Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1988) # 25

"Ghosts of the Past"

Cover Date: April 1991

On Sale Date: February 1991

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mark Bagley
Inker: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colorist: Christie Scheele & Joe Rosas
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Mark Bagley

Moon Knight intercepts a terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty and is shocked to find that the terrorists are dressed similar to him and claim to be worshippers of Khonshu. When some innocent hostages are shot, Ghost Rider arrives and gives the terrorists his Penance Stare, which reveals that the next attack is going to happen at Grand Central Terminal. Moon Knight frantically radios his pilot Frenchie to pick him up, as his lover Marlene is at the Terminal attending a gala party. Ghost Rider disappears before Moon Knight can invite him to join him.

At the Terminal, the super-villainess Plasma has her group of mercenaries and the Knights of the Moon take control of the hostages. Moon Knight enters the building through the subway platform below and takes out a group of the terrorists. Ghost Rider arrives at the Terminal but is reduced to ash by Plasma's power blasts. Plasma and the remaining members of her group leave, having wired the Terminal to explode, and Moon Knight arrives in time to check on Marlene and then chase after the villains. Moon Knight is unable to stop Plasma from departing on a subway car, but Ghost Rider reforms and picks up Moon Knight to give chase on his motorcycle. Moon Knight fights Plasma on the runaway subway car and she tells him her plan to unite all the cults of the Middle East to rise up and help her rule the world. Moon Knight jumps away and is caught by Ghost Rider just before the train car crashes, seemingly killing Plasma. Later, after the bombs in the terminal have been disarmed, Moon Knight and Ghost Rider part company.

Plasma's a pretty effective villain here.

THE ROADMAP

Ghost Rider last appeared in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (1988) # 28 and appears next in Punisher War Journal (1988) # 29-30.

CHAIN REACTION

Howard Mackie and Mark Bagley produce an interesting fill-in issue of Moon Knight that naturally guest-stars Ghost Rider.

One would think that Ghost Rider and Moon Knight would have had more interactions over the years, considering both are dubbed "spirits of vengeance" of a sort. I've always been a Moon Knight fan, going back to the original Doug Moench series of the 1980s, but I wasn't really on board for the "Marc Spector" run of the series from the early 1990s. Maybe it's because it was such a straight-up superhero/vigilante type of series that veered widely away from those weird, esoteric early stories of the original series (I mean, the "Spector" series was mainly written by Chuck Dixon), but it never spoke to me as anymore more than a weak attempt at doing the Punisher with a cape. Mackie, in what I believe is his only issue on the series, straddles between Dixon and Moench, giving the story more of the unique flavor that Moon Knight can bring with the right creator.

It's to Mackie's credit that he doesn't allow Ghost Rider, his own pet character, to come in and dominate the story. This is unabashedly a Moon Knight story, playing off his role as Khonshu's "right arm of vengeance" and how he feels when he sees a whole cult spring up around worshipping all the wrong kinds of lessons from his god. It's fairly fascinating to see Moon Knight's internal monologues working through his disappointment and confusion when facing the Knights of the Moon and makes me wish Mackie would have had more time on the series to develop his ideas. Ghost Rider, naturally, comes off strong in this appearance, playing the role of the unflappable juggernaut.

Mark Bagley, good old workhorse Mark Bagley of Amazing Spider-Man and New Warriors fame, is such an odd choice for a fill-in penciller. It makes me wonder if this was actually meant to be an Annual or a one-shot prestige format story or something. Regardless, teaming Bagley with Tom Palmer is pretty ingenious, because Bagley's style still comes through despite the usual overwhelming finishes by Palmer. Their Ghost Rider is adequate, but their Moon Knight and the kinetic fight sequences are all top notch stuff.

This is a decent-to-pretty-great guest appearance for Ghost Rider and a pretty excellent Moon Knight story, I'd definitely recommend fans of either character to track it down and check it out.

Ghost Rider makes for a convenient taxi service.