Ghost Rider (1990) # 63

"Ghost Rider in Chains, Part 2: Inmates”

Cover Date: July 1995; On Sale Date: May 1995

Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Salvador Larroca; Inker: Sergio Melia; Letterer: Janice Chiang; Colorist: John Kalisz; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Salvador Larroca

In Cypress Hills, Stacy Dolan is confronted by Jack D’Auria about Dan’s whereabouts. At the Black Hole containment facility, Dan is subjected to multiple tests and examinations to determine his link with Ghost Rider. While Dr. Keene is hesitant, Spook is eager to begin Dan’s dissection. Dan passes out from the pain and joins Ghost Rider inside his subconscious, where the two have a discussion about control. Ghost Rider is adamant that he must have control of their body if they are to survive, which Dan is unwilling to do. Elsewhere in the facility, the Scarecrow and Skinner are subjected to experiments as well.

Back at Cypress Hills, Stacy is visited by Mrs. Ketch, who vows to find her son and says she never wants to see Stacy again. Stacy runs out into the night, weighed down by her own guilt, and is found by Ski, who has realized that she has a secret link to Ghost Rider. Dan wakes up and is subjected to more painful tests by the Spook, who tells Dan that dissection will begin in the morning. Dan again passes out and finds Ghost Rider in his subconscious, where they agree to merge with one another completely. Dan transforms into Ghost Rider and busts free of his containment, which also causes his disassembled motorcycle to reassemble and break through the walls of the facility, causing a power outage. While Ghost Rider fights his way through the guards, both Skinner and Scarecrow escape their cells, with Scarecrow having found his way to the Spook in his command room.

THE ROADMAP

The Black Hole also has many of Ghost Rider's enemies imprisoned, including Skinner (last seen in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance (1992) # 14), Snowblind (last seen and presume dead in Ghost Rider (1990) # 24), Scarecrow (last seen in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (1988) # 61), Rak, and Dread (both last seen in Ghost Rider (1990) # 61).

CHAIN REACTION

Danny Ketch makes his appearance in the story-arc as “Ghost Rider in Chains” ramps things up considerably.

Just like with “Betrayals” before it, this arc is heavy on the stakes. Ghost Rider has never been quite so alone as he is in this circumstance, even during “Betrayals” he had assistance from the likes of Daredevil and the Punisher. Here he’s completely on his own and in a dire situation that neither he nor Dan have experienced before, specifically complete helplessness. Locking them up in a remote facility with a multitude of their enemies as fellow prisoners really sells the idea that the characters are isolated and forced to rely on one another to survive. That idea, of course, strikes to the core of their relationship, with neither one being willing to budge even in the face of certain death until it is nearly too late.

The relationship between Ghost Rider and Dan is the heart of this issue and it provides the readers with something we’ve never seen before, namely a conversation in real time between the two characters inside Danny’s subconscious. The adversarial dynamics between Rider and host were what made the 1970s Johnny Blaze series so fascinating, and I love that Mackie continues to play up the conflict between the two. They have, of course, done the whole “merge completely” bit before, particularly when fighting Nightmare, but in this circumstance there’s a lot more on the line.

Salvador Larroca seems to be right at home amongst all the technology and scientific accoutrements, taking great care to draw each fiddly little gadget with as much detail as he can muster. Larroca continues to improve with each new issue, and he helps to sell Danny’s defenselessness as he’s poked and prodded by the Spook’s men. It still surprises me that such a clean-lined artist as Larroca meshes so well with Mackie on this series, but what it lacks in darkness and shadow it more than makes up for with dynamism. 

This issue certainly continues the high quality that the series has been enjoying for the past year and, so far at least, this arc is recommended reading.