Ghost Rider (1990) # 65

"Ghost Rider in Chains, Part 4: Crimes and Punishments”

Cover Date: September 1995; On Sale Date: July 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

Inside the Black Hole containment facility, Ghost Rider defeats the Scarecrow and allows Nick Fury to have access to the base's nuclear core. Unable to stop the explosive countdown of the core, and with the Scarecrow taking the only escape pod, Ghost Rider tells Fury and the rest of the survivors to get on his motorcycle if they want to live. They barely escape the facility before it explodes, and Fury allows Ghost Rider to leave despite the Spook's protestations.

Several weeks later, Spook has learned Danny Ketch's identity after his time spent in the Black Hole and prepares a team to go kill him. Meanwhile, a crazed Punisher - who blames Nick Fury and SHIELD for the death of his family - raids a SHIELD base and finds information on the Spook's mission against Ghost Rider. The Spook and his men track Danny down, but the assassination is foiled by the Punisher, who is hoping for Ghost Rider to be his ally against Fury. Danny transforms into Ghost Rider, who recognizes that the Punisher has crossed lines he has never crossed before and says he will be coming after him once he has taken care of the Spook. Ghost Rider defeats the Spook's men and gives the Spook the Penance Stare, but the Punisher intervenes and kills the Spook before escaping, leaving a note that says Fury will be the next one to die.

THE ROADMAP

This is part of the "Over the Edge" crossover that signaled the start of the Marvel Edge imprint of titles, of which Ghost Rider was included.

The Scarecrow appears next in Ghost Riders: Crossroads (1995) # 1.

The Punisher was drugged and brainwashed by the Spook into believing Nick Fury killed his family in Double Edge Alpha. 

Ghost Rider appears next in the crossover's conclusion in Double Edge Omega.

CHAIN REACTION

"Ghost Rider in Chains" gets derailed for a crossover and is robbed of a proper conclusion, though it does at least give resolution to the arc's major villain, the Spook.

I can't imagine that this is the resolution Howard Mackie had in mind for this story when it was first plotted, as it's the culmination of almost a year's worth of issues and the coda to the game-changing "Betrayals" arc. The hyped confrontation with the Scarecrow appears off-panel between issues, with the fight having already been resolved before the first page of the comic. If you search back through the blog you'll find a post containing Salvador Larroca's original cover art for this issue featuring Ghost Rider and the Scarecrow, pulled in favor of the Punisher crossover appearance. This comic spends only its first six pages wrapping up the four issue "In Chains" arc before getting sucked into a crossover. It robs the story of any sense of resolution beyond "the heroes get away, the end."

Now, none of that was likely the fault of Mackie, who does a great job with the crossover material happening in the remaining three quarters of the comic. If the remit was simply "put a crazed Punisher in your comic this month" then Mackie definitely succeeds. His Punisher is obviously unhinged as a result of the crossover's antics, but not to the point where he's a frothing madman. He just looks stressed out, as he says in the comic "the war takes a lot out of you". He does manage to save Danny's life, which is something positive. Ghost Rider's "no killing" rule gets put to the test as well, as he has to toe the line between helping the Punisher and stopping him. It's an interesting dynamic for the two characters, given their history together.

Salvador Larroca and Sergio Melia continue to produce high quality artwork for the series, and this issue is no different. I enjoyed their interpretation of the Punisher here, forgoing the more "superhero" parts of his design in favor of a more realistic approach of a man in tactical gear with a skull design on his chest. Their Punisher is stripped down to just a man in a leather jacket with some guns, and it works for the way the story handles the character. There are some confusing bits in the artwork at the story's end, though, that makes me wonder if some last minute rewrites were held. It certainly looks like the Spook is shot in the head by the Punisher before he gets the Penance Stare, but the dialogue says otherwise. It's a rare moment, this lack of clarity, because Larroca is usually spot-on with the plot translation in his artwork.

As part of the "Over the Edge" crossover, this comic works, but as a conclusion to a 4-part storyline it certainly falls down. Whether that's due to creative indecision or editorial fiat is unknown, but the comic is weaker because of it.