arrive to fight the aliens, and both Hercules and Angel are able to fight off the possessing shadows. Ghost Rider infuses an arrow with hellfire, which Hawkeye fires into the center of the alien spaceship, causing it to explode and killing all of the shadow aliens. After the fight, the Champions get an emergency call from Black Goliath, who says a woman named Regina came to their headquarters with a box that belongs to the Stranger. She was followed by the villain Stilt-Man, who is determined to take the box for himself.
Regina Clayborne and Stilt-Man are bringing with them plots from the quickly cancelled Black Goliath series, which ended with issue # 4.
Johnny Blaze will meet Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid again in Ghost Rider (1973) # 27.
Warlord Kaa is one of a number of obscure villains that were trotted out to fight the Champions, who never really got to elevate themselves to big league threats until the end of the series. Yes, Magneto and Doctor Doom both show up in issue # 16, but that's after a whole slew of guys like Kamo Tharn, Rampage, and the Griffin. It's hard to take them seriously as a superhero team when they nearly get defeated by a bunch of cattle ranchers possessed by living shadows. It's strictly B or even C level superhero stuff, which doesn't do a whole lot to cement the team's reputation. Maybe that's what Mantlo is going for, though, since he's surrounding them with castoff heroes like Black Goliath and equipment that's literally falling apart around them. It's taking the whole "underdog heroes" concept to a frustrating extreme, but it's also something that Mantlo's going to keep hammering home in upcoming issues.
Ghost Rider at least gets a bit of a spotlight in this issue after months and months of him essentially just being a face in the crowd. He has to share his solo time with Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid (whose presence is baffling, as if there aren't enough heroes in this book as it is), but it at least allows him some time to shine all on his own. It is a little amusing though to read Johnny's inner monologue where he's talking about how the Champions have accepted him, which is some utter self-delusional thinking on his part. The other heroes haven't been shy about their distrust and outright loathing of him, both in this series and in Ghost Rider's own comic, so the camaraderie he's so joyous about exists only in his own brain, certainly not on the page. Mantlo dials back on this near the end of the run where he makes Blaze openly hostile to Darkstar of all people, so maybe this was just the writer trying to find his feet with the one character he really couldn't dictate any real direction for on his own.
Naturally, the real talking point for this issue is John Byrne coming onto the series as the new artist. This was not long after Byrne had taken over the art chores on Iron Fist but a full year before jumping onto Uncanny X-Men, which was the series that really made him a name artist. This isn't Byrne's first go-round with Ghost Rider, though, he was the artist on the 2-issue Daredevil crossover the year before, where he was very much at the start of his career but still recognizable for the style he'd later be known for. His Ghost Rider as a character, though, isn't as great as you'd expect, he's still operating in that "Blaze is a superhero" mindset that gives the Rider a visible neckline and eyeballs in his skull. It waters down the Ghost Rider visual design, but it still looks miles better than what Don Heck or even Bob Hall were doing in this title. All of the characters look "right", for lack of a better term. This finally feels and reads like a Bronze Age Marvel comic, it just took Byrne to kick it out of that Silver Age style that was making it a real chore to read through.
The Champions is going to get better, the next few issues in particular are quite solid, and this is the ground floor for the Mantlo/Byrne run. Just don't roll your eyes TOO hard at poor ol' Warlord Kaa.
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Bob Layton
Letterer: Bruce Patterson
Colorist: Don Warfield
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Cover Artist: Gil Kane
The Champions are trying out their brand-new "Champscraft" jet when it suddenly malfunctions and flies out of control. Their crash is halted by the technician on the rooftop of the Champions Building, who grows into a costumed giant and catches the plane. He introduces himself to the heroes as Bill Foster, also known as Black Goliath, the West Coast representative for Stark Industries who designed all of the Champions' equipment. Angel, Hercules, Iceman, and Black Widow are then joined on the roof by Darkstar, who has completed her defection from the Soviet Union and is hoping to join their team.
The Champions are trying out their brand-new "Champscraft" jet when it suddenly malfunctions and flies out of control. Their crash is halted by the technician on the rooftop of the Champions Building, who grows into a costumed giant and catches the plane. He introduces himself to the heroes as Bill Foster, also known as Black Goliath, the West Coast representative for Stark Industries who designed all of the Champions' equipment. Angel, Hercules, Iceman, and Black Widow are then joined on the roof by Darkstar, who has completed her defection from the Soviet Union and is hoping to join their team.
Meanwhile, Johnny Blaze rides his skull-cycle through a desert canyon in Arizona, contemplating how he's maybe found true companionship with the Champions. He transforms into Ghost Rider in the presence of danger, which this time is an incoming stampede of cattle. He creates his hellfire motorcycle to replace his crushed bike, but before he can act the canyon is exploded on both sides by arrows, which traps the cattle. Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid have arrived with a group of ranchers, who are there to investigate strange lights coming from the nearby "Mesa of Lost Souls". Back in Los Angeles, the Champions are investigating the shoddy construction of their equipment with Black Goliath's assistance when their computer flags up a report of a flying saucer in Arizona. When they see Ghost Rider and Hawkeye on the screen fighting a group of possessed ranchers, they decide they need to join the fight via their Champscraft.
In Arizona, Two-Gun Kid sees that the ranchers are being possessed by shadow beings that are merging with the human shadows to take control of their bodies. The aliens are the shadow army of Warlord Kaa, who has attempted to take over the Earth on previous occasions only to find defeat. The other Champions arrive to fight the aliens, and both Hercules and Angel are able to fight off the possessing shadows. Ghost Rider infuses an arrow with hellfire, which Hawkeye fires into the center of the alien spaceship, causing it to explode and killing all of the shadow aliens. After the fight, the Champions get an emergency call from Black Goliath, who says a woman named Regina came to their headquarters with a box that belongs to the Stranger. She was followed by the villain Stilt-Man, who is determined to take the box for himself.
 |
| "Fast and on the Hoof!" |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 21.
Regina Clayborne and Stilt-Man are bringing with them plots from the quickly cancelled Black Goliath series, which ended with issue # 4.
Johnny Blaze will meet Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid again in Ghost Rider (1973) # 27.
CHAIN REACTION
John Byrne arrives as the new series artist and Bill Mantlo is finally getting into a solid groove with the scripting, but neither of those can save this issue from an absolutely ridiculous plot and villain.
Warlord Kaa is one of a number of obscure villains that were trotted out to fight the Champions, who never really got to elevate themselves to big league threats until the end of the series. Yes, Magneto and Doctor Doom both show up in issue # 16, but that's after a whole slew of guys like Kamo Tharn, Rampage, and the Griffin. It's hard to take them seriously as a superhero team when they nearly get defeated by a bunch of cattle ranchers possessed by living shadows. It's strictly B or even C level superhero stuff, which doesn't do a whole lot to cement the team's reputation. Maybe that's what Mantlo is going for, though, since he's surrounding them with castoff heroes like Black Goliath and equipment that's literally falling apart around them. It's taking the whole "underdog heroes" concept to a frustrating extreme, but it's also something that Mantlo's going to keep hammering home in upcoming issues.
Ghost Rider at least gets a bit of a spotlight in this issue after months and months of him essentially just being a face in the crowd. He has to share his solo time with Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid (whose presence is baffling, as if there aren't enough heroes in this book as it is), but it at least allows him some time to shine all on his own. It is a little amusing though to read Johnny's inner monologue where he's talking about how the Champions have accepted him, which is some utter self-delusional thinking on his part. The other heroes haven't been shy about their distrust and outright loathing of him, both in this series and in Ghost Rider's own comic, so the camaraderie he's so joyous about exists only in his own brain, certainly not on the page. Mantlo dials back on this near the end of the run where he makes Blaze openly hostile to Darkstar of all people, so maybe this was just the writer trying to find his feet with the one character he really couldn't dictate any real direction for on his own.
Naturally, the real talking point for this issue is John Byrne coming onto the series as the new artist. This was not long after Byrne had taken over the art chores on Iron Fist but a full year before jumping onto Uncanny X-Men, which was the series that really made him a name artist. This isn't Byrne's first go-round with Ghost Rider, though, he was the artist on the 2-issue Daredevil crossover the year before, where he was very much at the start of his career but still recognizable for the style he'd later be known for. His Ghost Rider as a character, though, isn't as great as you'd expect, he's still operating in that "Blaze is a superhero" mindset that gives the Rider a visible neckline and eyeballs in his skull. It waters down the Ghost Rider visual design, but it still looks miles better than what Don Heck or even Bob Hall were doing in this title. All of the characters look "right", for lack of a better term. This finally feels and reads like a Bronze Age Marvel comic, it just took Byrne to kick it out of that Silver Age style that was making it a real chore to read through.
The Champions is going to get better, the next few issues in particular are quite solid, and this is the ground floor for the Mantlo/Byrne run. Just don't roll your eyes TOO hard at poor ol' Warlord Kaa.
 |
| Johnny is consistently the smartest Champion. |
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