Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 19

"Hell On Earth"

Cover Date: November 1995; On Sale Date: September 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Inker: Jim Daly; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Violent Hues; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

L-Cypher has taken control of Thrillsville, a holographic theme park, and has transformed into a literal representation of Hell. While SHIELD watches from a camera feed, Ghost Rider is confronted by the Arch-Fiends, humans corrupted by L-Cypher to be his followers. The five beings - named Reaper, Pyre, Serpentine, Shambler, and Misery - are absolutely devoted to their master and quickly attack the Ghost Rider. L-Cypher watches and muses about how he has used the park's solidigram programs to make himself a solid body, and how the Ghostworks created and then locked him away on the Internet.  While he was imprisoned he came up with the plan he is now implementing, and the transformation of the Arch-Fiends are but the first step.

Meanwhile, Kabal's group of mercenaries are engaged in a firefight at the Vault of Forbidden Sciences.  They grab what items they can and escape, prompting the guardian of the vault to contact Kellerman at D/Monix to report the break-in.  While Kellerman is pleased that his forced compliance to President Doom does not mandate him to relinquish control of the vault, he is unaware that the battle broke the seals on a chamber that houses a collection of severed heads in cryogenic storage that have come back to awareness.

Back in Thrillsville, the Ghost Rider continues his fight against the Arch-Fiends. Elsewhere in Transverse City, Dr. Neon is contacted by the mysterious hacker that is determined to destroy the Ghost Rider and a partnership is forged between the two. Kabal's mercenaries report back to him about the fiasco at the vault, and he assumes that they were betrayed by Anesthesia Jones. Finally, Synergy is visited in SHIELD custody by Heartbreaker, who kills him out of revenge.  Ghost Rider loses his battle against the Arch-Fiends, and his damaged body is brought to L-Cypher.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 18

"Chthonic Park"

Cover Date: October 1995; On Sale Date: August 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Inker: Jim Daly; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Malibu; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

The holographic entertainment complex Thrillsville has been taken over by L-Cypher, a digital entity that had been imprisoned on the internet by the Ghostworks and has now escaped. Thrillsville has been transformed into a simulation of Hell and has repelled all of SHIELD's attempts at entrance to save the hundreds of innocent victims inside. Ghost Rider arrives at SHIELD's request and enters the complex, only to be met by the demonic Cyberus. Ghost Rider easily destroys Cyberus, recognizing the solidogram technology as coming from the Ghostworks, who are watching the events unfold. Meanwhile, the person responsible for releasing L-Cypher intercepts a message on the net from Doctor Neon, who is attempting to tell SHIELD Ghost Rider's true identity of Zero Cochrane. 

At the secret Vault of Forbidden Science, Kabal's infiltration team consisting of Coda, Ice-9, and Warp Angel arrive to loot the facility of 20th century technology. The vault's cybernetic guard wakes up and unleashes a squad of cyborgs to kill the intruders. Kabal, in radio contact, deduces that their detection means they have been betrayed by a member of the Undernet. Back at Thrillsville, in the center control room L-Cypher experiments on people, splicing them with bits of his own source code to create monsters.  Ghost Rider fights his way through various demons until he is confronted by L-Cypher's personal servants, the Archfiends. 

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 17

"Prodigal Son"

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

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Inker: Jim Daly; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Violent Hues Malibu; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

Late at night, Harrison Cochrane is visited by his son Zero, as the Ghost Rider and new Federal Marshal of Transverse City. Upon entering the apartment, Zero and his father immediately start arguing. Zero attempts to talk with his mother, who is plugged in to the television set and is unable to communicate back. Meanwhile, in Cyberspace, the digital entity that has been causing trouble on the 'net for Zero finds a file archived by the Ghostworks. When he opens it he unwittingly releases a creature called L-Cypher back into Cyberspace.

When asked why he came to visit, Zero explains to his father that he has messed up as Marshal and now his word on the street is worthless, no one trusts him anymore. Harrison debates his son on the nature of the law and honor, which Zero sees as him becoming just another "blackboot" that stands for everything he's rebelled against throughout his young life. The two are unaware that their conversation is being observed by the Ghostworks, who receive the alert that L-Cypher has escaped imprisonment. Elsewhere, Kabal talks with his handpicked group of thieves and tells them about an archive containing items from the 20th century that have been locked away and he wishes them to steal.

Harrison and Zero continue their conversation, with Harrison admitting that he had trouble with Zero's surrogate mother after his birth, who he attributes Zero's lack of respect for authority to. Harrison tells Zero that he's proud of him, but Zero retorts that he's only proud because of the badge he now wears. Disgusted with the situation, Zero leaves the apartment. Later, at the holographic theme park called Thrillsville, L-Cypher takes over the park's network and rewrites all of the safety protocols, transforming it into a literal Hell on Earth.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 16

"Dangerous Curves"

Cover Date: August 1995; On Sale Date: June 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Violent Hues Malibu; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

At Max Synergy’s dance club, Ghost Rider is confronted by Heartbreaker, who has a vendetta against Synergy. Ghost Rider, who has his own business to conduct with Synergy, fights Heartbreaker and withstands her lethal “heart punch”. In return, Zero slashes her across the face with his electro-saw. With her face now scarred, revealing cybernetics beneath her skin, Heartbreaker retreats. Meanwhile, at the Bar Code, Anesthesia Jones talks with Kylie about them both knowing that Zero Cochrane is the Ghost Rider, unaware that a group of hackers, including Dr. Neon, have been listening in and now know the Ghost Rider’s true identity.

Back at the nightclub, Zero confronts Synergy over his dealing of the narcotic White Heat, which is turning the streets of Transverse City into a warzone. Synergy states that he cannot stop his dealing of White Heat due to it being part of a social experiment, and that Zero owes him a favor that he is now cashing in, telling him to walk away. Zero refuses and attempts to arrest Synergy, who uses a sonic attack to turn the club dancers into a violent mob. Elsewhere, Kabal of the Undernet assembles his team of operatives, which includes Ice-9, Neurodancer, Warp Angel, and Coda.

At the nightclub, Zero fights his way through the enraged mob and eventually makes his way to Synergy. Taking him into custody, Zero delivers Synergy to SHIELD despite Synergy’s warning that his reputation on the street will now be ruined due to him reneging on the deal they made. When Zero goes to Little Calcutta he is met with a crowd of people who see him as nothing but another “stinking blackboot”, unaware that a mysterious individual had already leaked his dealing with Synergy to the public.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 15

"The Law of the Jungle"

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

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Ashley Wood; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheel w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Ashley Wood

Two street gangs have gone to war in the streets of Transverse City, with the Toxic Zombies being overwhelmed by the Anarquistadores. Both gangs are addicted to a drug called White Heat, which mutates the user into near-superhuman forms. Ghost Rider, now acting as the Federal Marshal of Transverse City, interrupts the gang war but is buried under rubble after a building is hit with a rocket.

Meanwhile, an assassin named Heartbreaker executes a man in his home by punching through his chest and escapes unseen from the bodyguards. In Cyberspace, Anesthesia Jones organizes the Undernet into a resistance movement against President Doom and promises to take care of the Ghost Rider herself. She logs off and calls Kylie Gagarin, telling the girl that they need to talk.

Ghost Rider digs himself out of the rubble and goes to SHIELD headquarters, where he butts heads with the commander over their approach to the gang war, which is to essentially let the gangs kill each other. Zero storms out and logs himself into Cyberspace to look for answers and finds an encrypted message that has been left for him. When he opens it, a mysterious person yells at him for selling out and kicks him out of the 'net. To his surprise, Zero finds that he's been locked out of Cyberspace and cannot log back in, which should be impossible. Elsewhere, reporter Willis Adams is attempting to write the Ghost Rider propaganda piece ordered by Doom but decides to resign instead.

Ghost Rider visits Sandoz, the doctor who had previously helped him, and threatens to shut him down if he doesn't tell him about White Heat. From the description given to him by Sandoz, Zero realizes that the person creating it must be Max Synergy. At the club where Synergy conducts business, Heartbreaker arrives to kill him. She's stopped by Ghost Rider who points his gun at the back of her head and tells her not to move.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 14

"Under New Management"

Cover Date: June 1995; On Sale Date: April 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Graham Higgins; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele; Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Reggie Jones

Doom’s SHIELD soldiers arrive at the Bar Code, searching for the Ghost Rider. Anesthesia sends a message to Zero, who is searching Cyberspace for information on how Doom hacked the White House to assume power. Zero gets Jones’ message and logs out, but instead of leaving, decides to fight SHIELD. Meanwhile, Doom is busy dismantling the CSS police force, where he offers a job to Coda that is turned down. Doom also meets with Willis Adams, who he requests to now write pro-Ghost Rider propaganda to counteract D/Monix’s media virus.

Zero attacks the SHIELD agents inside the bar and the fight eventually spills outside, where he sees that he is surrounded and outgunned by the soldiers. When they tell him that President Doom has requested a meeting with him, a starstruck Zero agrees and goes without a fight. Zero is brought to Doom, who offers him a job as the Federal Marshal of Transverse City, answerable only to Doom himself, effectively making him the law. Zero declines but is frozen when Doom executes a sequence of keywords provided to him by the Ghostworks. Realizing that the Ghost Rider would need to be destroyed if he could not be controlled, Doom rewrites Zero’s decision matrix and makes him agree to the job as marshal. An eager Zero takes the gun offered to him and changes his outfit to a matching SHIELD uniform.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 13

"Fables of the Reconstruction"

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

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Graham Higgins; Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele; Editor: Matt Morra; Group Editor: Joey Cavalieri; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Charlie Adlard

Doctor Doom has successfully taken control of the United States of America and instituted himself as the new President of the county. While two trash collectors in Transverse City clean up wreckage and debate the new political turn of events, the destroyed body of the Ghost Rider begins to rebuild itself via nanotechnology. Other residents of Transverse City voice their own opinions at the Bar Code, including Kylie Gagarin and Doctor Neon. Doom arrives at D/Monix headquarters and uses a microchip to enslave the polymerized brain of CEO Dyson Kellerman.

Ghost Rider’s body nears completion, “rebooting” the mind of Zero Cochrane. Meanwhile, Anesthesia Jones calls together a meeting of the anarchist Undernet to begin sowing the seeds of rebellion against Doom, unaware that they are being watched by the Ghostworks. Zero wakes up and realizes not only that his operating system repaired the damage inflicted on him by Coda but that things in Transverse City have changed in his absence.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 12

"I Fought the Law"

Cover Date: April 1995; On Sale Date: February 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Heroic Age

In the heart of Neo-Chicago, the Ghost Rider rides into the Citiplex Delta building that houses the wealthy elitists responsible for the murder of downrampers in Transverse City. The security cameras record the Ghost Rider as he easily takes out the building's guards before he heads toward the elevator. Sitting outside the building in his specialized vehicle is the assassin Coda, who has been tasked by the police to destroy the Rider. Behind him, reporter Willis Adams gets out of his van with a flying camera unit, ready to record the Ghost Rider in the act. Coda remains in his vehicle, now watching through Willis' camera unit.

The Ghost Rider makes his way upstairs and comes to a door marked "Pioneer Society", the name of the group that had been using designer robotic predators to kill the poor for sport. Entering the Society's headquarters, Zero comes to the "Game Room" and slowly pushes open the door...only to find all of the Society members dead, ripped to pieces while still jacked into their predators. In the corner of the room is Diana Matlin, who has lost her mind after the destruction of her predator damaged her brain - it was she who killed the Pioneers in a feral state, and like a wild, growling beast she leaps at Zero. The Ghost Rider catches her by the throat and gets ready to execute her for her crimes but pauses while considering the morality of his actions. He's interrupted by Willis Adams, who tells Cochrane that no one appointed him judge, jury, and executioner - that Matlin needs to stand trial for what she's done. The Ghost Rider releases Matlin to attack Adams, telling the reporter to "make a citizen’s arrest". While Adams fights for his life, Zero calmly walks out of the room, shooting down the man's pleas for help by saying "Stuff like that's not up to me, remember? Guess I'll go call a cop..." In desperation, Willis grabs the flying camera unit and uses it as a weapon, beating Matlin until she's dead.

Outside, the Ghost Rider gets on his bike and starts to ride away but is rammed off the street by Coda's vehicle. Coda hits the street and immediately attacks Zero, landing several hard blows in a matter of moments. Cochrane attempts to fight back, but Coda easily dodges his attacks and replying with weapons that materialize seemingly out of thin air. Coda throws several energy blades at the Rider which explode on impact, damaging the warbot severely. Coda produces one last weapon, a large gun, and prepares to finish the job. Meanwhile, in Cyberspace, a mysterious stranger speaks a programming spell that allows him an audience with the Ghostworks, who are impressed that a human both deduced their existence and devised a means of acquiring their attention. This human is Doom, who tells them that he wishes to speak regarding significant matters of mutual interest.

Back in Neo-Chicago, the badly damaged Ghost Rider tries to stand one last time but is hit with a shot from Coda's energy rifle. The weapon obliterates the Ghost Rider's body, leaving nothing but scattered machine parts and a crater in the concrete. Coda walks up to the Rider's severed skull and kicks it with his boot, quipping that the job was nothing personal - and that "life's a glitch, but at least you only had to go through it once”.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 11

"Wild in the Streets"

Cover Date: March 1995; On Sale Date: January 1995

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Kyle Hotz 

Ghost Rider begins his battle with the monstrous predator drones of the Pioneer Society. One of the drones, piloted by Ms. Matlin, is severely injured by Ghost Rider's electro-saw and the feedback gives Matlin brain trauma that causes her to go into a psychotic state when she removes her helmet at the Society's headquarters. Meanwhile, D/Monix broadcasts their edited version of Ghost Rider's interview with reporter Willis Adams, which elicits shock and disbelief from the residents of Transverse City. When Anesthesia Jones sees the broadcast, she recognizes it as spin control and calls for a meeting of the Undernet. Adams, enraged by the manipulation of his interview, gets word from his producer that the Ghost Rider is currently engaged in a public battle, and he goes off to cover the story. Finally, the director of Central Security Services watches the broadcast with Coda and sends the mercenary off to destroy the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider continues his battle with the Pioneer Society but is surprised when they start dropping dead in the middle of the fight. He is unaware that Matlin, in her psychotic rage, is murdering the Society in their uplink chairs. As she murders the last member, he tells the Ghost Rider where Matlin is located and that she was the one responsible for the deaths in Little Calcutta. Ghost Rider rides off to find Matlin, unaware that he's being followed by Willis Adams and, in turn, Coda.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 10

"Concrete Jungle"

Cover Date: February 1995; On Sale Date: December 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Editor in Chief: Bobbie Chase; Cover Artist: Tom Taggert

Two members of the Pioneer Society, a group of wealthy elitists, watch the recording of a robotic "predator" remotely piloted to murder humans for sport in Little Calcutta. Later, investigating the murder of his friend Pak, Zero Cochrane goes around Little Calcutta to talk to various people about the murders. Unfortunately, everyone he talks to has a different theory about what's happening. One of the people he talks to is a drug dealer, who sells a new drug called "White Heat" to a local gang, the Toxic Zombies. A few hours later, Kylie Gagarin and Dr. Neon are assaulted by the gang, who are intoxicated by the new drug. Two securicops intervene, and the melee is quickly joined by a cybernetic enhanced mercenary named Coda, who kills the gang members.

Later, Ms. Matlin is piloting her predator when she sees a target: Jeter of the Artificial Kidz. When she attacks him, however, his holographic disguise fades to reveal the Ghost Rider. He battles the predator, realizing that it's being piloted remotely, and is eventually led into a trap. The rest of the Pioneer Society have arrived, each in their own remote drones, ready for a "multiplayer game".

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 9

"Demolition Man"

Cover Date: January 1995; On Sale Date: November 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ Comicraft; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Kyle Hotz

Zero Cochrane is surfing through cyberspace, searching for the Ghostworks, the artificial intelligence programs that transformed him into the Ghost Rider. After discovering that they had altered his programming to stop him from talking about their existence he is determined to find them, but after 6 days has had no luck. He unplugs himself from the matrix and remembers a virus program he has at his old crash pad that could track down the Ghostworks for him. In Cyberspace, the Ghostworks have been observing Zero's search for them, and though they admit that given sufficient time he could conceivably track them down they are aware of coming events that will serve to distract him from that goal.

Zero makes his way to a part of Transverse City called Little Calcutta, where he meets with an old friend and street vendor named Pak. During their conversation, Pak tells Zero that several people have been gruesomely murdered by a "horrorshow monster with teeth". Zero makes his way to the crash pad, but quickly realizes that D/Monix ransacked the place and took away all of the discs that were there. He gets lost in a memory of his dead friends and punches the wall, saying it wasn't his fault that he lived when they died. Suddenly, the crash pad explodes. Meanwhile, Pak is murdered by the "horrorshow monster".

Zero emerges from the rubble of the crash pad in his Ghost Rider form and is confronted by Jeter, former leader of the Artificial Kidz. Zero had severed his cybernetic limbs from his body in his last encounter and he has since paid the Bone Mechanix to attach his torso to several tanks. After a brief fight Zero gets the upper hand, decapitates Jeter, and throws his severed head into a fire. Later, Zero wanders by a crowd that has gathered around Pak's mutilated body and Zero decides he needs to find the killer.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 8

"The Persistence of Memory"

Cover Date: December 1994; On Sale Date: October 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo

Zero has entered the mind of his girlfriend, Kylie Gagarin, to wake her form the coma induced by D/Monix. The theory from Dr. Sandoz is that Kylie can awaken at any time, but she's trapped in a memory loop and has to be pulled out. Walking through the visual iconography in Kylie's mind, Zero discovers that her memories are hidden behind a series of doors. When he opens one and enters, he finds himself in something like an emulation program, where he is reliving the memory as Kylie. The first memory is of when she was a child, and her poverty-stricken father's decision to be a "suicide stuntman" for a television show called "Samsa NYPD". When her mother discovers the note left by her husband, she goes to talk him out of it and accidentally triggers an explosion that kills them and 25 other people. The producers of the television show pay Kylie a large amount of money to use her story as a "tragedy of the week" and assorted other death benefits, which causes her to swear that she won't care about anyone else ever again. Realizing that Kylie is not trapped in that particular memory, Zero moves on to the next one.

Meanwhile, at D/Monix, CEO Dyson Kellerman watches an interview he had performed with Harrison Cochrane, Zero's father and the person who ordered the boy's death for date theft. Kellerman, who now knows that Zero is the Ghost Rider, tells Harrison that he plans to use the boy as a public enemy, the fear in which he will instill in the populace guaranteeing that they will give up their rights in exchange for safety. In the meantime, Kellerman tells Harrison that he will be in charge of finding a way to destroy Zero once they've finished using him. In his office, Kellerman then watches the footage of the Ghost Rider's speech against D/Monix, which has an altered audio track that paints Zero as a horrific terrorist bent on destroying Transverse City.

Back in Kylie's mind, Zero finds a door marked with a number zero sign, obviously meant to represent him. When he enters the memory, he finds himself in her bedroom, acting as Kylie herself. The memory of Zero is getting dressed to leave after having sex but stops long enough to ask Kylie for $50. Kylie breaks into laughter, thinking to herself that he's perfect, she'll have a new reason to dump him every day of the week. Kylie melts away into the Ghost Rider, as Zero takes control and smashes the memory version of himself, upset at how she really felt about him, that he was disposable. Realizing that she didn't love him but couldn't stand that he was taken away from her, he locates her in a recent memory: the one of her finding Zero's body at D/Monix. He wakes her up by telling her that if she has something to say to him, she needs to do it quick, because he's busy. She breaks up with him inside her mind, and the two both wake up in Sandoz's lab. The Ghost Rider leaves, and when Kylie runs after him, she asks if Zero is dead. He says yes but asks her why she even cares considering how awful a person her was. He tells her that he's "got biz" and leaves, making her wonder if the Ghost Rider is actually Zero.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 7

"Been Caught Stealing"

Cover Date: November 1994; On Sale Date: September 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

20 minutes after arriving in New York City, Zero is harassed by an officer of the Public Eye for driving a wheeled vehicle. After disabling the officer, Zero stashes his bike and walks on foot to the Alchemax building. He breaks in easily using his stealth field and accesses their mainframe to locate their supply of 2-4-5 Trioxidiclorizide, which he needs to save the life of his ex-girlfriend Kylie back in Transverse City. He goes to the lab to steal the chemical, knocking scientist Miguel O'Hara unconscious in the process. Zero rips open the vault door and grabs a container of the chemical, then jumps out the window of the skyscraper. He manages to steal a sky-cycle from the pursuing Public Eye, but is quickly shot down, crashing in a fiery explosion in Downtown New York. Back at Alchemax, a recovering O'Hara decides to take the rest of the day off. O'Hara changes into his costume and goes out looking for Zero as Spider-Man, noting that Triclorizide is toxic even in small quantities.

In Downtown, Zero is found in a cratered building, his computer system forced to reboot, resuming the application "Zero Cochrane" before he wakes up. He recovers and locates the canister, but it is snagged by the passing Spider-Man, who recognizes Zero and is surprised to see him alive. Zero drops his hologram and reconfigures into the Ghost Rider, thinking Spider-Man is an Alchemax assassin. Ghost Rider attacks, refusing to listen to Spider-Man's attempts to talk, and during the fight a building is damaged and threatens to crush some squatters. While Spider-Man saves them, Ghost Rider leaves with the canister.

Ghost Rider makes it back to St. Vitus's Danceteria in Transverse City and gives the canister to Max Synergy, who agrees to use the chemical to synthesize a batch of Nootropine to assist Kylie. Synergy then tells Ghost Rider that he now owes him a favor, which Zero agrees to. At the Medi-Kwik clinic, Dr. Sandoz administers the Nootropine, but gets no response from Kylie, noting that perhaps she is psychologically refusing to face a deep trauma that is keeping her from waking up. He says that a neural interface would fry the brain of anyone who tries to go into her mind, but Zero doesn't have "wetware" to fry. He tells Sandoz to set it all up, he's going in.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 6

"Neuropolitique"

Cover Date: October 1994; On Sale Date: August 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Kyle Hotz; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

At the Medi-Kwik health clinic in Transverse City, the Ghost Rider arrives with the comatose Kylie Gagarin and freed prisoner of D/Monix Doctor Neon and begs for someone to help the girl. The doctor, Sandoz, was a friend of Zero Cochrane, and when the Ghost Rider invokes his past name Sandoz agrees to help. After an examination, Sandoz determines that Kylie was injected with Mnemopromethylene, which has put her brain in a state of a memory feedback loop. Her only chance is a psychoactive drug called Nootropine, which was banned by the government and even the chemicals necessary to manufacture it are highly controlled substances. After being told that Kylie's condition is irreversible in 48 hours, Zero leaves her in the care of Sandoz and Neon and goes off to find the chemicals he needs.

At D/Monix headquarters, CEO Dyson Kellerman gives former employee Jackson Womack a "demotion" for his betrayal over the Singapore Archive, sending him off to be a lab rat for experimental study. Kellerman then sees Harrison Cochrane and asks to talk about Harrison's son, Kenshiro and the Ghost Rider. Meanwhile, reporter Willis Adams learns from his producer that the footage and interview he did with the Ghost Rider was flagged by D/Monix for "spin control", against Adam's wishes.

At the Bar Code, Zero has another meeting with proprietor Anesthesia Jones and asks to make another deal. When she calls him out on being nothing but a cheap hustler, Zero drops his hologram and reveals himself to be the Ghost Rider. However, when Zero attempts to tell her about the Ghostworks, he finds that he's been installed with an inhibitory program that keeps him from talking about them. Though angry, Zero puts it aside to ask Jones about a recharge and scoring some Nootropine. She points him in the direction of a "black pharmacist" named Max Synergy, the only man in Transverse City who could help.

On level three of Saint Vitus's Danceteria night club, Zero finds Synergy in the middle of the dance floor, his office walled off in a "quiet zone" that keeps out the club patrons. Zero makes his presence known and asks Synergy about making the Nootropine, which Synergy says requires a supply of 2-4-5 Trioxidiclorizide. The chemical is made by only one company, who would not be inclined to share. After Synergy gives him the information on the company, Zero rides out of town, headed for Alchemax in New York City.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 5

"Rage Against the Machine"

Cover Date: September 1994; On Sale Date: July 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Following the death of his friend Warewolf, the Ghost Rider wages all-out war against Central Security Systems' armored police force.  After he wins the battle, Zero is approached by reporter Willis Adams, who asks what Zero is so angry about.  Zero gives a short speech about what the "biz suits" have done to the world, and then tells the reporter that if he wants to know about him he should ask D/Monix.  Adam's technicians manage to stop the broadcast feed the moment Zero mentions D/Monix, and Zero departs the battleground.

He soon arrives in Neo-Chicago, home of the D/Monix corporation.  Using his steal camouflage field, he disguises himself as a guard and gains access to the D/Monix building, where he encounters executive Jackson Womack.  Upstairs, Harrison Cochrane thinks about the deal Womack had presented to him regarding the decryption of the Singapore Archive disc that had recently been recovered.  Fearing the wrath of D/Monix CEO Kellerman, Harrison tells the newly-arrived Womack that he doesn't think they should do it behind Kellerman's back.  Womack asks Harrison who fingered the Hotwire Martyrs in the archive's theft, and a surprised Harrison states that he was the one who did it.  Womack's features transform into a furious Zero, who addresses Harrison as "Dad".  Surprised to his see his dead son standing in front of him, Harrison attempts to justify his actions that led to Zero's death.  Zero transforms into the Ghost Rider and smashes Harrison's computer, retrieving the Archive disc.  After Harrison tells where to find both Zero's captive girlfriend Kylie and his confiscated motorcycle, Zero shatters the disc and leaves Harrison to clean up the mess.

Zero retrieves his bike and busts into the neuroterrogation lab, where he finds the comatose Kyle and the similarly captive Doctor Neon, who begs to be freed.  Zero is shocked to see his own dead body and briefly wonders if there would be a way to "reboot" his mind back into it. He quickly changes his mind and incinerates the corpse, thinking "no going back".  He then escapes D/Monix with the unconscious Kyle and Doctor Neon.  Elsewhere, the entities that comprise the Ghostworks have been watching, stating that the Singapore Archive contained evidence of their existence has now been destroyed and a period of observation for Zero should be considered before proceeding to "stage two".

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 4

"Uncontrollable Urge"

Cover Date: August 1994; On Sale Date: June 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Peter Gross; Inkers: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Zero's best friend, Warewolf, has transformed into a mechanical monster hell bent on destroying the Ghost Rider. Despite his attempts to talk his friend down, Zero is forced to fully transform his robotic body to combat mode and fight back. Warewolf tries to resume control of his body, but finds himself unable to do so. While their fight continues, Kylie and Dr. Neon are led to Womack's office in D/Monix headquarters. Womack is given the Singapore Archive disc, and when Kylie lies about what she was caught doing he orders her sent down to "neuroterrogation". Womack contacts Harrison and tells him to load his decryption software to access the disc. When Kylie and Neon arrive in the neuroterrogation room, they find Zero's dead body on a table. Kylie freaks out, screaming that Zero still owes her money, forcing the security team to hold her down on a table while a technician injects her with a dose of Mnemopromethylne to gain access to her memories. Harrison is viewing a screen shot of Zero's body when Womack enters his office, prompting Harrison to comment about how the boy's parents must have been "unlucky". Womack shows Harrison the disc and asks him to decrypt it without informing Kellerman, noting the opportunity that's been presented to them. Unbeknownst to them, the holographic Kellerman is watching their conversation. Harrison views the progress on the dismantlement of the Ghost Rider's bike, but he's interrupted by a news report from Willis Adams about the Ghost Rider's battle with Warewolf.

Warewolf is briefly able to override the commands in his mind and he begs Zero to kill him. The police interrupt and fire on the two combatants, prompting Zero to attack them. Warewolf is shot, but when Zero saves him the battle between the two resumes. The cops warm up a antiparticle generator gun, but Warewolf regains control of himself long enough to place himself in the line of fire, saving Zero's life. As Warewolf dies, he tells Zero that it was Womack and Harrison at D/Monix that did this to him. Upon hearing Harrison's name, Zero flies into a rage and attacks the cops, using an optic laser to disable one of the armored officers. He tells the cops, "You'd better e-mail the body banks. Tell 'em to get ready for rush hour!"

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 3

"Search and Destroy"

Cover Date: July 1994
On Sale Date: May 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo & Peter Gross; Inker: Mark Buckingham & Kev Sutherland; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Mark Buckingham

Confronted by a squad of robots piloted by securi-cops, Zero Cochrane launches into an attack with his electro-saw only to find it won't cut the robots' armor. One of the robots slams Zero to the ground and tells him that nothing short of a monomolecular edge can cut through the suit. Just so happens, Zero comments, he has one hand – his fingers sharpen into blades that cut right through the windshield of the suit, severely wounding the pilot. In response, a massive police "street sweeper" barrels down the street while Zero's on board computer alerts him that his reserve power is down to 50%. With no other choice, Zero turns down an alley and runs.

Watching from the police cameras in D/Monix headquarters are two executives, Harrison and Womack. The two check in with the doctors examining the bodies of Zero and the other Hotwire Martyrs. While they can't retrieve any information from Cochrane's fried brain, his friend Warewolf is more or less intact. They induce a memory recall on Warewolf, showing the doctors just how Zero was able to download the secure Singapore Date File from the D/Monix network and the subsequent attack on the Martyrs by the mercenary Artificial Kidz. Womack comments that they still know nothing: the Martyr that's alive doesn't know where the file went while the one that does know is dead. Womack's security system informs him of an online inquiry into one of D/Monix's encryption algorithms, and that the perpetrators are in the process of being apprehended. Womack tells Harrison that he believes there to be a connection between the Ghost Rider and the Singapore File theft; and that they're going to use Warewolf to trace that connection.

Back on the street, Zero takes a wrong turn and comes to a dead-end alley. The cops close in on him, and with his power almost gone Zero barely manages to escape into the sewers. For the brief minute that the police lose their line-of-sight on Zero he implements his solidogram camouflage system that maps a hologram of his human body over his new robot shell. The police pass him up, thinking he's just a homeless man sleeping in the sewer. After they pass Zero goes back up to the street, and a convoy for police cruisers pass him by in route to apprehend his ex-girlfriend Kylie and the amateur hacker Dr. Neon.

At the Bar Code, Zero enters and asks to speak to the bar's owner, Anesthesia Jones. Jones meets with Zero, who asks her for a couple of hours of straight voltage in private. Jones thinks its weird and expensive, but doable. In return for the word on what's happening since the Martyrs were attacked, Jones agrees to Zero's request. The next day, Zero finishes his recharge and decides its time to settle things by first retrieving his bike from police custody. When he exits the back of the bar he immediately sees his friend Warewolf. Both are shocked, as they each thought the other to be dead. Warewolf has no memory of what happened to him after the attack on the Martyrs. Zero takes Warewolf out back and turns off his camouflage, revealing himself to be the Ghost Rider. However, this triggers a transformation in Warewolf, turning him into a monstrous creature programmed to terminate the Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 2

"Detonation Boulevard"

Cover Date: June 1994; On Sale Date: April 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo; Inker: Mark Buckingham; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo

Zero Cochrane, the Ghost Rider, has found the man that killed him a week before: Jeter, leader of the mercenary Artificial Kidz. With his laser chainsaw, Zero hacks off Jeter's limbs, severing his bionic implants from his body, but leaves him alive. Before he can do anything more, the police arrive in a flying convoy. Zero destroys one of the ships before hopping on his cycle, and then disappears into the night via his stealth mode.

Later, the executives of the D/Monix Corporation watch the news footage of Zero, dubbed by the media as the "Ghost Rider" due to his likeness of the 20th century vigilante. The head of the company, Mr. Kellerman, appears at the head of the table as a hologram. He tells one aide, Harrison, that he should see the resemblance of this Ghost Rider to the gang emblem of the Hotwire Martyrs, the group Harrison himself fingered as the thieves of the Singapore Archive disk. Kellerman then gives the order to rectify the situation with unlimited collateral damages.

Elsewhere in Transverse City , Zero's ex-girlfriend Kylie Gagarin sits in the Bar Code, dwelling on Zero and the video file he sent to her before his disappearance. She needs a hacker to find out what's on the file, and is immediately approached by a young amateur hacker named Dr. Neon, who promises he can decrypt the file. As they leave the bar, Zero rides past in stealth mode. His power levels drop to the point where he can no longer use the stealth field, something the Ghostworks warned him about. He needs daily recharges of energy to maintain full capacity; otherwise he'll crash his system. Zero figures out where he needs to go to recharge, but is spotted by the police. Meanwhile, Kylie and Neon arrive at his apartment and begin decrypting the information on the video file.

Zero leads the police onto "Detonation Boulevard", a street held as a constant war zone between two rival gangs. While Zero rides through the onslaught of artillery without a scratch, the police suffer heavy damages. At the end of the street, however, Zero comes to a roadblock, forcing him to turn around. He races back down the street and jumps off his bike to fight the cops. He rips one cop from his car, asking where they were when he was getting murdered. The police call for backup, which arrives as several pod-like war machines.

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 1

"Burning Chrome"

Cover Date: May 1994; On Sale Date: March 1994

Writer: Len Kaminski; Artist: Chris Bachalo; Inker: Mark Buckingham; Letterer: Richard Starkings w/ John Gaushell; Colorist: Christie Scheele w/ Heroic Age; Editor: Evan Skolnick; Group Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Chris Bachalo

In the year 2099, three members of the Artificial Kidz, a local gang of mercenaries, ride their motorcycles through Transverse City, a sprawling 20 lane/10 story super-highway that stands between Chicago and Detroit. Surprising to them, a cybernetic warbot on a hoverbike attacks and quickly defeats them. Capturing one of the Kidz alive, the robot asks him for the name of the person that hired them to kill another gang of data pirates called the Hotwire Martyrs. The so-called "Ghost Rider", one Zero Cochrane, thinks back to a week before, when after a theft of some encrypted data files had marked the Martyrs for death. Zero ran, the only one of the four to escape, but was pursued by the Kidz.

Shot in the arm by a poisonous flechette, Zero manages to evade the mercs, though he trashes his bike in the process. Stopping at a payphone, he wires his brain into the data feed and calls his girlfriend, Kylie. Knowing that the mycotoxin in his blood was quickly killing him, he uploads the stolen files to the link and asks Kylie to save it to disc. A second later, Jeter (leader of the Artificial Kidz) approaches Zero, demanding he return the stolen files. Instead, Chochrane uploads his entire consciousness into cyberspace, intending to melt his own brain and leave Jeter with nothing but a fried brain to examine.

Zero then awakens in a small corner of cyberspace called the Ghostworks, where he is brought before several resident archetypes, beings of artificial intelligence that have come to thrive in the data streams. They have managed to rescue Zero's consciousness from oblivion, and in return they bring an offer before him. Concerned with the state of Earthly society, the Ghostworks wishes to erase the information viruses of greed and stupidity from civilization, and they want Zero to be their "antiviral agent". Zero will be their symbol of rebellion, their myth-like figure through which they will start a revolution. Zero accepts, and is sent back to reality. The warbot body, armed to the teeth with ordnance, houses Zero's consciousness. Then, he's turned loose.

Back in the present, Zero is told Jeter's whereabouts by the captured Kidz member. He runs as the cops arrive, seemingly disappearing into thin air. Not long after, at the Kidz camp, the Ghost Rider reappears and quickly takes down the mercenaries. He finds Jeter, who tells him that the hit on the Martyrs was contracted by D/MONIX. He releases Jeter, who asks the Rider what more he wants from him. As a laser-fueled chainsaw emerges from the robot's wrist, Zero replies with one word: "Vengeance."

Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 21

Cover Artist: Chris Sprouse

Published: Jan. 1996
Original Price: $1.95

Title: "Screaming For Vengeance"
Writer: Len Kaminski
Artist: Ashley Wood
Inker: Jim Daly
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Editor In Chief: Bobbie Chase

SYNOPSIS

After viewing a playback of his death at the hands of the Ghost Rider, the newly-awakened Vengeance - formerly a CSS officer named Cole Wagner - is greeted by the mysterious Kabal. Kabal informs him that in Wagner's absence crime has run rampant in Transverse City, and he has learned the location of the city's criminal mastermind. This person is being protected by the Ghost Rider, who Vengeance eagerly agrees to kill.

Elsewhere, the Ghost Rider watches a video transmission that relates the news of Doom's removal from the office of the United States President. After seeing this, Zero suffers a system crash that allows him to remember the hidden code that Doom and the Ghostworks had placed inside him. He sees the Ghostworks talking about editing his personality template to give the illusion of free will, proving that they did things to change him before releasing him. Unable to remove the Ghostworks' codes from his system, Zero heads to the Bar Code to beg Anesthesia for help. She tells him to get out, blaming him of selling out for a badge. Kabal picks this time to enter, accusing Anesthesia for being the informant that crippled the Undernet based on her association with the Ghost Rider. Despite her claims of innocence, Kabal opens fire on her. Before Zero can step in, he is confronted by Vengeance.

Meanwhile, in a secret vault that had recently been breached by a group of mercenaries, a number of cryonically suspended human heads begin to awaken due to damage to the chamber. As they awaken, a century of sensory deprivation has caused them to go mad. A hundred years of pent-up psionic energy is released, and the minds within the heads combine into a grotesque entity formed from pure psychosis. The entity passes through the chamber's walls into the unsuspecting world.

Back at the Bar Code, Vengeance continues to tear into the Ghost Rider, who mocks the more massive cyborg. Vengeance's hands begin to pulse with anti-matter, and he grabs Zero, burning him and causing him to cry out in agonizing pain.

ANNOTATIONS 

CSS Officer Cole Wagner was killed by the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 3.

Ghost Rider was made the Marshall of Transverse City by President Doom, who also entered in a piece of hidden code into his system, in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 14.

The Undernet infiltrated the Transnational Vault in Ghost Rider 2099 (1994) # 18.

This issue also contained the first of a 2-part Heartbreaker back-up story by Kaminski and Wood.

REVIEW

While the storyline for Ghost Rider 2099 continues to build toward an incredible climax, this issue introducing the future version of Vengeance, the artwork continues its downward slide into awfulness.

One thing the 2099 incarnation of Ghost Rider pulled off well was its complete disconnection from the original Ghost Rider mythos, making it a book about technology instead of the more standard supernatural. The book went out of its way to keep itself separate from the modern-day version, but this storyline marks a first for the series: introducing a future version of an established Ghost Rider villain. Not surprisingly, that character is Vengeance, who in both incarnations is portrayed as Ghost Rider's antithesis and distorted mirror double. Like the modern Vengeance, this one is a man whose life had been destroyed by the Ghost Rider - in this instance, a CSS officer who had been slain by Zero back in the book's first year - and has traded in his humanity for revenge.

While most "upgrades" of established Marvel villains in the 2099 universe were laughable at best (looking at you, Venom 2099), Kaminski gives us just enough of a twist mixed with familiarity when introducing Vengeance. Bigger and badder than his counterpart, Vengeance is a former police officer who believes himself to be in the right during his battle with the Ghost Rider, unaware that Zero is now in fact the law himself. Vengeance isn't presented with much in the way of brains or self-awareness here, but that's to be expected considering he's just a tool for Kabal to use against Cochrane.

Unfortunately, the artwork continues to disappoint. Despite such a strong start on the series, Ashley Wood's work has degenerated into a near-incomprehensible mess. I theorize that this is due to two factors: the ever-increasing pressure of the monthly deadline and the addition of inker John Daly. Wood felt much more at home when he was inking his own work, and if anything Daly's inks seem to oversimplify Wood's scratchy, sketchy art. The work simply looks unfinished and highly amateurish. Compare the first image of Vengeance on the cover of # 20, by Wood solo, to his appearance here with Daly's inks.

Overall, while Len Kaminski continues to just rock out with the stories on this title, the artwork is quickly sucking the life out of it. Which is a damn shame.

Grade: C-