Ghost Rider (1990) # 91

"The Last Temptation, Part 2: Down Among the Dead Men"

Cover Date: December 1997
On Sale Date: October 1997

Writer: Ivan Velez Jr.
Artist: Javier Saltares
Inker: Andrew Pepoy
Letterers: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras

Cover Artist: Javier Saltares

The Ghost Rider, near death after having his heart ripped out by Pao Fu, has been left to lay alone in Hell, visited by the ghostly woman that had visited him previously in the Void.  Elsewhere in Hell, Blackheart approaches Michael Badilino and offers to send him back to Earth as Vengeance, but Badilino refuses the offer and his torture resumes.  The mysterious woman tells Ghost Rider, addressing him by his real name Noble, to think before he makes his next choice.  The Rider's body is pulled by demonic hands and delivered to Blackheart's throne room, where the Hell-Lord orders his consort Black Rose to share some of her power with the Rider so they can talk.  She does so, which awakens Ghost Rider just in time to see Blackheart's four ersatz Spirits of Vengeance arrive: Doghead, Wallow, Verminous Rex, and Pao Fu, who holds Ghost Rider's heart.  She delivers it to Blackheart, who explains to the Rider that as long as he holds his heart the Ghost Rider is his to command.

Meanwhile, in the Void, Danny Ketch waits to regain his body after the Ghost Rider is finished on Earth, unaware of what has happened.  He's visited by the ghost woman, who tells him that Blackheart has set things in motion that will affect both Dan and the Ghost Rider.  Danny becomes angry, stating that he wishes he were free of the Ghost Rider.  The woman sighs and tells him that his wish is about to come true.

Back in Hell, a weakened Ghost Rider is forced to watch as Blackheart condemns the soul of a woman to the pits, the woman that caused Doghead's mortal death.  Blackheart explains that he is going to renegotiate all of the treaties with other realms that had been forged by his father, Mephisto, including the one regarding the Ghost Rider and his bloodline.  He introduces the new Spirits of Vengeance and says that he wants the Ghost Rider to lead them; and to sweeten the pot, he will offer up Pao Fu to become the Rider's wife.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, Stacy Dolan takes her frustration out on an illegal gun runner.  She talks with Ski, who she still has feelings for even though she truly loves Danny.  Ski surprises her by asking her to marry him.

In Hell, Pao Fu reveals herself as the woman that Ghost Rider attempted to save but failed, and that his was the only kind face she ever knew.  She is in love with him, but he refuses her, telling the four Spirits that Blackheart is using them.  They all disagree, praising Blackheart for giving each of them what they truly desired.  Blackheart then sweetens the deal even more by offering to break the bloodline curse, freeing Noble Kale's descendants from hosting the Spirits of Vengeance.  While this is happening, the Void begins to break apart around Danny, and the ghost woman disappears after calling Dan her "baby boy".  Blackheart reveals that he has recovered Noble Kale's mortal body, and offers it to the Ghost Rider as a gift for accepting the deal.  Even though he knows that Blackheart has ulterior motives, Ghost Rider accepts the deal with one condition, that he be given Black Rose as a wife along with Pao Fu.  Blackheart laughs and accepts, tossing Ghost Rider's heart back to him.  The Rider approaches his human body and places the heart inside.  In the void, Danny feels himself dying as the dimension is destroyed around him, but he suddenly finds himself waking up in his own bed.  Finally, in Hell, Blackheart and the Spirits of Vengeance gather around Noble Kale, now in his own body again with the Brand of Vengeance blazing on his chest.

Low blow, Blackheart, try to keep the gloves up!

THE ROADMAP

Lian, the girl who became Pao Fu, died in Ghost Rider's arms in Ghost Rider (1990) # 88.

Doghead's death was caused by the woman condemned to Hell in this issue during Ghost Rider (1990) # 89.

The identity of the ghost woman is revealed in Ghost Rider (1990) # 93.

Vengeance destroyed himself to kill Anton Hellgate in Ghost Rider (1990) # 76.  He appears next, still in Hell as Blackheart's prisoner, in Ghost Rider (1990) # 93.

CHAIN REACTION

"The Last Temptation" is living up to its promise to completely upend the book's status quo with an issue that has little action but a whole load of very interesting developments.

Ivan Velez's run always had a good balance of action and introspection, plenty of character-building quiet moments in between the fight scenes.  This issue, though, is a real change of pace for the series, because it deals completely with conversations.  This was the issue, honestly, that really sold me on this arc as a whole, given that the first chapter wasn't bad so much as it was just setting up the conflicts we see played out here.  Blackheart really gets a chance to shine as more than just a Mephisto stand-in, the new Spirits of Vengeance all get some excellent definition to their characters, and the mystery of the ghost woman starts to become clearer.  The faux Spirits of Vengeance, in particular, get a fantastic summation in one panel for each Spirit when they reveal what Blackheart has truly given to them.  Pao Fu: "Redemption.  Vengeance."  Doghead: "Relevance. Vengeance." Verminous Rex: "Respect.  Vengeance."  Wallow: "Righteousness.  Vengeance."  These villains are getting fleshed out properly and becoming more than just bad guys for Ghost Rider to beat up, their nuances are coming to the fore.

I'm hard pressed to remember a time when this Ghost Rider was as defeated and weakened as he is in this issue, and that along with his acceptance of Blackheart's "deal" really serves to humanize a character that had long been defined by his inhuman characteristics.  That's actually another hallmark of Velez's time as the title's writer, he was able to humanize Ghost Rider in some really unexpected ways, such as the cruelty he started to display after he learned his origin story.  The Ghost Rider that he'd been developing over the last twenty issues is one who could accept Blackheart's deal without it breaking the character, because the Ghost Rider of Howard Mackie's tenure would never have accepted.  That's not to say that Velez's version isn't valid, because he put in the time and the effort to get to this point and have it all flow naturally.  Ghost Rider's attitude and Danny's rejection of the Ghost Rider, both of which lead to the dissolution of their connection, are things that Velez had been building to for nearly two years, and it starts the conclusion of some really interesting character evolution for them both.

Of course, all of this is benefited greatly by the presence of Javier Saltares on art.  This title finally feels like its hitting the high notes again after months of sub-par artwork from some wildly inappropriate artists.  While next issue reunites the Saltares/Texeira team, this issue has Andrew Pepoy on finishes for Saltares, and while its not quite the same as when Tex is involved its still some high quality work.  Saltares definitely sells how far Ghost Rider has fallen through his depiction of the hands clawing at his body, the hellfire gone from his skull and gaping hole in his chest.  I am one of many readers who appreciated editor Tom Brevoort's attempts to right this ship by getting Saltares back on board, and I can't help but think if it had just been six months earlier maybe this series would have made it to issue # 100.  Just look at that cover, it's magnificent, and it jumped off the shelves when I first saw it.

"The Last Temptation" winds up being Velez's swan song on the series, and it's definitely proving to be a wild and unexpected ride.  It's an arc I highly recommend, this issue being the particular stand-out.

Unexpected loopholes in a deal with the Devil? Never!

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 115

Cover Artist: Shawn McManus

Published: October 1992
Original Price: $1.50

Title: "Legion of Vengeance, Part 3: The Secret of Strontium-90!"
Writer: Joey Cavalieri
Artist: Shawn McManus
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Colorist: Fred Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

SYNOPSIS

Vesper and her partner, Strontium-90, attack the gang of looters, who are immediately poisoned by Strontium-90's deadly radiation.  When Ghost Rider and the gravely ill Iron Fist arrive, the mob turns on them in a case of mistaken identity.  While the two heroes fight their way free, Vesper and Strontium-90 escape to their secret lair.  Ghost Rider is able to track Strontium-90's radioactive footprints back to a crypt in Cypress Hills Cemetery, where deep underground they find the four members of the self-proclaimed Legion of Vengeance, including Bacillus and Mind's Eye along with Vesper and Strontium-90.  Enraged that they claim to be heroes, Ghost Rider and Iron Fist attack the four killers.  During the fight, however, Iron Fist finally succumbs to Bacillus' lethal contagion and collapses, dying of the disease.

ANNOTATIONS 
This issue of MCP also contained stories featuring Wolverine/Typhoid Mary, Giant-Man, and Cloak & Dagger.

This story was reprinted in the Iron Fist: The Book of Changes trade paperback.

REVIEW
"Legion of Vengeance" introduces the last of its villains, the radioactive Strontium-90, and finally brings all of the titular Legion together to face the heroes.

Ugh, only three chapters in and this storyarc already feels like it's lasted forever.  I think my biggest problem with this serial is the dialogue and how cliche every bit of it sounds.  It doesn't matter if it's Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, one of the villains, or a pedestrian looter, they all sound like they've stepped out of a Silver Age comic.  They all make dramatic proclamations that don't really say anything at all, especially the villains with their talk about hypocrisy and vengeance.  Ghost Rider gets the only good bit of dialogue in the whole issue, when Iron Fist asks how he can see radioactivity Ghost Rider replies "I SEE EVERYTHING" in a panel that's just a tight and highly detailed capture of his eye sockets.

While I can see why Ghost Rider is in this story, what with the villains being preoccupied with vengeance and how the difference between them and the Rider is their willingness to pass judgment and murder innocent people.  Why the fuck Iron Fist is here, though, I have no idea.  I'm sure there was a mandate for MCP that said all the Ghost Rider stories must be a team-up with another hero, but did Cavaleri just shoe horn Iron Fist into an already plotted Ghost Rider story?  He serves no purpose here, other than looking disgusting, that is.

Which brings me to the only real good thing about this issue, the way artist Shawn McManus makes the effects of Bacillus and Strontium-90's powers look absolutely grotesque.  Iron Fist is a walking mass of blood, pus, and boils, and it's gloriously over-the-top and frankly difficult to look at (in a good way, of course).  Unfortunately, that's the only real good thing about the artwork, because the rest of it is either hideously proportioned or badly over-rendered.  There are so many lines on Ghost Rider's skull, he looks like he was carved out of wood.

I really, intensely dislike this story.  I'm not seeing any point to Iron Fist's inclusion, and as a Ghost Rider story it's only passing by virtue of the villains' disgusting powers.  Avoid this one, everyone.

Grade: D-

Venom (2011) # 13.1

Cover Artist: Stefano Caselli

Published: April 2012
Original Price: $2.99

Title: "Circle of Four, Part 2"
Writer: Rob Williams
Artist: Lee Garbett
Letterer: VC's Clayton Clowes
Colorist: Rob Schwager
Editor: Sebastian Girner
Senior Editor: Stephen Wacker
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso

SYNOPSIS

At the city limits of Las Vegas, the mystical amulet placed on the city's welcome sign has placed a barrier around the city, preventing the police from entering and Hell from escaping.  Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom arrive to investigate, and Strange recognizes the amulet as one he gave to Hawkeye to use against the Ghost Rider.

Inside the city limits, Johnny Blaze continues to power Hell's Centrifuge, keeping open the portal to Hell.  Unsure of how long he can keep it up, he hopes that Alejandra hurries up and saves the day.  In Blackheart's tower, the Ghost Rider has been joined by Venom, X-23, and Red Hulk to stop Blackheart.  They're immediately confronted by their Antitheses: Ichor, The Evangelist, X-666, and Encephalon.  Blackheart sends his consort, Gari Oyle, to fly out to the city's border and find out what's stopping Hell from spreading across the world.  Blackheart then orders the Antitheses to attack the heroes, sending all of them crashing out of the tower to the ground below.  Ghost Rider leaves to stop Gari Oyle, followed by her Antithesis Ichor, leaving the other three heroes to fight.  X-23 leaves to kill Blackheart alone, leaving Venom and Red Hulk to be defeated by the Evangelist and Encephalon.

Ghost Rider is outracing Gari Oyle to the amulet, but Blackheart speaks to her telepathically, offering to free the souls she damned in Nicaragua if she joins him.  Ichor attacks, claiming to be "pure retribution" without her human frailties, that his vengeance is holy instead of selfish revenge.  Before Ichor can kill her, Alejandra summons her motorcycle, and when it reaches her she jumps on it and crashes into Ichor, transforming him back into a human.  She speeds off toward the amulet, with Blackheart still whispering in her head about his offer to join him.  At the city's border, Dr. Strange and Hellstrom sense that Hell is coming toward them, and they may not be able to stop it from spreading.

ANNOTATIONS

"Circle of Four" was originally conceived as a crossover event between the Venom, Hulk, X-23, and Ghost Rider titles, and it was first teased at the end of Ghost Rider (2011) # 0.1.  Due to the low sales of three of the titles, which would result in the cancellations of both Ghost Rider and X-23 immediately after the crossover, it was decided that the story would be published as "Point 1" issues of the Venom ongoing series.

The original publication plan for this story would have had the chapters released in the following order:
- Chapter 1: Circle of Four # 1
- Chapter 2: Ghost Rider (2011) # 9
- Chapter 3: X-23 (2010) # 21
- Chapter 4: Hulk (2008) # 48
- Chapter 5: Venom (2011) # 13
- Chapter 6: Circle of Four # 2

This story is an updated homage to the "New Fantastic Four" storyline from Fantastic Four (1961) # 347-349, which brought Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider (Ketch), and the Hulk together as a substitute Fantastic Four team.

Hawkeye used the amulet given to him by Dr. Strange against the Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (2011) # 7, and it was taken by Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider (2011) # 8.

Alejandra, under the control of Adam, destroyed the souls of a village in Nicaragua in Ghost Rider (2011) # 3.

REVIEW
"Circle of Four" moves into its second chapter, which is focused heavily on Ghost Rider's role in the crossover.

Look guys, for all intents and purposes this is Ghost Rider # 8.1.  It's written by Rob Williams and drawn by Lee Garbett, the creative team on the Ghost Rider series, and the issue's contents are heavily weighed in favor of Alejandra over the other three heroes.  There is no way this wasn't intended as an issue of Ghost Rider, and I still can't get over the marketing decisions for this event.  I only imagine readers of Ghost Rider who either didn't follow or just plain didn't know about all of this going on in Venom were massively confused when a) Ghost Rider didn't have an issue that month and b) there's a huge chunk of continuity missing between issues 8 and 9 of the series.

Anyway, this second part of "Circle of Four" fleshes out the Antitheses, the twisted doubles of the heroes created by Blackheart's mirror, and they're all pretty interesting concepts.  The doubles for X-23 and Red Hulk are spot on, and Ghost Rider's makes sense once the two start fighting, but I don't get how the Evangelist is any kind of distortion of Venom, like at all.  I can only imagine that Rick Remender was probably the creator of these characters, because he's a pro at introducing neat villain teams (like the new Horsemen of Apocalypse in Uncanny X-Force).  Ichor is the Antithesis I'm most interested in, given that he's Ghost Rider's mirror double, and for as little screen time as he gets he strikes me as a really interesting concept.  Rob Williams didn't delve much into the "weapon of Heaven" backstory that Jason Aaron introduced to the Ghost Rider mythos, he was more interested in dealing with Hell and Zarathos as a demonic entity.  So, having Ichor show up as this angelic creature claiming to be "vengeance without the humanity" is pretty brilliant.  He's what the Ghost Riders could have been if God hadn't placed them within hosts, and it plays up the angelic connection pretty heavily.  Naturally, he turns out to be a fraud, as Alejandra discovers that he does too have a human host, thank you very much.

Alejandra herself goes through a pretty intense metamorphosis during this event, becoming essentially one of the villains by the end, but here she's at least trying to hold herself to the side of good.  She has a really great speech during her fight with Ichor, where she says that he may have power over Alejandra, but she's dead and now all that's left is the Ghost Rider.  It's almost like Alejandra is giving in and letting Zarathos take control once and for all, which Johnny Blaze can attest isn't the best idea.  Still, Alejandra's corruption and fall from grace gets its beginning here, as she seriously considers the offer to join Blackheart.  She's not driven by anything heroic, she just wants to fix her mistake in Nicaragua, and by doing so makes a much bigger one later in the crossover.  Naturally, she doesn't realize that the events in Nicaragua were the fault of Adam, not her, but she damns herself over it anyway.  Alejandra is such a broken character by this point, in spirit and as a Ghost Rider, and she's turning into someone pretty interesting to read about.  Williams has turned things around again and made me root for this title to succeed (which, yes, was too little, too late given that the very next issue was the last).

Lee Garbett returns as the de facto lead artist on Ghost Rider, and he turns in another decent job.  I really liked his work on Batgirl several years ago, and he at least is able to draw Ghost Rider as feminine without going either too sexy or too masculine with the design.  I do miss his earlier approach to Ghost Rider's flame, where he made it resemble flowing hair, but he still has a solid handle on Alejandra as the Rider.  He similarly handles all of the action scenes well, particularly the sequence with the Evangelist using the pages of his bible to flay the symbiote off of Venom's body.  I do think this series is colored a bit too garishly, but that's actually an interesting through-line of this entire event: it's not dark and moody, all of the chapters of "Circle of Four" are colored in bright yellows and reds.  It does make the story stand out as something distinct, I'll give it that, it's just not the approach I would have taken for it.

"Circle of Four" continues to be a really well-planned and executed event, with this Ghost Rider chapter being no exception.  This is the quality that I wish this entire series could have maintained.

Grade: A+

X-Force/Champions Annual '98

Cover Artist: Terry Shoemaker

Published: December 1998
Original Price: $3.50

Title: "Demon From Within"
Writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum
Artist: Terry Shoemaker
Inker: Sean Parsons & Harry Candelario
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Marie Javins
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

SYNOPSIS
The Cult of Hades, worshipers of the Olympian god of the underworld led by a man named Link, have discovered that one of their members, Victoria, is a traitor.  The next morning, the seven young mutants of X-Force have their road trip interrupted by an earthquake.  When they investigate the source of the tremors they discover a giant hand erupting from the ground, while Hercules fights with Link and the Cult of Hades.  X-Force's intervention forces the Cult to flee, which slows down the emergence of the giant hand.  Hercules explains that years ago he teamed up with other heroes in a team called the Champions and fought against Hades' plot to overthrow Olympus by raising a giant Titan.  When Hades as stopped, Zeus forced the death god to give the five Champions the ability to counter the Titan spell if it should ever be used again.  Somehow, the Cult of Hades have discovered the spell and are attempting to raise the Titan.  Hercules had been alerted to the Cult's plan by Victoria, who has become smitten with Cannonball of X-Force after he saved her from Link.  When Moonstar reads the spell and notes that the Titan will immediately kill the person who summons it, Victoria feigns confusion.

Hercules and X-Force contact the other four members of the Champions, and soon they are joined by Archangel, Iceman, Black Widow, and John Blaze (formerly Ghost Rider).  Hercules explains the situation and the Champions begin to perform the spell to banish the Titan, but Danielle Moonstar realizes that the heroes have been tricked into freeing the Titan instead of sending it away.  Link returns and finds Victoria, who tells him that she has successfully tricked the Champions into freeing the Titan, and now they will be the ones that the Titan kills.  Link reveals himself to be Hades and engages in a battle with X-Force and the Champions, with the heroes quickly being overpowered.  Hades gloats that he planted a false memory of the banishment spell in the minds of the Champions, who he hates after being defeated by them years ago. Iceman manages to goad Hades into admitting that it was him who orchestrated the release of the Titan, which causes the giant to turn its attention toward the god.  Hades flees, leaving Victoria to be captured by X-Force after she had left Cannonball to die in an avalanche.  The Champions use Hades' spell to re-open the gateway and Moonstar uses her power to conjure up a person's greatest fear against the Titan.  Whatever the monster sees frightens him enough that he goes back through the gateway, which is then closed behind him.

Later, the Champions answer questions from reporters, with Black Widow stating that the team has not reformed due to them all having moved on to other things in their lives.  Victoria and the rest of the Cult of Hades are taken into custody, with Cannonball confronting her about her deceit before she's taken away.

ANNOTATIONS
John Blaze last appeared in Ghost Rider: Finale and won't make his next appearance until Ghost Rider (2001) # 1.

This issue states that Blaze is still owner of the Quentin Carnival, which hasn't been seen since Blaze (1994) # 12.  When Blaze reappears in Ghost Rider (2001) # 1 three years have passed and he is working in an accounting firm.  Johnny visits the ruins of the abandoned Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider (2006) # 5.

The Champions came together as a team to stop Hades' plot to conquer Olympus with the other Lords of Hell in The Champions (1975) # 1-3.  The bits about the Titans and the spell to bring them to Earth were not in the original story and were retroactively added in this issue.

The Champions disbanded in a flashback sequence in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man # 17.

REVIEW
The Champions reunite for a team-up with X-Force in this seriously bizarre Annual from 1998.

For decades, the Champions of Los Angeles were nothing more than an embarrassing footnote for the five characters that made up the team's core cast.  Sometimes there was a casual reference, usually in regards to the team's failure to do anything much of note, but everyone seemed to be pretty happy to forget that the team (and similarly the comic series) ever existed.  Hercules had gone on to be a mainstay of the Avengers for many years, Black Widow found a home with Daredevil and then the Avengers for a long tenure, Iceman and Angel bounced from the Defenders to X-Factor and finally back to their home in the X-Men, and Johnny Blaze seemed content as a partner to the second Ghost Rider.  No one ever expected or even desired to see those characters reunite as a team again, but lo there came the year 1998.  That year, all of Marvel's Annuals had a "team-up" gimmick, like the X-Men/Fantastic Four or Deadpool/Daredevil.  Most of them were pretty straight forward, but then X-Force found themselves without a dance partner...

...and the Champions returned!

These days, a Champions reunion isn't far-fetched at all, and in fact is going to actually happen again soon in the pages of Iceman's ongoing series.  There's a new Champions series running, albeit one with a totally different line-up and concept, and the original Champions series has seen numerous reprints and flashback stories published.  Back in 1998, though, this was a huge surprise for readers, but not one that was necessarily important enough to set the sales charts on fire.  The Champions have never been a team that needed to exist, and the only thing that warranted its resurrection either in '98 or today is nostalgia.  Still, this comic was published and I guess we need to acknowledge it, especially since it's the last time Johnny Blaze makes an appearance until 2001's "The Hammer Lane".

All told, really, this isn't a bad comic, and it does hit all of the nostalgia points that one should expect and demand if they're really going to reunite the "Team For the Common Man".  The heroes have a reason to reunite, even if it's a bit contrived and reliant on a retcon of how their first story-arc ended back in 1975 (though hell, it's more of a reason than they had when the team actually formed in the first place, so it's got that going for it at least).  Hades' plot doesn't make a ton of sense; if he's wanting to raise the Titan to conquer Olympus, then why is he releasing it on Earth at all?  Is he really just wanting to dick over the Champions, is that his only real endgame in all of this?  It's nice that the Champions get to actually affect the plot and are the ones responsible for defeating Hades again, not with their superpowers but with their brains and ability to mock bad guys on a Spider-Man level.  It's also interesting to see these characters together again after all the changes made to them over the decades since the team disbanded, with Blaze no longer Ghost Rider and Angel being the blue-skinned Archangel (and Hercules being beardless for some strange reason).  X-Force get their appropriate amount of time being showcased, of course, with romantic subplots carried over from their series proper that actually add to the story in this issue.

The artwork is by Terry Shoemaker, who I recognize from his numerous fill-in gigs on the late 1980s X-Men line of books, specifically New Mutants and X-Factor.  His work has gotten a lot sharper since those days, and his work here is crisp and really engaging.  Why this guy didn't have a better career in comics I don't know, and I'm not sure if he did anything of note after this issue, but his work here is really quite good.  He has a staggering amount of characters to juggle, and none of X-Force are in costumes at all, so making them stand out in their late 90s plain clothes (lots of Jnco and Dungarees, I imagine) was a monumental feat.  He also gets the scale right for a story like this involving a giant figure emerging from the Earth, it really feels like something godly is going on around these characters.

The Champions never needed to reunite, they're a team that no one cared about in 1998.  Still, I'm glad they did, and I'm glad the creators did them justice.

Grade: B+

Inner Demons Episode 7: "Satan On Speed-Dial"

Inner Demons returns with an episode full of flaming piles of splat, electrical wrist chainsaws, and bodies stuffed with straw.  Chris and Brian spend their time and yours reviewing Marvel Spotlight on Ghost Rider # 11, Ghost Rider (1990) # 7, Ghost Rider (2001) # 1/2, and Ghost Rider 2099 # 2.  

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from either Stitcher or iTunes .  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and feel free to send us a message.  Thanks for listening!

Marvel Legacy

On Friday Marvel released covers for the 52 titles they're relaunching in October as part of the "Marvel Legacy" event.  Normally these relaunches don't mean much to me, but this one actually has two really important Ghost Rider events!  The cover images were released as GIFs that show the new cover and the original Marvel Comic cover they're replicating.  Click on all images to enlarge!

First up is the brand new Spirits of Vengeance series, which from the cover seems to be starring the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider, Daimon Hellstrom, Satana, and Blade!  The cover art is by Ken Lashley and is an homage to 1975's Giant-Size X-Men # 1.  No word on the creative team yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to Lashley being the artist, his recent run on Uncanny X-Men was great.

Also releasing in October is a new arc for the Iceman series, which reunites the classic Champions team of Ghost Rider (Blaze), Hercules, Black Widow, Archangel, and of course Iceman!  The series is written by Sina Grace but there's no information on the artist.  The cover, which is an homage of Gil Kane's cover for The Champions # 1 from 1975, is drawn by Michael Ryan.

I do find it strange that there's no sign of Robbie Reyes in a Ghost Rider series, though he does appear in two different covers for the Marvel Legacy one-shot by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic.  That one-shot, releasing in September, is introducing a "prehistoric Avengers" team that features the very first Spirit of Vengeance along with characters like Odin and the Ancient One, so that should be awesome.

Lots of really cool Ghost Rider material coming up, people!  Finally, Brian and I will have new stuff to talk about on the podcast again!  Though, naturally, we recorded an upcoming episode the day BEFORE all of this stuff was announced, so we'll be talking about really old news when we finally talk about all of this "on air".  That's the way the podcasting cookie crumbles, I suppose.

Ghost Rider (1990) # 87

Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl

Published: August 1997
Original Price: $1.99

Title: "Wallow"
Writer: Ivan Velez Jr.
Artist: Karl Kerschl
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterers: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Bob Harras

SYNOPSIS

A young woman named Melissa stands on the edge of a rooftop and is compelled to jump off the building by a sinister ghost with a doll's face.  In the alley below, Ghost Rider chases down two muggers and gives them the Penance Stare.  He finds Melissa, barely alive from her fall, and rushes her to the nearest hospital where he demands she receive medical attention.  The ghost, Wallow, has followed Melissa to the hospital and his presence begins to make everyone in the building start to feel hopeless and suicidal.  Ghost Rider rides across the rooftops and thinks that he should relinquish control back to Danny Ketch, but changes his mind and decides to wait one more day.

A young homeless man named Michael has a nightmare about when his father shot and killed his mother, then tried to jump off a building with Michael and his sister Melissa before he was shot by the police.  Michael is attacked by Wallow, who claims to be the boy's father there to save him from the cruelties of life.  Michael runs to a church but is pulled back by Wallow, only to be rescued by the Ghost Rider.  Wallow flees and Ghost Rider demands answers from Michael, who tells the Rider about his father and sister.  At the hospital, Wallow goes to Melissa in her hospital room and hands her a pair of scissors to kill herself with.  Ghost Rider and Michael arrive at the hospital just as Melissa stabs Wallow with the scissors, telling him that she hates him for what he did to her mother.  Ghost Rider grabs Wallow by the doll mask on his face and gives him the Penance Stare, which turns him into ash.  Later, in Hell, Wallow is brought before Blackheart, who claims to have a deal for him.

ANNOTATIONS 

Wallow returns as one of Blackheart's Spirits of Vengeance in Ghost Rider (1990) # 90.

A character named "Wallow" appeared in the 2007 Ghost Rider film as one of Blackheart's minions, the Hidden.  Other than the name, the film character is totally unrelated from the Wallow that was introduced in this issue.

This issue's "Ghost Rider" logo reverts back to the original one that was first used on the cover of Ghost Rider (1990) # 1.  The logo was last seen on the cover of Ghost Rider (1990) # 76.

REVIEW

After the events of last month's Flashback issue, Ivan Velez starts the build-up to his next major story-arc with this first in a series of seemingly unconnected oneshots.

If there's one thing I really appreciate about this era of the series under Ivan Velez, its that he wasn't afraid to create and introduce new villains for Ghost Rider to fight.  Granted, it meant that a lot of the classic villains like Blackout and Deathwatch were dropped completely, but getting some new blood in the series by way of interesting new villains was appreciated, at least by me.  This issue introduces Wallow, the first in the set of four new villains that Velez will use to create Blackheart's "Spirits of Vengeance" during "The Last Temptation" mega-arc later in the year.  Out of all those new villains, which also included Pao Fu, Verminous Rex, and Doghead, Wallow is probably the most interesting as a concept.  Having a villain that revolves around suicide is always a tricky proposition that come across as insensitive and callous, sort of like when Howard Mackie introduced a villain whose literal name was Suicide, but Velez was able to side step that problem with Wallow.  Making him a villain that's an actual ghost, one that doesn't rely on physical means to harm its victims, may not make him much of a threat to Ghost Rider, sure.  But Wallow's power comes from his ability to instill despair just by being in his general vicinity, and it adds to the character's creepy vibe.

All told, though, this is a pretty simple done-in-one story that we've not seen much in the pages of Ghost Rider for quite a long time.  It's really refreshing, honestly, after the long stretch of continuous issue-to-issue storytelling that's dominated Velez's run up to this point.  I think the Flashback issue, and the change in editorial hands to Tom Brevoort, have given Velez some much-needed focus on where he wanted to take the series.  This issue, which on the surface is a pretty breezy story that doesn't seem very consequential to the overall plot of the series, is actually a fairly depressing affair and the start of a really dark trend in the subject matter of Velez's issues (with the next couple of stories dealing with human slave trafficking and immigrant discrimination, all cheery topics).

The artwork is by a fill-in artist this month, the always welcome Karl Kerschl.  The artist was still at the start of his career, but had in fact drawn some of the Toy Biz action figure tie-in comics a few years before, so he has at least a small prior involvement with Ghost Rider.  While its true that he's saddled with the terrible red and yellow racing outfit and blocky red motorcycle, he is able to get a lot of mileage out of the truly wonderful design he gave to Wallow.  The character is downright creepy, yet so simple: just a dark brown, featureless form that's accented with a small doll's mask on his face.  The doll mask does all of the emoting, and it works so well visually.  My only problem with the artwork is with the colors, if I'm being honest, because I think Brian Buccellato makes his series way too bright when it should be bathing in blacks and dark blues.  Of course, there's that red and yellow costume monstrosity squatting in the heart of the comic, so I guess he's just playing his color palate off of that.

Overall, "Wallow" is the most successful issue that Velez has turned out in quite a while, and it's a very welcome change of pace.

Grade: B-

Venom (2011) # 13

Cover Artist: Clayton Crain

Cover Artist: Stefano Caselli

Published: April 2012
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Circle of Four, Part 1"
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Tony Moore
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Val Staples
Editor: Jeanine Schaeffer
Senior Editor: Stephen Wacker & Mark Paniccia
Editor In Chief: Axel Alonso

SYNOPSIS

Flash Thompson is currently hiding in a Las Vegas motel after he went AWOL from the army with the Venom symbiote.  He is unaware that the army has sent General Thunderbolt Ross, the Red Hulk, to find and bring both him and the symbiote back.  Elsewhere, at the Devil's Den casino, the owner Mr. Degli is dealing with a gambler unable to pay back his debts.  Degli offers to eliminate the debt and all it will cost is the man's soul, which he eagerly agrees to.

Meanwhile in Vegas, Johnny Blaze attempts to give guidance to the current Ghost Rider, Alejandra, who claims that there's nothing the former host can teach her.  Red Hulk approaches the city, jumping through the desert while thinking about how much he hates deserters.  Finally, X-23 has gone undercover as a waitress at the Devil's Den to find Degli, who she claims stole a vial of her blood for experimentation.  At an empty construction site, Degli and his aide Ms. Oyle prepare to enact their master plan.  Having built a spinning pentagram machine, they introduce their ingredients: 100 human souls signed over willingly, the remains of the Toxin symbiote, and the blood of a mortal who's been to Hell and back.  Now they only have to wait for the final ingredient to come to them, which Degli says "the Devil couldn't keep her away".  At a diner, Blaze and Alejandra are having dinner when she suddenly transforms into the Ghost Rider and says that Zarathos hears the call of hundreds of crying souls.  Blaze tries to talk her into thinking before acting, but Alejandra ignores him and rides into Las Vegas.  Before leaving to follow her, Blaze places a phone call to Daimon Hellstrom for help.

A drunk Flash Thompson is attacked by the Red Hulk at the motel, and a brief fight begins when Venom attempts to run.  X-23, meanwhile, has broken into Degli's office, where she finds clones of herself created from her stolen blood.  Before she can destroy them, the clones break free and reveal that they have also been given alien symbiotes of their own.  Ghost Rider arrives at the construction site and sees the spinning pentagram, which she decides to stop by jumping into it and riding in the opposite direction.  Unfortunately, that was Degli's plan all along, and the Ghost Rider opens up a portal to Hell that spreads all across Las Vegas.  Before leaving, Degli tells the Rider that if she stops the centrifuge then all of Earth will be sucked into Hell.  Venom and Hulk are forced to stop fighting when they see the city overrun with demons, and reluctantly they team up to save the helpless citizens.  When Blaze arrives at the city limits, he places a mystical amulet that blocks magic on the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign.  The amulet halts the spread of Hell from going past the city's border, and Blaze enters the city to find Alejandra.

Degli and Oyle arrive back at the casino and reveal themselves as Blackheart and his gargoyle companion.  Blackheart contacts his father, Mephisto, and attempts to gloat that he has brought Hell to Earth and will soon depose Mephisto as Hell's ruler.  Mephisto mocks and disregards him, which angers Blackheart even more.  Blaze finds Ghost Rider at the centrifuge and rides his own motorcycle into the machine to power it, telling Alejandra to go stop the person causing this while he keeps the portal open.  The top of Blackheart's casino is where all of the heroes converge; X-23, Venom, Red Hulk, and finally Ghost Rider all confront Blackheart, but only the Hulk shows caution as he's read the Avengers file on the demon.   Using his black mirror cauldron, Blackheart calls forth the dark antitheses of each hero: X-666, Ichor, the Evangelist, and Encephalon.

ANNOTATIONS

"Circle of Four" was originally conceived as a crossover event between the Venom, Hulk, X-23, and Ghost Rider titles, and it was first teased at the end of Ghost Rider (2011) # 0.1.  Due to the low sales of three of the titles, which would result in the cancellations of both Ghost Rider and X-23 immediately after the crossover, it was decided that the story would be published as "Point 1" issues of the Venom ongoing series.

The original publication plan for this story would have had the chapters released in the following order:
- Chapter 1: Circle of Four # 1
- Chapter 2: Ghost Rider (2011) # 9
- Chapter 3: X-23 (2010) # 21
- Chapter 4: Hulk (2008) # 48
- Chapter 5: Venom (2011) # 13
- Chapter 6: Circle of Four # 2

Alejandra and Blaze both appeared last in Ghost Rider (2011) # 8.

Blaze stole the anti-magic medallion from Hawkeye in Ghost Rider (2011) # 8.

This story is an updated homage to the "New Fantastic Four" storyline from Fantastic Four (1961) # 347-349, which brought Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider (Ketch), and the Hulk together as a substitute Fantastic Four team.

This issue was released with two variant covers by Walter Simonson and Clayton Crain.

REVIEW
The "Circle of Four" event kicks off with an extra-length first chapter, but the behind-the-scenes publication decisions almost overshadow what's actually a pretty great crossover.

So, in 2011 Marvel had four titles that were going to participate in a one-month six-part crossover called "Circle of Four".  Hulk, Venom, X-23, and Ghost Rider were all titles that had an interesting connection, as they were all legacy titles for characters that had been part of the "New Fantastic Four" storyline in 1991.  Writers Rick Remender, Rob Williams, and Jeff Parker began to sew the seeds for the crossover in their individual titles, going as far back as the first issue of Williams Ghost Rider series earlier in the year, and it everything was looking good for the crossover.  Unfortunately, this all happened in the wake of Marvel Comics being purchased by Disney, and the parent company took a very hard look at the sales threshold for Marvel's line of titles.  Suddenly, two of the four titles involved in the crossover were now being flagged for immediate cancellation a month after the crossover was to be published, so what were the options?  Venom was the only title that was able to stave off the executioner, so it was decided that instead of a 4-title crossover the story would take place solely in the pages of Venom.  Marvel had also recently rolled out its "Point One" initiative, which allowed extra issues to be slotted in between regular monthly installments, which meant they could do this crossover as issues 13.1 through 13.4 of Venom.

That doesn't make a god damn bit of sense, does it?  It must have at the time to the editors, who I imagine were simply trying to salvage the crossover that they had worked so hard to produce and just wanted it to be released in any form they could get.  Still, would it have been so much worse to just have the crossover happen across the titles as originally planned, cancellations or not?  I guess its a moot point, but I think its kind of fascinating.  This issue, instead of being Venom # 13, should have been Circle of Four # 1, hence the increased page count and successful attempt to make each character a star of the story in their own right and not just a guest in Venom's book.

Naturally, that ability to give each of the four main characters equal time in the comic makes this opening chapter come together as a whole much better than if it had been focused on just Venom as the primary protagonist.  It's a natural comparison to make, but contrast this with the "Four on the Floor" storyline in the Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider series, where the main character was shoved into the background while the other heroes took over.  This is a similar situation, since Venom doesn't get any more to do than the other heroes despite his name being on the logo, but at least here you can understand why given what it was originally supposed to be.

Rick Remender and Tony Moore were the original creative team of this Venom series, and having them reunite to kick off the crossover was a great touch.  Getting Moore back to draw Ghost Rider again is a treat in itself after his massively awesome Ghost Rider story with Jason Aaron a few years previous.  Moore is one of those artists whose characters all act throughout the pages with their facial expressions and their body language, they're not stiff or posed, they actually appear to be emoting in places.  There's the problem with Johnny Blaze and Flash Thompson looking practically identical, and in turn they both look like Rick Grimes, but Moore is too good at crafting the story to let that be much of a problem for me while I'm looking at his work.  He's at his best when he's drawing the demons and landscape of Hell-possessed Las Vegas, the guy's got an eye for detail that nearly rivals Geoff Darrow's, and you can spend several minutes examining each panel for interesting stuff.  Plus, his rendition of each hero is really great, especially his Ghost Rider.  A lot of artists really struggled with making the Alejandra Ghost Rider look menacing yet feminine, but Moore balanced both bits just right.

Remender, who was one third of the writing team on this crossover (I have no idea why X-23 writer Marjorie Liu sat the story out), brings all of the characters together in a very natural way.  In a lot of these crossovers, looking back at you "Four on the Floor", there's too much coincidence and happenstance involved to bring all of the pieces into the story.  Remender takes the time to give each character a reason for being involved, and it all falls together really well.  This issue definitely feels like it's a natural culmination to what each of the heroes must have been going through in their own books, because the story has a real feel of tying off outstanding plot threads.  Remender gets a lot of shit for some of his storylines, like "Frankencastle" and "Axis", but when he's on his game he is ON his GAME.  The Alejandra Ghost Rider series was not a pleasant title to read through, but Remender's take on the Alejandra/Blaze relationship feels so much more genuine than what Rob Williams had been doing on the actual Ghost Rider series.  Remender paints Alejandra as a dangerous amateur, and this issue shows what later chapters are going to hammer home, that Blaze is the only real hero in this whole damn crossover.

While the 2011 Ghost Rider series is terrible on a whole lot of levels, "Circle of Four" almost redeems the whole series.  This is a fantastic opening chapter to what was a really surprising and engaging crossover, I just wish the behind-the-scenes stuff hadn't sidelined it as what many readers probably assumed was just a Venom story with guest-stars.

Grade: A+

Ghost Rider Special Edition (1995) # 11

Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl

Published: 1995
Original Price: N/A

Title: "Ghost of the Past"
Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: Karl Kerschl
Inker: Dan McDonnel
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Scott Marshall
Editor: Glenn Herdling

SYNOPSIS

Sensing danger, Dan Ketch feels himself transforming into Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance.  He's immediately attacked by Johnny Blaze, who has once again become the "original" Ghost Rider under the control of Zarathos.  Ghost Rider finds himself unable to fight his friend, but is also being destroyed by Blaze's blasts of hellfire.  Ghost Rider sees a shield made of hellfire laying nearby and grabs it, realizing that it must have been created by Blaze, who is fighting Zarathos' control.  Using the shield and his chain, Ghost Rider grabs Blaze and gives him the Penance Stare, which frees John from being the evil Ghost Rider and heals the wounds he had received.  Ghost Rider and Blaze wonder what Zarathos will attempt next, unaware that the demon is watching them and plotting his next move.

ANNOTATIONS 

This mini-comic was the eleventh in a series packaged with Toy Biz's line of Ghost Rider action figures. This issue came with the Ghost Rider III figure.

There's really no place to fit this series into established continuity. It obviously takes place after "Siege of Darkness" and Ghost Rider (1990) # 50, but the relationships between Ghost Rider, Blaze, and Vengeance certainly don't fit the characters at the time.

If this follows the standard Marvel continuity (which is questionable, at best), then Zarathos was banished to another dimension at the conclusion of the "Siege of Darkness" crossover in Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 4.

Blaze was wounded by Outcast in Ghost Rider Special Edition (1995) # 8, and he was saved from his wounds by Caretaker in Ghost Rider Special Edition (1995) # 9.

REVIEW

The Toy Biz mini-comic series ends with a battle between Ghost Riders, giving an extremely truncated version of what most fans really wanted to see in the main comics of this era.

As a whole, the Toy Biz comic series is only there to help support the action figures and give kids the barest of bones for story structure and plot.  As long as it explains the powers and broad stroke personality of the action figure its packaged with, it's done its job admirably.  That said, and as simplistic as the plot line is here, I think the 4-part story that was packaged with the second wave of figures was more successful than the first.  Sure, the first wave of comics had a more ambitious storyline, with the riots caused by DJ Zarathos and the Wacky Morning Crew, but this second arc (and I use that term in the loosest possible sense) hit on something that most fans would have killed to see in the actual Ghost Rider comics.

Hanging over the series, especially around the time of "Road to Vengeance" and "Siege of Darkness", was the mystery of Ghost Rider's origin and the return of Zarathos.  What readers got out of those stories were some pretty disappointing resolutions, and I myself am stunned that the creators refused to produce what everyone really wanted.  Setting things up for John Blaze to become the evil Zarathos-possessed Ghost Rider again, and the inevitable showdown with the Dan Ketch Ghost Rider, was a perfectly logical and anticipated way to conclude everything that had been building in the series to that point.  Instead, we got "Siege of Darkness" and the Blood/Fallen nonsense, leaving that tease of a much better storyline to be played out in the pages of a toy tie-in series.  While the end product isn't spectacular, the promise of that Blaze/Ketch Ghost Rider face off is what makes this simple little Toy Biz pamphlet so interesting to me.  Chris Cooper does what he can to liven things up, but with only 6 pages to give both a satisfying Ghost Rider fight and conclude the story, he doesn't really get to strut his stuff much.

The artwork, though, is by an early Karl Kerschl and it's actually quite good for what it is.  I assume that the art was drawn at full comic size and then just shrunk down at the print stage, so it squashes details into a mess of lines at different points in the series.  Kerschl's clean linework is perfectly appropriate for the format, though, because nothing is muddled or unclear.  His Ghost Riders both look on-model, not just to the characters but to the toys they're emulating, and he gets to do a decidedly G-rated Ghost Rider transformation sequence on the first page.  No melting flesh or anything, but it still looks appropriately horrific for kids.

These mini-comics aren't particularly good, but they're definitely an interesting curio for the character at the end of his popularity peak.  Ultimately, though, they're for hardcore collectors only.

Grade: B

The Supernaturals (1998) # 1

Cover Artist: Jim Balent

Published: December 1998
Original Price: $3.99

Title: untitled
Writers: Brian Pulido & Mark Andreyko
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inker: Joe Pimentel
Letterer: Comicraft
Colorist: Elizabeth Lewis & Dean White
Editors: Tim Tuhoy & Brad Gould
Editor-In-Chief (Chaos!): Brian Pulido
Editor-In-Chief (Marvel): Bob Harras

SYNOPSIS

When two young boys, Daniel and Jericho Drumm, attempt to use voodoo to bring their mother back to life, they accidentally started the "Chaos! Event", which caused all of Earth's superhumans to disappear instantly.  Daniel Drumm also disappeared after the event, which still haunts his brother Jericho even 13 years later.  Jericho wakes up as the Halloween anniversary of the event is causing unexplained phenomena around the world, and despite his successful musical career Drumm realizes that only Doctor Strange can help him.  Meanwhile, at Stone Hinge, a young couple witness a powerful entity crossing over to Earth.

Elsewhere around the world, several young men and women, including Maria, Jack Russell, Isaac Christians, and BMX biker Johnny Blaze are watched by mysterious individuals.  Back in New York, Jericho Drumm transforms into Brother Voodoo and goes to the home of Dr. Strange, only to find it a wreck and its owner missing.  Drumm picks up the Eye of Agamatto and sees a vision of the people he will need to find in order to save the world from a repeat of the Chaos! Event.  The first of the five people is near him, a young woman named Felicia Hardy.  Meawhile, the others are all attacked by the watchers, which causes the targets to reveal their mystical natures.  Isaac Christians transforms into the hulking Gargoyle and destroys his attackers, which Christians did not want to happen.  During Blaze's X-Games competition, which Maria is also attending as a model, the creatures attack as well.  When zombie pirates attack the show, Maria transforms into Satana and Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider.  Finally, in Los Angeles, Jack Russell has become the Werewolf by Night, who is attacked by small demons that merge into a larger more powerful form.  Back in New York, Felica Hardy is sexually harassed by a co-worker, and when she tells him to "drop dead" he flies backward through the window to his death.  Brother Voodoo arrives in time to witness this, unaware that they are all being watched by the being from Stone Hinge, Jack O' Lantern.

ANNOTATIONS
The Supernaturals was a 4-issue mini-series released weekly in October of 1998.  The series was produced outside of Marvel editorial by Chaos! Comics, who were the publishers of comics like Evil Ernie and Lady Death.  This series exists outside of established Ghost Rider continuity and is considered an alternate reality.

Each issue of this mini-series came with a cardboard mask of one of the main characters stapled in the middle of the series.  A smaller number of issues came packaged with the "rare" Ghost Rider mask.

REVIEW
Chaos! Comics gets the opportunity to revamp Marvel's horror characters with this 4-issue weekly mini-series released just in time for Halloween.

In the late 1990s, Marvel was struggling both creatively and financially.  This led to the company farming out a lot of its properties and output to independent production companies, the most notable example being the "Heroes Reborn" event that gave titles like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four over to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld to produce and release by way of Image Comics.  It happened again at the end of the decade when Joe Quesada's Event Comics was given the Marvel Knights imprint, which allowed them to revamp properties like Black Panther and Daredevil outside of Marvel's own editorial base.  A much smaller attempt to give creative control of Marvel properties to an outside comic company was this mini-series, The Supernaturals, which allowed Brian Pulido's Chaos! Comics (yes, the exclamation mark is in the name) the chance to revamp Marvel's horror characters.  Chaos! was the publisher of the insanely popular Lady Death series, which wasn't exactly popular for its writing as much as it was the character's breast measurements, but for better or worse they were one of the top contenders for quote/unquote horror comics in the late 90s.  So allowing Pulido the reins of the Supernaturals was probably an easy decision for Marvel, with the hopes that they'd at least make a quick buck off the series.

Whether or not this series was successful financially is a question I can't answer, I didn't pick it up when it was released nearly 20 years ago and I don't remember what its sales figures were like.  Creatively, though, this project is a mis-fire on just about every conceivable level, mainly due to the creative team's disastrous attempt to "update" the Marvel horror characters.  It's not enough to simply give the individual heroes a consistent origin story, now they all have to be "extreme, dude!" in that way that mocks popular fads of the time while trying to be as hyper serious as possible.  Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night, is now a black belt martial artist that wants to be Bruce Lee; the Gargoyle is a kid who turns into a fire-breathing Hulk type of monster; and Brother Voodoo is a "gangsta rap" record producer.  The most egregious example of this has to be poor Johnny Blaze, though, who is immediately both obnoxious and ridiculous, and I think only the former was intentional.  I get that the "stunt motorcyclist" bit from Blaze's origin is outdated, but making him a teenage X-Games BMX biker saps away anything that might be inherently cool about the character.  This was 1998, and the X-Games were a big deal, but like with all of the other character "updates" it's extremely patronizing and some pretty awful shorthand that's stuck there in lieu of proper characterization.

Plot-wise, this story hinges on the "Chaos! Event" (there's that damn exclamation mark again!), which 13 years ago wiped all of the superheroes off the planet.  That's a fair plot device, and it allows the creators to make this an inherently darker world than the established Marvel Universe, but on the surface it really doesn't appear that much has changed.  Guess Marvel's heroes weren't really that needed all those years after all, huh?  Outside of the anniversary backdrop, though, this comic doesn't do much at all other than giving really brief introductions of each cast member.

The artwork is by a very young Ivan Reis, who is just at the start of his career.  While you can certainly see the promise in his work, and this guy is going to go on to be a pretty great artist about 10 years later in his career, here he's saddled with some of pretty terrible aspects of that era's comic zeitgeist.  For every awful character redesign, like Brother Voodoo and his knock-off Spawn costume/cape or the Gargoyle's tiny-legged Hulk form, you also get the totally anachronistic return of Johnny Blaze's original Ghost Rider outfit.  And now that I think about it, if he's a BMX biker, why in the world does he show up on a big fucking chopper and leather jumpsuit when he arrives as Ghost Rider?  Shouldn't he be on a flaming BMX bike with spiked knee and elbow pads?  Still, Reis is already a solid superhero comic artist by this point, he's just not reached his peak yet.

I'm really not much of a fan of this mini-series, and it's been so many years (over a decade at least) since I read it that I don't even remember what happens in later issues.  For a debut, though, this does nothing to make me care about the next three issues at all.

Grade: D

Ghost Rider Special Edition (1995) # 10

Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl

Published: 1995
Original Price: N/A

Title: "Reprise"
Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: David Boller
Inker: Derek Fisher
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Jim Hoston
Editor: Glenn Herdling

SYNOPSIS

From his dimensional prison, Zarathos watches John Blaze and states that Blaze had once been corrupted by a small portion of the demon's essence, which caused him to transform into a "dark version of Ghost Rider".  Now, Zarathos plans on testing Blaze again, which will gain the demon power to conquer the world.

On a bridge leaving New York City, Blaze sees a demon made of hellfire terrorizing the motorists trapped in a traffic jam.  Blaze hears a voice in his head telling him that he'll need to become the Ghost Rider again to defeat the demon, but John tries to ignore it.  However, when he finds that his hellfire shotgun only makes the demon stronger, Blaze gives in and becomes the "original" Ghost Rider once more.  He defeats the demon by absorbing its hellfire into his body, which places Blaze under Zarathos' control.

ANNOTATIONS 

This mini-comic was the tenth in a series packaged with Toy Biz's line of Ghost Rider action figures. This issue came with the Original Ghost Rider figure.

There's really no place to fit this series into established continuity. It obviously takes place after "Siege of Darkness" and Ghost Rider (1990) # 50, but the relationships between Ghost Rider, Blaze, and Vengeance certainly don't fit the characters at the time.

If this follows the standard Marvel continuity (which is questionable, at best), then Zarathos was banished to another dimension at the conclusion of the "Siege of Darkness" crossover in Midnight Sons Unlimited (1993) # 4.

REVIEW

Johnny Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider again, which is a move I'm surprised the regular comics hadn't tried yet by this point.

There's not a lot to say about this comic, since it's so short and it has to make its point so quickly by hammering out a way to make Blaze the original Ghost Rider again.  Zarathos makes some interesting comments on how Johnny was once corrupted by a "fraction of my essence" and became a "dark version" of Ghost Rider, which is certainly one way of addressing the continuity quagmire revolving around the whole Zarathos/Medallion of Power stuff from around this time.  It's as simplistic and as dumb-downed as it can get, which is appropriate for a toy tie-in comic, so you can't fault it there.  The story doesn't even attempt to give any kind of explanation for how Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider again, he just sort of decides to do it after hearing a voice in his head, but again: limited page space and simplistic as possible.  This series is almost review proof at this point.

The artwork is by David Bollers, who had drawn the last couple of these along with Karl Kerschl (who is still here on the cover duty), and it's perfectly serviceable for what it is.  He does a good job with Zarathos, making him menacing on the opening page, and his original Ghost Rider is appropriately old school.  His "hellfire demon" looks more like its made from electricity, but we'll say that's a coloring mistake and be generous.

I'll have a bit more to say about this story when I review the last chapter, because this is the same as before: interesting for collectors, but not worth tracking down if you just want to read it.

Grade: C

Inner Demons Episode 6: "Gunmetal Gary"

Back from the grave, Brian and Chris lament that no new Ghost Rider comics have been released, and so have chosen to add a fourth Flashback Review to the roster!  This episode sees reviews of Marvel Spotlight (1972) # 10, Ghost Rider (1990) # 6, Ghost Rider (2001) # 6, and Ghost Rider 2099 # 1!  Listening to this episode grants you an automatic membership in the greatest acronym-based group ever, U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M.!

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from either Stitcher or iTunes .  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and feel free to send us a message.  Thanks for listening!

Incredible Hulk (1968) # 265

Cover Artist: Al Milgrom

Published: November 1981
Original Price: $.50

Title: "You Can't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometime You Just Might Find You Get What You Need!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Sal Buscema
Letterer: Diana Albers & Artie Simek
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Al Milgrom
Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter

SYNOPSIS

Rick Jones, Betty Ross, and the Teen Brigade are prisoners of the Corrupter, who has used his "evil touch" to enslave the Hulk in a mindless rage.  Threatening the lives of the Teen Brigade, the Corrupter has Rick send out a signal to the Avengers, hoping to lure them to his old Spanish mission and enslave them as he has the Hulk.  However, the signal never reaches the Avengers, and is instead heard by five other heroes who all operate out of the southwest.  Red Wolf, Firebird, Texas Twister, and Shooter Star all answer the call for help; and at an archaeological dig Hamilton Slade hears the message as well.  He is immediately taken over by the spirit of his ancestor and begins the ghostly Night Rider.

At the mission, the Corrupter orders the Hulk to kill Jones, but the Night Rider arrives in time to stop the monster.  The Rider's horse Banshee kicks the Hulk through the wall of the mission just as the other heroes arrive outside.  They all take their turns fighting the Hulk and each of them are defeated, with the Night Rider being accidentally shot by Shooting Star's special guns.  Before the Hulk can kill them, Rick runs to him and is able to calm him down, allowing Bruce Banner to regain control.  The Corrupter is taken out by Lobo, the Red Wolf's animal companion, and the heroes all briefly discuss staying together as a team called the Rangers.

ANNOTATIONS 
The Night Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 56, which was also the first appearance of Hamilton Slade as the modern day incarnation of the character.

The Night Rider, and the Rangers as a team, appear next in West Coast Avengers (1985) # 8.

REVIEW
The Night Rider makes his way onto a superhero team that was even more doomed to failure than the Champions in this issue's introduction of the Rangers!

As much as I appreciate the work done during this time in comics history by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, who were otherwise excellent creators that wound up having a substantial run on the Incredible Hulk, this is not a very good comic.  We're looking it at, of course, because of the Night Rider's appearance, and yes this is in that brief time that was after the name change from Ghost Rider but before he became the Phantom Rider.  This was also one of the rare appearances of the modern day, Hamilton Slade version of the character, who had made his debut earlier that year in the pages of Ghost Rider.  Marvel clearly wanted this character to be more popular than he was, and giving him a spotlight in the pages of a mainstay series like Hulk was certainly a good idea (look what it had done for Wolverine).  Saddling him with a bunch of left-over southwestern characters like the Rangers, though, wasn't such a great move.  It obviously doomed the character to obscurity for the next several years, along with the rest of this team, until Steve Englehart decided to bring him into his West Coast Avengers series.

I can't say as I'm surprised the Rangers didn't take off, because Mantlo spends this issue giving the characters only the slightest hints of personalities outside of broad stroke types.  Red Wolf is the brash warrior who can't shut up about being an Avenger, even though he was never more than just an associate of the team if my memory serves, Shooting Star and Texas Twister are showboating opportunists, and Firebird is the saintly one there to remind the others to work together.  Night Rider is the only standout character of the lot, mainly because of his role as the "mysterious one".  His otherworldly powers and the fact that his ghost horse can kick the Hulk through a wall immediately made him the most interesting character in the series.  It's not just the Rangers who get the short end of the personality stick, though, because NONE of the characters in this comic are anything other than overly-dramatic cardboard cutouts.  Rick Jones pontificates like he's in a soap opera, Betty Ross is the fainting female, and the Corrupter has the nuanced motivation of "evil for no reason".  If you've noticed, I have yet to mention the Hulk, who despite being the title character of the comic is only there to punch the Texas Avengers.

Sal Buscema is even having an off day, because his artwork is really unattractive and lacks the power and dynamism that his work usually shows off in spades.  Perhaps he was rushed on this one, or maybe its because he was inking himself, but the characters are all stiff and emoting wildly out of proportion to what's going on around them.  Plus, Rick Jones is wearing a lime green neckerchief, and that will never ever look anything less than ridiculous.  It's so flamboyant that not even Johnny Blaze in full-on rhinestone cowboy mode could pull it off.

The Rangers were an interesting footnote that will at least get somewhat of a send-off about 5 years later when they show up in West Coast Avengers, but you can tell here that Mantlo was hoping to have captured that Avengers/Defenders/X-Men lightning in a bottle.  In reality, they couldn't even get a one-shot, and even the Soviet Super-Soldiers got one of those.

Grade: D

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 114

Cover Artist: Shawn McManus

Published: September 1992
Original Price: $1.50

Title: "Legion of Vengeance, Part 2: If the Mind's Eye Offends Thee..."
Writer: Joey Cavalieri
Artist: Shawn McManus
Letterer: Kevin Sharpe & Steve Dutro
Colorist: Fred Mendez
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

SYNOPSIS

Ghost Rider has arrived at the burning church and is accused of setting the blaze by Iron Fist, who refuses to listen to Ghost Rider's claims of innocence.  Iron Fist uses his power to destroy Ghost Rider's motorcycle with one kick, but the Rider easily reassembles the bike.  The two heroes are approached by a dying man, who says that two costumed villains in Cyrpess Hills Cemetery are causing people to get sick.  The man dies and Ghost Rider realizes that his attention is needed at the cemetery, but when he drives away a furious Iron Fist jumps on the back of the motorcycle to tag along.

In the cemetery, a young couple are assaulted by the Mind's Eye and his partner, Bacillus, who is able to spread sickness with a touch.  He causes the boy to fall ill and die, but is caught by Ghost Rider's chain before he can kill the girl.  When he reaches for her, Iron Fist steps between them and is touched by Bacillus instead, causing him to grown extremely sick while the villains escape.  Ghost Rider attempts to save Iron Fist, saying that he will not call the cemetery his final resting place.  Meanwhile, a riot has broken out during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the church fire.  Out of the candle smoke comes Vesper, the woman responsible for the fire, and she attacks the mob with accusations of hypocrisy.  While she attacks the mob, a fourth villain waits on a nearby rooftop for his moment to make himself known and feared.

ANNOTATIONS 
This issue of MCP also contained stories featuring Wolverine/Typhoid Mary, Giant-Man, and Arabian Knight.

This story was reprinted in the Iron Fist: The Book of Changes trade paperback.

REVIEW
Ghost Rider and Iron Fist have the obligatory fight scene before their team up can commence, and it's just as poor as the rest of the parts of this comic.

Joey Cavalieri was well known as an editor for Marvel, responsible mainly for the successful 2099 line of titles around this time, and for some reason he became the main person responsible for Iron Fist.  It could just be that no other writers were interested in picking the character up after John Byrne resurrected him, but all of Iron Fist's appearances in Marvel Comics Presents (and there were a LOT of Iron Fist stories in MCP after this one) were written by Cavalieri.  Unfortunately, as evidenced by this story, Cavalieri was not that great a writer.

I suppose plot-wise, this chapter hangs together okay, but it's in the characterization and dialogue that things fall apart.  I suppose if I were Iron Fist I would think the flaming skulled biker that just showed up to be a likely suspect for the church fire, that's logical.  But Iron Fist rants like a maniac at Ghost Rider, going so far as to kick his motorcycle to death (which, I admit, was pretty boss).  Ghost Rider is more like the Spirit of Patience here as he attempts over and over to calmly explain that he is there to protect and avenge the innocent victims, but Iron Fist just continues to rant and rave.  Even when Ghost Rider tries to leave, Iron Fist leaps on behind him screaming about no one escaping the Iron Fist.  Everyone in this comic, outside of Ghost Rider, reacts like a madman to everything.  There's no nuance to the characters here, everything is dialed up to 11 for no reason.

This issue also continues to roll out the villains, with the introduction of Bacillus and Vesper to join the previously introduced Mind's Eye.  So far these villains have some interesting ideas, but have no personality other than "evil".  The villains do, at least, have some neat gimmicks behind them, what with Vesper being powered by candlelight and Bacillus being able to infect people with plagues by touching them.  Still, I have no idea what their motivations are yet, and that could probably be forgiven considering this is only chapter two if the plot hadn't already hinged so much on coincidence and happenstance to justify the heroes' involvement.

The artwork, too, isn't up to par with what I consider a quality Ghost Rider story.  Shawn McManus had been working in the comics field for years, drawing stuff like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Neil Gaiman's Sandman.  This guy has pedigree that makes me wonder why he's phoning in work on a Marvel Comics Presents story, especially since he is not bringing his A game to this story.  The characters overact wildly, matching the hysterical scripting by Cavalieri, and the proportions are exaggerated to the extreme.  Vesper, for example, has breasts the size of watermelons, while Iron Fist has a mouth that could swallow a steering wheel.  I will admit, though, that McManus makes Bacillus' plague powers look absolutely disgusting, and the exaggeration works in that respect.

This story arc might be my least-favorite of the MCP Ghost Rider serials, and its certainly the worst one so far.  I don't have much hope that things are going to pick up from here.

Grade: D-