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| Cover Artist: Sam Keith |
Original Price: $1.50
Title: "You've Got to Have Friends"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: John Hebert
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Ariane Lenshoek
Editor: Glenn Herdling
Editor In Chief: Tom DeFalco
SYNOPSIS
Young teen Mike "Mouse" McCormick is running for this life, bleeding from a wound in his side while thinking to himself that all he wanted to do was impress people and have friends. He runs into Cypress Hills Cemetery and collides into Danny Ketch, who is visiting his sister's grave while sitting atop his motorcycle. Mouse apologizes and runs away, but when Dan notices the blood smeared onto his shirt from the boy he finds himself transforming into Ghost Rider. Mike collapses and is found by Devil Grip, who is angry that Mike didn't do the job he had paid him to do, and now that he's seen too much of the criminals operations he's going to have to be killed. Ghost Rider stops Devil Grip, and after a brief fight gives the villain the Penance Stare. Ghost Rider picks up Mike and takes him on a ride through the neighborhood to the hospital; Mike is finally content that he has a friend and the respect he desired when everyone, including his mother, sees him with Ghost Rider.
ANNOTATIONS
This comic was a special promotional giveaway by Marvel and Charleston Chew candy bars, which could be obtained through the mail by redeeming packages of the candy.
The other stories in this feature featured Wolverine, Spider-Man, and the Silver Surfer.
Ghost Rider last appeared in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 118 and he appears next in Amazing Spider-Man: Hit and Run # 3.
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 16 - "Hellfireface" (Click to Listen)
REVIEW
Marvel released a promotional issue of Marvel Comics Presents through a candy bar company of all things, available only through a mail away offer on the candy wrapper. It served as a short spotlight for the company's biggest characters (though one can understand why the Punisher wasn't included, what with the whole mass murder thing not jiving with a marketing campaign aimed at kids), one of which at the time was, naturally, Ghost Rider.
It's great that they got Howard Mackie to write this thing, back when he was still serving as the de facto controller over everything Ghost Rider, even candy bar tie-ins. It's also great that they got John Hebert to reunite with Mackie for this extremely short story after their highly entertaining Christmas story about the blind kid mistaking Ghost Rider for Santa Claus. Unfortunately, this story misses the high marks of that earlier collaboration, though I can certainly see what Mackie was aiming for and how difficult it must have been to convey in a 6 page story. This had to tell new kid readers who Ghost Rider was and give him a conflict to resolve while keeping things as simple as possible, and that's not an easy thing to accomplish. Wrapping the story hook around the idea of friendship and falling in with a bad crowd is a perfectly appropriate idea for something like this, and it's certainly sound in theory.
Where it falls apart is the "villain" of the piece, the absolutely ridiculous Devil Grip. Never mind the ludicrous consequences of a name like fucking DEVIL GRIP, the guy isn't given any kind of motivation other than "bad" and "crush you". It makes you wonder why Mouse even wanted to impress this guy to begin with, if he's one to kill any random kid who doesn't fall in line with whatever his "organization" may be. His laughable character design just underscores what a waste this character was, he looks like Hagrid from Harry Potter posing as a leather daddy. Hebert is a quality artist, he's turned out a few other Ghost Rider stories that looked fantastic, but this one just doesn't work on any level.
Mackie tries to hit you in the feels with the last panel, like he did with the blind kid in the Christmas special, but it just doesn't have the same punch. This is an interesting curio but ultimately inconsequential and definitely not worth tracking down.
Grade: D
Young teen Mike "Mouse" McCormick is running for this life, bleeding from a wound in his side while thinking to himself that all he wanted to do was impress people and have friends. He runs into Cypress Hills Cemetery and collides into Danny Ketch, who is visiting his sister's grave while sitting atop his motorcycle. Mouse apologizes and runs away, but when Dan notices the blood smeared onto his shirt from the boy he finds himself transforming into Ghost Rider. Mike collapses and is found by Devil Grip, who is angry that Mike didn't do the job he had paid him to do, and now that he's seen too much of the criminals operations he's going to have to be killed. Ghost Rider stops Devil Grip, and after a brief fight gives the villain the Penance Stare. Ghost Rider picks up Mike and takes him on a ride through the neighborhood to the hospital; Mike is finally content that he has a friend and the respect he desired when everyone, including his mother, sees him with Ghost Rider.
ANNOTATIONS
This comic was a special promotional giveaway by Marvel and Charleston Chew candy bars, which could be obtained through the mail by redeeming packages of the candy.
The other stories in this feature featured Wolverine, Spider-Man, and the Silver Surfer.
Ghost Rider last appeared in Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 118 and he appears next in Amazing Spider-Man: Hit and Run # 3.
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 16 - "Hellfireface" (Click to Listen)
REVIEW
Marvel released a promotional issue of Marvel Comics Presents through a candy bar company of all things, available only through a mail away offer on the candy wrapper. It served as a short spotlight for the company's biggest characters (though one can understand why the Punisher wasn't included, what with the whole mass murder thing not jiving with a marketing campaign aimed at kids), one of which at the time was, naturally, Ghost Rider.
It's great that they got Howard Mackie to write this thing, back when he was still serving as the de facto controller over everything Ghost Rider, even candy bar tie-ins. It's also great that they got John Hebert to reunite with Mackie for this extremely short story after their highly entertaining Christmas story about the blind kid mistaking Ghost Rider for Santa Claus. Unfortunately, this story misses the high marks of that earlier collaboration, though I can certainly see what Mackie was aiming for and how difficult it must have been to convey in a 6 page story. This had to tell new kid readers who Ghost Rider was and give him a conflict to resolve while keeping things as simple as possible, and that's not an easy thing to accomplish. Wrapping the story hook around the idea of friendship and falling in with a bad crowd is a perfectly appropriate idea for something like this, and it's certainly sound in theory.
Where it falls apart is the "villain" of the piece, the absolutely ridiculous Devil Grip. Never mind the ludicrous consequences of a name like fucking DEVIL GRIP, the guy isn't given any kind of motivation other than "bad" and "crush you". It makes you wonder why Mouse even wanted to impress this guy to begin with, if he's one to kill any random kid who doesn't fall in line with whatever his "organization" may be. His laughable character design just underscores what a waste this character was, he looks like Hagrid from Harry Potter posing as a leather daddy. Hebert is a quality artist, he's turned out a few other Ghost Rider stories that looked fantastic, but this one just doesn't work on any level.
Mackie tries to hit you in the feels with the last panel, like he did with the blind kid in the Christmas special, but it just doesn't have the same punch. This is an interesting curio but ultimately inconsequential and definitely not worth tracking down.
Grade: D
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