Ghost Rider (1973) # 2

"Shake Hands With Satan!"

Cover Date: October 1973; On Sale Date: July 1973

Writer: Gary Friedrich; Artist: Jim Mooney; Inker: Syd Shores; Letterer: C. Jetter; Colorist: L. Lessmann; Editor: Roy Thomas; Cover Artist: Gil Kane

Still on the road after fleeing from Copperhead Canyon, Johnny keeps experiencing visions of Slade's fiery crash. Roxanne attempts to help him, but Blaze instead loses all hope in their situation. Stopping the truck, Johnny gets out and screams for Satan to come claim his soul, that he's tired of running. As if on command, Linda Littletrees, the Witch Woman, appears in the sky.

Back at the Apache reservation, Daimon Hellstrom has arrived to try and help Linda. Realizing that night would soon be upon them, Daimon asks Sam to bind him and lock him in a room. They are not to release him until morning, no matter how he may plead later on.

In the desert, Linda agrees to take Johnny to Satan, but also decides to take Roxanne as well. Before anything can happen, the scene is interrupted by the roar of motorcycle engines. A biker gang, led by Big Daddy Dawson, surround the three. Linda snaps her fingers and teleports herself and Johnny away, leaving Roxanne in the hands of Dawson.

At the reservation, a hysterical Hellstrom demands that they unlock his door, for if they don't then Linda shall surely die. When Sam opens the door, he sees that Daimon has changed into something horrific. Linda and Johnny, meanwhile, arrive in Hell, where the woman reveals herself to actually be Satan in disguise. His demons hold Johnny down, but the Hell lord is interrupted by some unseen person before he can take Blaze's soul.

Oh Johnny, just...come on, no!

THE ROADMAP

This story continues in Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 12.

Linda Littletrees, the Witch Woman, first appeared in Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 10 and her body was possessed by Satan in Ghost Rider (1973) # 1.

CHAIN REACTION

Big. Daddy. Dawson. Those three words are all that’s needed to sum up the second issue of the ongoing Ghost Rider series, which introduces one of the worst characters to ever step foot inside a Marvel comic.

“Like Hell-spawned demons they come, roaring across the rain-soaked desert sands astride powerful iron steeds — the hordes of Attila the Hun circa 1973! But the horrors of Satan’s Hell might even pale in comparison with the Hell-on-Earth created in the twisted mind of Big Daddy Dawson’s Ruthless Riders!!”

Wow. Gary Friedrich was known for his sometimes overly dramatic narration in the Ghost Rider series, but that takes the cake as one of the worst segues I’ve ever read. I hate Big Daddy Dawson – his name is Big Daddy Dawson! – but I also can’t help but laugh when I read this issue. He’s the prototypical stereotype of the Hell’s Angel biker, sadistic, sexist, and looking for nothing but sex and violence. According to the early Ghost Rider stories, the deserts of America were filled with packs of violent bikers like something out of the Mad Max films, and it stretches credibility as thin as it can go without snapping.

Another sinking point in the script comes from Johnny Blaze himself and his decision to surrender himself to Satan. That part’s not the problem, because it makes a certain amount of sense. Johnny’s just seen one of his good friends die performing a stunt intended for him, he’s on the run from the cops, saddled with a curse from Satan, and doomed to probably die from a gunshot wound once the sun rises. He’s at the end of his rope, and he’s not thinking straight due to his desperation. He’s given up, and the ultimate defeat is him surrendering his soul to Satan. What causes the problem is Blaze’s flip-flop once Satan brings him to Hell and his subsequent refusal to give up his soul after he handed himself over on a silver platter. When people complain that Blaze is really kind of an idiot, this is one of the examples that they could point to with little argument.

One of the saving graces of the issue comes in the masterful way Friedrich continues to handle the Daimon Hellstrom subplot. Those scenes are wonderfully tense and filled with a chilling atmosphere, aided by the continued refusal to show Hellstrom’s face in anything but shadow.

With this issue artist Jim Mooney takes over the permanent position as artist, replacing Tom Sutton, and it’s immediately evident that Mooney is less comfortable emulating Ploog and Sutton’s atmospheric styles versus his normal straight-forward superhero style. He does a decent enough job, even if he does annoyingly include eyeballs in the Ghost Rider’s skull in a few random panels. Mooney will grow more comfortable with the series once he stops trying to be like the previous artists, but for now he’s just getting the job done – nothing more, nothing less.

“Shake Hands With Satan” has its good points, but it cannot escape the terrible, awful, hideous…well, it’s Big Daddy Dawson. ‘Nuff said, true believers.

That's not much better, Johnny!