On Sale Date: May & June 1985
Title: "Five Women"
Writer: Peter B. Gillis
Artist: Don Perlin
Inker: Art Nichols
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Michelle Wrightson
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter
Cover Artist: Mark Badger
A man and woman on a motorcycle drive through the New Mexico desert, diverting briefly from the highway to carve the word "Defenders" in the dirt with their bike. They come across a military roadblock on the highway, but instead of stopping it they simply jump the bike over the barricade and continue on their way.
At their hillside headquarters, the Defenders are reeling following a tragic battle with their former teammate, Moondragon. The Angel has been blinded and Cloud severely injured, leaving only Iceman, the Beast, and the Gargoyle to assist the army with cleaning up the mess from the battle. The military have been altered about the biker, claiming that whoever it is isn't human due to the way he was handling the motorcycle. Later, while the Beast is attempting to provide medical treatment to Angel and Cloud, the holographic intruder alert system alerts him to the biker's approach. While the couple on the motorcycle drive up the stone stairway to the Defenders' home, the military are attempting to make them stop by firing on them. The holographic projections of various heroes with assault rifles causes the biker to drive straight through them, but a bullet hits the bike's tire, spilling the couple onto the stairway. The Defenders come out ready to fight, but Iceman tells them to stop because he recognizes the biker: it's Johnny Blaze, the former Ghost Rider, with his girlfriend Roxanne. Blaze tells him that since being freed from Zarathos he and Roxanne had just been driving across the country, but when she had a vision regarding his former teammates in the Champions being in danger they made their way to New Mexico.
Days later, the Angel talks to Johnny and Roxanne while he convalesces, offering them both a job with the Defenders as a mechanic. Johnny declines, saying that going back to the superhero lifestyle won't make him happy, but that the Defenders should continue on despite the tragedy of their last battle. Roxanne mentions that they are in need of money, and Angels happily agrees to loan them money. Not long after, Johnny and Roxanne decide to leave, with Iceman giving Blaze a t-shirt that reads "The New Defenders Weirdos Auxiliary".
At their hillside headquarters, the Defenders are reeling following a tragic battle with their former teammate, Moondragon. The Angel has been blinded and Cloud severely injured, leaving only Iceman, the Beast, and the Gargoyle to assist the army with cleaning up the mess from the battle. The military have been altered about the biker, claiming that whoever it is isn't human due to the way he was handling the motorcycle. Later, while the Beast is attempting to provide medical treatment to Angel and Cloud, the holographic intruder alert system alerts him to the biker's approach. While the couple on the motorcycle drive up the stone stairway to the Defenders' home, the military are attempting to make them stop by firing on them. The holographic projections of various heroes with assault rifles causes the biker to drive straight through them, but a bullet hits the bike's tire, spilling the couple onto the stairway. The Defenders come out ready to fight, but Iceman tells them to stop because he recognizes the biker: it's Johnny Blaze, the former Ghost Rider, with his girlfriend Roxanne. Blaze tells him that since being freed from Zarathos he and Roxanne had just been driving across the country, but when she had a vision regarding his former teammates in the Champions being in danger they made their way to New Mexico.
Days later, the Angel talks to Johnny and Roxanne while he convalesces, offering them both a job with the Defenders as a mechanic. Johnny declines, saying that going back to the superhero lifestyle won't make him happy, but that the Defenders should continue on despite the tragedy of their last battle. Roxanne mentions that they are in need of money, and Angels happily agrees to loan them money. Not long after, Johnny and Roxanne decide to leave, with Iceman giving Blaze a t-shirt that reads "The New Defenders Weirdos Auxiliary".