On Sale Date: August 2008
Title: "A Town Called Mercy"
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Mark A. Robinson
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Raul Trevino
Editors: Daniel Ketchum & Aubrey Sitterson
Executive Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Cover Artist: Mark Texeira
Later that night, Blaze is given a nightmare vision of an angel that offers him a silver key. When he wakes, he sees the girl from the bar wandering into the forest. Blaze follows the girl and in turn is followed by the deputy, who fires a warning shot just as Johnny sees a winged being flying above the trees. Blaze disarms the deputy, but is stopped at gunpoint by the sheriff. Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and leads the cops to the body of the girl, who dies in the deputy's arms. Obviously not a suicide, Blaze comments that they interrupted the creature before it could finish its job.
The next day, the sheriff puts together a hunting party to track the creature. The deputy tells Blaze that the town attracts “sad folks” that are later found dead. The first victim was the town's original sheriff, who hung himself in a barn. When the deputy discovered the body, he caught a glimpse of the angel responsible. Blaze and the two cops re-enter the forest, but the deputy realizes that his pistol is empty of ammunition. The sheriff sends his deputy back to re-arm, allowing Blaze to have a conversation with the man. He tells the sheriff that the deputy's pistol was loaded before they set out, and the night before when the sheriff appeared he'd had blood on his hands. Blaze turns and transforms into the Ghost Rider, only to find that the sheriff has undergone a transformation of his own into a terrifying angelic monster. The angel attacks, declaring itself to be a rebel from Heaven, and nearly kills Blaze before the deputy returns to stop the fight. When the angel hesitates, Blaze burns him down with a blast of hellfire. The crippled angel explains that he was once the gatekeeper of Heaven who was able to grant access to any mortal he so chose. When Zadkiel began his war against God, the Gatekeeper kept to himself until he found a point of argument - he believed that suicide should not be considered a sin. Zadkiel's host struck the Gatekeeper down and exiled him to Earth, but did not take away his ability to grant mortals access to Heaven. Since then he has drawn the suicidal to Mercy and murdered them, granting them paradise. He tells Blaze that when he dies his soul is forfeit to Hell, and only the Gatekeeper's power could have sent him to Heaven to confront Zadkiel. Blaze then demands that the angel kill him to grant him access to Heaven, but the angel explains that the rules force him to resist and fight as hard as he can - otherwise it would be considered suicide. The angel attacks, and Blaze is forced to kill him, leaving him and the deputy alone in the forest.
In the snowy town of Mercy, Idaho, Johnny Blaze is approached at a local bar by a young deputy who mistakes him for a “gloomie”, a person who's come to the town to commit suicide. Blaze points to a newspaper that talks about an angelic monster that's suspected of being responsible for a rash of “suicides” in the town. The deputy lies when asked if he's seen the creature and orders Blaze to leave the town. The town's sheriff asks if there's anyone else new in town, not noticing a young girl sitting by a window.
Later that night, Blaze is given a nightmare vision of an angel that offers him a silver key. When he wakes, he sees the girl from the bar wandering into the forest. Blaze follows the girl and in turn is followed by the deputy, who fires a warning shot just as Johnny sees a winged being flying above the trees. Blaze disarms the deputy, but is stopped at gunpoint by the sheriff. Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider and leads the cops to the body of the girl, who dies in the deputy's arms. Obviously not a suicide, Blaze comments that they interrupted the creature before it could finish its job.
The next day, the sheriff puts together a hunting party to track the creature. The deputy tells Blaze that the town attracts “sad folks” that are later found dead. The first victim was the town's original sheriff, who hung himself in a barn. When the deputy discovered the body, he caught a glimpse of the angel responsible. Blaze and the two cops re-enter the forest, but the deputy realizes that his pistol is empty of ammunition. The sheriff sends his deputy back to re-arm, allowing Blaze to have a conversation with the man. He tells the sheriff that the deputy's pistol was loaded before they set out, and the night before when the sheriff appeared he'd had blood on his hands. Blaze turns and transforms into the Ghost Rider, only to find that the sheriff has undergone a transformation of his own into a terrifying angelic monster. The angel attacks, declaring itself to be a rebel from Heaven, and nearly kills Blaze before the deputy returns to stop the fight. When the angel hesitates, Blaze burns him down with a blast of hellfire. The crippled angel explains that he was once the gatekeeper of Heaven who was able to grant access to any mortal he so chose. When Zadkiel began his war against God, the Gatekeeper kept to himself until he found a point of argument - he believed that suicide should not be considered a sin. Zadkiel's host struck the Gatekeeper down and exiled him to Earth, but did not take away his ability to grant mortals access to Heaven. Since then he has drawn the suicidal to Mercy and murdered them, granting them paradise. He tells Blaze that when he dies his soul is forfeit to Hell, and only the Gatekeeper's power could have sent him to Heaven to confront Zadkiel. Blaze then demands that the angel kill him to grant him access to Heaven, but the angel explains that the rules force him to resist and fight as hard as he can - otherwise it would be considered suicide. The angel attacks, and Blaze is forced to kill him, leaving him and the deputy alone in the forest.
