“The Boy Who Lived Forever!”Cover Date: February 1979
On Sale Date: November 1978
Scripter/Co-Plotter: Roger McKenzie
Artist/Co-Plotter: Don Perlin
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Roger Stern
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Johnny Blaze finds himself the prisoner of a child in a glass dome, a powerful boy who holds his own father under his control with the threat of death. When the boy’s father contemplates escape the child reveals the reanimated corpse of his mother to torment his father. Shocked by what he’s witnessing, Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider, breaks his bonds, and sets the mother’s corpse on fire. When Ghost Rider destroys the woman’s body the child goes berserk, creating a psychic hurricane within the metal corridors of the hovercraft. Ghost Rider nearly reaches the child, threating to burst the dome that keeps him alive, but is finally knocked unconscious by the boy’s power. The hovercraft retreats into a mountain stronghold created by the boy.
Later, an amnesiac Blaze finds himself in chains alongside the boy’s father Jonathan Beame, who thanks him for freeing his poor wife Anna from their son’s power. He tells the story of his son Nathan’s birth and the power that he already possessed; when the townspeople came to their home fearing the “demon child” they killed Anna, and in response the infant Nathan transformed them all into monsters. Using his power to keep his father and the corpse of his mother alive, Nathan was forced to seal himself away due to his weakened physical body. Jonathan strikes Blaze, shocking him into transforming into the Ghost Rider and returning his memory. Ghost Rider finds Woody Guthrie, the old prospector that accidently claimed some of Nathan’s power, transformed into a tree-like creature. Nathan arrives to gloat, but Woody uses the last of his power to find oil within the massive ship, causing it burst up like a geyser. Ghost Rider sets the oil aflame with his hellfire, which causes the mountain base to explode. Only the Ghost Rider survives, and as he rides away he fails to notice the desiccated corpse of Jonathan Beame, having finally died without his son’s power to keep him alive.
 |
| Nightmare fuel! |
THE ROADMAP
This issue’s flashback features a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo appearance by Professor X and Cyclops of the X-Men, who Nathan used his power to hide from out of fear of discovery due to him being born a mutant.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of Ghost Rider (1973) # 34 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
 |
| Toy Story took a dark turn. |
No comments:
Post a Comment