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| Cover Art: Frank Frazetta |
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Title: "Death's Stagecoach"
Title: "The Taming of Wild-Man Feeney!"
Title: "Death Wears a White Mask"
Title: "The Haunted Castle"
Writer: Unknown
Artist: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Dick Ayers
Colorist: Unknown
SYNOPSIS
Title: "Death Wears a White Mask"
Title: "The Haunted Castle"
Writer: Unknown
Artist: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Dick Ayers
Colorist: Unknown
SYNOPSIS
"Death's Stagecoach"
Four ranchers control the Cactus Gap, and one night a cloaked man on a stagecoach places a skull with one of the rancher's names, Luke Mormon, on the rancher's fence post, stating that the man will die. The next day, Mormon is murdered and another skull is delivered to the second rancher, Jeb Nolan, who becomes fearful for his life. The next morning, Rex Fury is riding along the Gap and finds Nolan's dead body. That night, Fury investigates as the Ghost Rider and confronts the masked stagecoach driver, but the villain is able to escape. The third rancher, Roger Boofer, receives a skull and later almost dies from a dynamite explosion in front of the Ghost Rider. His survival raises the Ghost Rider's suspicions and he realizes that Boofer is the stagecoach driver that is killing his rivals to gain their land. Boofer goes out on the stagecoach to kill the final rancher but he is stopped and captured by the Ghost Rider, who states that Boofer will hang for his crimes.
"The Taming of Wild-Man Feeney!"
Notorious bandit Wild-Man Feeney has been called to town by a crook wanting to steal a herd of horses from a local rancher. The conversation and plan is overheard by Sing-Song, who goes to tell Rex Fury. Fury tells the local sheriff, but the lawman is too afraid of Feeney to intervene, so Fury decides to take action as the Ghost Rider. He uses all of his ghostly tricks to fool the thieves, scaring Feeney half to death and causing the men to flee. The next morning, Feeney and the men arrive at the bar and surrender themselves to the sheriff out of fear of the Ghost Rider.
"Death Wears a White Mask"
Settlers, or "nesters", are hated by the cattle ranchers for taking the land, and one of the ranchers has assembled a group of white-cloaked marauders called the Nightriders to kill the nesters. Rex Fury infiltrates the group and is taken back to their cave headquarters for an initiation test of Russian Roulette with one silver bullet and five blanks. Sing-Song sneaks in and replaces all of the Nightriders' bullets with the blanks, and when they go to kill a family of nesters Fury is able to save them. Fury himself is caught and executed, but feigns death when shot by the blanks. He turns into the Ghost Rider, who captures all of the Nightriders, the ineffectual blanks making it seem like he's an actual ghost.
"The Haunted Castle"
Rex Fury and some locals ride by a purported "haunted castle" in the desert and Fury is told the story of the strange rich man who built the castle so he could be alone and was found dead outside its walls ten years later. Fury makes a wager with the men that he and Sing-Song can spend the night inside the castle to prove there's no ghosts. When they go into the castle, they are seen by bandits who killed the owner and have been using the castle as a hideout ever since. The bandits "haunting" tricks are easily seen through by Fury, but then he and Sing-Song are dumped into a watery pit beneath the castle. They escape the pit and leave the castle, but come back that night as the Ghost Rider, who scares the bandits into feeling the castle and admitting their crimes.
ANNOTATIONS
Four ranchers control the Cactus Gap, and one night a cloaked man on a stagecoach places a skull with one of the rancher's names, Luke Mormon, on the rancher's fence post, stating that the man will die. The next day, Mormon is murdered and another skull is delivered to the second rancher, Jeb Nolan, who becomes fearful for his life. The next morning, Rex Fury is riding along the Gap and finds Nolan's dead body. That night, Fury investigates as the Ghost Rider and confronts the masked stagecoach driver, but the villain is able to escape. The third rancher, Roger Boofer, receives a skull and later almost dies from a dynamite explosion in front of the Ghost Rider. His survival raises the Ghost Rider's suspicions and he realizes that Boofer is the stagecoach driver that is killing his rivals to gain their land. Boofer goes out on the stagecoach to kill the final rancher but he is stopped and captured by the Ghost Rider, who states that Boofer will hang for his crimes.
"The Taming of Wild-Man Feeney!"
Notorious bandit Wild-Man Feeney has been called to town by a crook wanting to steal a herd of horses from a local rancher. The conversation and plan is overheard by Sing-Song, who goes to tell Rex Fury. Fury tells the local sheriff, but the lawman is too afraid of Feeney to intervene, so Fury decides to take action as the Ghost Rider. He uses all of his ghostly tricks to fool the thieves, scaring Feeney half to death and causing the men to flee. The next morning, Feeney and the men arrive at the bar and surrender themselves to the sheriff out of fear of the Ghost Rider.
"Death Wears a White Mask"
Settlers, or "nesters", are hated by the cattle ranchers for taking the land, and one of the ranchers has assembled a group of white-cloaked marauders called the Nightriders to kill the nesters. Rex Fury infiltrates the group and is taken back to their cave headquarters for an initiation test of Russian Roulette with one silver bullet and five blanks. Sing-Song sneaks in and replaces all of the Nightriders' bullets with the blanks, and when they go to kill a family of nesters Fury is able to save them. Fury himself is caught and executed, but feigns death when shot by the blanks. He turns into the Ghost Rider, who captures all of the Nightriders, the ineffectual blanks making it seem like he's an actual ghost.
"The Haunted Castle"
Rex Fury and some locals ride by a purported "haunted castle" in the desert and Fury is told the story of the strange rich man who built the castle so he could be alone and was found dead outside its walls ten years later. Fury makes a wager with the men that he and Sing-Song can spend the night inside the castle to prove there's no ghosts. When they go into the castle, they are seen by bandits who killed the owner and have been using the castle as a hideout ever since. The bandits "haunting" tricks are easily seen through by Fury, but then he and Sing-Song are dumped into a watery pit beneath the castle. They escape the pit and leave the castle, but come back that night as the Ghost Rider, who scares the bandits into feeling the castle and admitting their crimes.
ANNOTATIONS
Creator credits were not included in the comic other than the artist's signature.
The Rex Fury Ghost Rider is not part of Marvel continuity and is unrelated to the Carter Slade Ghost Rider, outside of inspiration of course.
REVIEW
It's four short stories of Golden Age goodies in this second issue of the original Western Ghost Rider.
It's difficult to review this series. The comic and the stories within are such products of their times that it's hard to look at them with a modern critical eye. So, for the most part I'm just going to gauge the series on how entertaining it is from issue to issue, and this one wins out for the most part. The opening story, "Death's Stagecoach", is a pretty tight mystery that's also responsible for the awesome Frazetta cover. It's a great gimmick for a villain, using the skulls with his victim's name painted on. The second story about Wild-Man Feeney is hilarious and as over-the-top as you could probably go with one of these stories, especially with all the "cowboy" dialogue complete with misspellings. "Let's get outta hyar" indeed, you spooked jasper, you.
The other two stories aren't as solid as the first two, because both have some pretty fundamental problems with their concepts. "The Haunted Castle" has the ludicrous premise of an Eastern European castle sitting in the middle of the desert, and even when it goes to great lengths to justify its existence it still can't get past the disbelief it took the creators to get Ghost Rider inside a haunted castle. The biggest problem lies with "Death Wears a White Mask", as it deals with a group of white-garbed men on horses called the Nightriders that actively hate another group of people, yet doesn't address the elephant in the room. The link to the Ku Klux Klan is obvious (Nightriders, people, Nightriders!) but slotting in the "nesters" in place of real life persecution of African Americans is about as tone deaf as you can get. Perhaps this is all they could get away with in 1950? I can't even hazard a guess.
The real star of this comic, the whole series even, is obviously the artwork of Dick Ayers. Even in this rough Golden Age format, Ayers version of the Ghost Rider is wonderful. He takes what could be just stock cowboy stories and gives them this ominous, sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere. There's problems there, sure, such as Sing-Song's caricature and Rex Fury's jaw being so square it looks like a piece of bread, but every time the Ghost Rider is on panel the comic just flat out works.
It's the Golden Age, it's not for everybody, but at least two of the four stories in this one were pretty entertaining.
Grade: B-
It's difficult to review this series. The comic and the stories within are such products of their times that it's hard to look at them with a modern critical eye. So, for the most part I'm just going to gauge the series on how entertaining it is from issue to issue, and this one wins out for the most part. The opening story, "Death's Stagecoach", is a pretty tight mystery that's also responsible for the awesome Frazetta cover. It's a great gimmick for a villain, using the skulls with his victim's name painted on. The second story about Wild-Man Feeney is hilarious and as over-the-top as you could probably go with one of these stories, especially with all the "cowboy" dialogue complete with misspellings. "Let's get outta hyar" indeed, you spooked jasper, you.
The other two stories aren't as solid as the first two, because both have some pretty fundamental problems with their concepts. "The Haunted Castle" has the ludicrous premise of an Eastern European castle sitting in the middle of the desert, and even when it goes to great lengths to justify its existence it still can't get past the disbelief it took the creators to get Ghost Rider inside a haunted castle. The biggest problem lies with "Death Wears a White Mask", as it deals with a group of white-garbed men on horses called the Nightriders that actively hate another group of people, yet doesn't address the elephant in the room. The link to the Ku Klux Klan is obvious (Nightriders, people, Nightriders!) but slotting in the "nesters" in place of real life persecution of African Americans is about as tone deaf as you can get. Perhaps this is all they could get away with in 1950? I can't even hazard a guess.
The real star of this comic, the whole series even, is obviously the artwork of Dick Ayers. Even in this rough Golden Age format, Ayers version of the Ghost Rider is wonderful. He takes what could be just stock cowboy stories and gives them this ominous, sometimes claustrophobic atmosphere. There's problems there, sure, such as Sing-Song's caricature and Rex Fury's jaw being so square it looks like a piece of bread, but every time the Ghost Rider is on panel the comic just flat out works.
It's the Golden Age, it's not for everybody, but at least two of the four stories in this one were pretty entertaining.
Grade: B-
