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| Cover Art: Dick Ayers |
Original Price: $.25
Title: "Return of the Tarantula"
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Tom Sutton
Letterer: Jean Simek
Colorist: None Credited
Editor: Stan Lee
SYNOPSIS
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Tom Sutton
Letterer: Jean Simek
Colorist: None Credited
Editor: Stan Lee
SYNOPSIS
Natalie Brooks has received the surgery needed to save her life but has yet to regain consciousness. Her brother, Ben Brooks, and fiance, Clay Riley, talk in their room about their dwindling money, which Riley angrily says he will do something about. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Carter Slade stands outside Natalie's room blaming his identity as the Ghost Rider for her condition. Suddenly, his enemy the Tarantula shoves past him into the girl's room, promising to find a cure for her. Carter attempts to apprehend him, but is knocked unconscious by the masked villain, which allows him to escape.
Later, the Ghost Rider tracks the Tarantula to his room in the city and attacks, but is outfought by the villain. Only when Ghost Rider shoots out the lantern, plunging the room into darkness, is he able to convince the Tarantula of his ghostly nature and knock the man unconscious. Wanting to know the Tarantula's true identity, he removes his mask and gasps in surprise.
Later, the Ghost Rider tracks the Tarantula to his room in the city and attacks, but is outfought by the villain. Only when Ghost Rider shoots out the lantern, plunging the room into darkness, is he able to convince the Tarantula of his ghostly nature and knock the man unconscious. Wanting to know the Tarantula's true identity, he removes his mask and gasps in surprise.
ANNOTATIONS
Carter Slade made his last chronological appearance in Western Gunfighters (1970) # 3, which filled in the gap between The Ghost Rider (1967) # 7 and this issue.
The splash page image of the Ghost Rider is an homage to Frank Frazetta's cover to The Ghost Rider (1950) # 4.
Natalie Brooks was accidentally shot in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 6 and was taken to Denver for emergency surgical care in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 7.
The Tarantula last appeared in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 5 and will be revealed to be Clay Riley in Western Gunfighters (1970) # 2.
This issue of Western Gunfighters also contained stories featuring the Outlaw, Fort Rango, the Renegades, and Gunhawk.
The splash page image of the Ghost Rider is an homage to Frank Frazetta's cover to The Ghost Rider (1950) # 4.
Natalie Brooks was accidentally shot in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 6 and was taken to Denver for emergency surgical care in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 7.
The Tarantula last appeared in The Ghost Rider (1967) # 5 and will be revealed to be Clay Riley in Western Gunfighters (1970) # 2.
This issue of Western Gunfighters also contained stories featuring the Outlaw, Fort Rango, the Renegades, and Gunhawk.
REVIEW
Two years after the untimely cancellation of the western Ghost Rider series Carter Slade is resurrected for this anthology series.
The early Marvel Ghost Rider stories are honestly not much to write home about, they're formulaic and attempt to shoehorn in the standard Marvel tropes of the time (secret identity troubles, unrequited love triangles, dogged by the law) at the expense of what made the 50s incarnation so interesting, namely the horror and mystery element. It's not much of a surprise that the series got canned in 1968, because outside of the striking costume design for the Ghost Rider there wasn't much else to make it unique. Dick Ayers was always a consummate illustrator, but his work was frequently sapped of all life by finishers who failed to compliment his art, and Gary Friedrich's scripts did little to make Carter Slade very interesting. So, with all that in mind, I wasn't too thrilled about the character's further adventures in Western Gunfighters.
Color me pleasantly surprised and optimistic about the direction that Friedrich and Ayers are taking the series. It picks up immediately after the end of the original series, complete with subplots that are being picked up and tied off here, and normally that would be a questionable decision but it actually works to the story's strength. It throws you in a reasonable recap about Natalie Brooks and the rest of the cast, but there's this sense of drama and immediacy that the series lacked before. Everything is tense and appropriately moody, giving the story a dark cloud that makes it pretty thrilling. The Tarantula had already been cemented as the Ghost Rider's nemesis simply by appearing more than once, but he's a loose end that Friedrich obviously enjoys picked up to twist into knots. Carter Slade is still mopey but he's at least got more of a personality than before, which fluctuated between "milksop" and "do-gooder".
The best part of the story, however, has to be the Dick Ayers and Tom Sutton combo on art duties. Ayers was what made the western Ghost Rider work visually, he was the artistic creator of the character and he is always welcome to make a return with this new serial. Unlike his collaboration with Vince Colletta in the previous series, who made Ayers work look flat and rushed, his team-up with Sutton compliments him perfectly. I've always had a lot of time for Tom Sutton, both as an inker and an artist in his own right as an artist on the Johnny Blaze series, and his work here allows Ayers to breathe some actual life into the story. The confrontation with the Tarantula comes off extremely well, emphasizing the lantern light and the use of darkness as factors in the fight.
I'm honestly shocked by how much I enjoyed this story, and I'm actually eager to see what happens next.
The early Marvel Ghost Rider stories are honestly not much to write home about, they're formulaic and attempt to shoehorn in the standard Marvel tropes of the time (secret identity troubles, unrequited love triangles, dogged by the law) at the expense of what made the 50s incarnation so interesting, namely the horror and mystery element. It's not much of a surprise that the series got canned in 1968, because outside of the striking costume design for the Ghost Rider there wasn't much else to make it unique. Dick Ayers was always a consummate illustrator, but his work was frequently sapped of all life by finishers who failed to compliment his art, and Gary Friedrich's scripts did little to make Carter Slade very interesting. So, with all that in mind, I wasn't too thrilled about the character's further adventures in Western Gunfighters.
Color me pleasantly surprised and optimistic about the direction that Friedrich and Ayers are taking the series. It picks up immediately after the end of the original series, complete with subplots that are being picked up and tied off here, and normally that would be a questionable decision but it actually works to the story's strength. It throws you in a reasonable recap about Natalie Brooks and the rest of the cast, but there's this sense of drama and immediacy that the series lacked before. Everything is tense and appropriately moody, giving the story a dark cloud that makes it pretty thrilling. The Tarantula had already been cemented as the Ghost Rider's nemesis simply by appearing more than once, but he's a loose end that Friedrich obviously enjoys picked up to twist into knots. Carter Slade is still mopey but he's at least got more of a personality than before, which fluctuated between "milksop" and "do-gooder".
The best part of the story, however, has to be the Dick Ayers and Tom Sutton combo on art duties. Ayers was what made the western Ghost Rider work visually, he was the artistic creator of the character and he is always welcome to make a return with this new serial. Unlike his collaboration with Vince Colletta in the previous series, who made Ayers work look flat and rushed, his team-up with Sutton compliments him perfectly. I've always had a lot of time for Tom Sutton, both as an inker and an artist in his own right as an artist on the Johnny Blaze series, and his work here allows Ayers to breathe some actual life into the story. The confrontation with the Tarantula comes off extremely well, emphasizing the lantern light and the use of darkness as factors in the fight.
I'm honestly shocked by how much I enjoyed this story, and I'm actually eager to see what happens next.
Grade: A
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