Cover Date: November 1982
On Sale Date: August 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
A distracted Johnny Blaze wrecks his motorcycle and barely survives the crash. After losing consciousness he and his bike are dragged into the woods by a mysterious figure. At the Quentin Carnival, still reeling from its destruction at the hands of the Circus of Crime, Red Fowler is told that Johnny left and heads out to find him and bring him back. Hours later, Johnny wakes up at a campsite with a man named Old Adam, who brought Johnny to the camp to help him after his crash. After a few hours of friendship, Adam is terrified at the sight of a man entering the camp enveloped in a cloud of mist. When Johnny tries to keep the man from taking Adam he is swatted aside and almost loses consciousness again.
After he recovers, Johnny follows a trail of dead plant life to a decaying plantation house. Inside he discovers a dinner party of sorts, hosted by Centurious, who has placed Adam as his servant. The rest of the dinner guests, including Centurious’ “wife” Tara, are nothing but soulless husks animated by Centurious’ power. When Centurious attempts to take Johnny’s soul he unwittingly frees the Ghost Rider, who attacks Centurious. When Red appears, having followed Johnny’s trail, Centurious orders his soulless thralls to tear the man apart, which the Ghost Rider agrees would be a fine sight to witness. Ghost Rider attempts to fry Centurious with hellfire but finds that the man has no soul of his own and is overcome by the spirits trapped within the villain’s Soul Crystal, changing the demon back into Johnny. Adam sees one of those spirits is Tara, his sister who Centurious took as his bride, and realizes that he will never be able to free her. He sets the plantation house on fire and Centurious is buried beneath a collapsed ceiling. Johnny and Red escape, while Adam remains behind to perish with his sister. After Johnny and Red depart to return to the carnival, a path of dead foliage coming from the ashes of the home show that Centurious survived.
 |
| What's a party without dancing zombies? |
THE ROADMAP
Centurious returns in Ghost Rider (1973) # 80.
No comments:
Post a Comment