Cover Date: December 1981
On Sale Date: September 1981
Writer: Michael Fleisher
Artist: Luke McDonnell
Inker: Sal Trapani
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Rob Carosella
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Bob Budiansky
The police are in a frantic desert chase with the Ghost Rider, who plows through a moving train and leaps over a chasm before finally shaking them. Hours later, the Ghost Rider transforms back into a wasted Johnny Blaze, who laments his inability to control the demon inside him. A few miles away, the Orb and his gang hijack and rob an armored truck, planning to use the stolen money to purchase a weapon with which to finally kill the Ghost Rider.
The next morning, Blaze rides into the Quentin Carnival, which is setting up in the small town. Blaze goes to ask the owner, Ralph Quentin, for a job, interrupting the older man's meeting with a reporter for Woman Magazine named Cynthia Randolf. Though he initially blows Johnny off, a quick demonstration of his cycling skill changes Quentin's mind, and he hires Blaze on the spot. This demotes the Carnival's current stunt-rider, Red Fowler, to the position of Blaze's assistant, which angers Fowler. Meanwhile, the Orb is testing out the new weaponry designed for him by Madame Menace, which includes an improved eye laser and a heat-seeking mini-missile shaped like an eyeball that attaches to its target and burns white-hot. He tests these weapons out on several Ghost Rider robots provided by Madame Menace, which he destroys easily.
Later, Cynthia Randolph is watching Johnny practice a stunt at the Carnival and angers him with remarks about how childish she thinks he is. As he leaves, Ralph Quentin calls for his help, pointing out two men that have robbed the Carnival's box-office. Johnny chases after them, unaware that the men work for the Orb and are leading him into a trap. When the Orb attacks, Johnny quickly turns into the Ghost Rider and defeats the villain's henchmen. The Orb is unable to hit the demon with his eye laser, so he uses the mini missile, which attaches to the Ghost Rider's chest and knocks him to the ground. Laughing maniacally, the Orb launches several more missiles from his wrist-launchers, all of which affix to the Ghost Rider and begin to burn. The Orb thinks he has won, but the Ghost Rider stands up shaken but unharmed, his patience finally at an end. He quickly chases the Orb down and blasts him with hellfire, then melts all of the gang's motorcycles, leaving them stranded and near-death in the desert.
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| At least he's having fun! |
THE ROADMAP
This issue marks the first appearance of the Quentin Carnival and its supporting cast (Red Fowler, Ralph Quentin, Cynthia Randolf, and Corky Franklin), which will remain a part of the series until its conclusion in Ghost Rider (1983) # 81.
It is revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # -1 that Johnny was actually raised in the Quentin Carnival by his father, Barton Blaze, and later Crash Simpson. It has never been revealed why Johnny has no memory of his time with the carnival as a child, other than that perhaps he repressed the memory due to the trauma of his father dying and his mother abandoning him. Why no one at the carnival remembers Johnny in this issue remains unknown.
The Orb last fought Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (1973) # 54 and this issue marks his last appearance in the series. Drake Shannon will appear years later in Avengers Spotlight, where he is killed by the Plant-Man's minions after a battle with Hawkeye. An "all-new" Orb will appear in Ghost Rider (2006) # 26, but he has no apparent ties to Shannon other than the costumed identity.
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