Cover Date: February 1973; On Sale Date: November 1972
Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artists: Mike Ploog & Jim Mooney; Inker: Jim Mooney; Letterer: Shelly Leferman; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Mike Ploog
With Roxanne still strapped to the sacrificial alter, the Ghost Rider is confronted by the crazed Crash Simpson, who holds the flaming sword of Satan and is more than willing to use it. Johnny frees Roxanne and begs her to run, but she refuses to leave the man she loves and her father alone to fight to the death. Satan commands Crash to strike, but the man cannot while his daughter is endangered. Enraged, Satan waves his hand and takes both Crash and the Ghost Rider down with him to Hell. With Roxanne no loner in the equation, Crash attacks Blaze, attempting to kill him with the flaming sword. Johnny pleads with Crash to turn against the demon, and finally his words get through to his step-father, who saves Blaze from a tentacled creature. Crash takes the wounded Blaze and runs into the depths of Hell, but the two are attacked by a large demon. Crash strikes the monster with the sword, but is crushed by the falling monster. Johnny picks him and begins to walk, determined to make it out of Hell with Crash's soul. Blaze is approached by a mysterious cloaked figure, who offers to send Crash onto his final reward and Blaze back to Earth. Johnny gives his step-father over, and seconds later awakens back in the crypt in his human form, an amnesiac Roxanne fawning over him. Johnny feigns ignorance about what happened, and the two return to Madison Square Garden.
Several hours later, Johnny arrives in Arizona, and is picked up from the airport by a local Native American named Sam Silvercloud, who is supposed to take the stunt-rider to Copperhead Canyon. Instead, Sam pulls a gun on Blaze, telling him that he won't allow the biker to jump the Canyon. If he makes the jump, then the canyon will never be returned to the Native Americans that are trying to get it back. Silvercloud abandons Blaze in the desert, but not before Johnny is able to retrieve his cycle from the back of the truck. The next morning, Johnny arrives at the Canyon Rodeo grounds and speaks with the rodeo manager, who explains that the local Indians are in an uproar because of a medicine man named Snake-Dance. As they speak, Silvercloud sabotages Blaze's cycle.
That evening, Johnny rides out into the desert toward the Canyon, and while in transit undergoes the transformation into the Ghost Rider. When he makes it to the rim of the canyon, he is attacked by several Native American warriors. After quickly defeating them, Blaze is confronted by Snake-Dance himself, who mystically summons snakes to attack the Rider. Johnny makes it to his bike as the shaman transforms into a giant serpent and gives chase. Realizing the only avenue of escape is to jump the canyon, Blaze takes flight. At that moment, Sam Silvercloud's earlier sabotage causes the Ghost Rider's bike to explode, sending him into a free fall toward the bottom of the canyon.
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| Genuinely dramatic panel composition! |
THE ROADMAP
The mysterious "Messenger" that took Crash from Johnny was revealed to actually be Satan in Ghost Rider (1973) # 8. Satan later reveals that the Crash Simpson disguised as Curly Samuels was only an illusion in Ghost Rider (1973) # 9.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 8 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
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| Terrible brain-shattering conclusions are just the worst. |
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