Marvel Treasury Edition # 18

"If An Eye Offend Thee..."

Cover Date: 1978
On Sale Date: August 1978

Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Ross Andru
Inker: Don Perlin
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover Artist: Bob Budiansky

At Madison Square Garden in New York City, Peter Parker (also known as the amazing Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson attend a show called "The Ghost Rider's Motorcycle Extravaganza." The show begins just as the couple take their seats, and Johnny Blaze, the flaming skulled Ghost Rider, roars into the open floor on his motorcycle, causing the crowd to go wild with excitement. The cyclist performs an amazing stunt with four other riders, one of which is Roxanne Simpson, Blaze's girlfriend and the daughter of Crash Simpson, former owner of the cycle show. Suddenly, a group of bikers bust into the arena, and ride past the security guards. The leader of the group has a helmet shaped like a giant eyeball and calls himself the Orb. The gang rides in circles around the arena, the Orb's eye hypnotizing the crowd. Only Parker evades being mesmerized, his spider-sense warning him to look away at the last moment. Peter shoots his web onto the rafters, where he climbs up and changes into his Spider-Man costume. On the arena floor, the Orb grabs Roxanne by the waist and rides off with her, leaving the Ghost Rider to be dealt with by his men. Spider-Man swings down and assists in defeating a few of the gang, but their pursuit of the Orb is stopped when he commands the hypnotized crowd to form a barrier between him and the heroes. The mesmerized crowd then deliver Blaze a message in one unified voice, saying that the Orb will return Roxanne to him in exchange for ownership of the cycle show.

Meanwhile, the Orb and his gang arrive at his lair, where he awakens the hypnotized Roxanne. he tells her that his name is Drake Shannon, and that he used to be her father's partner in starting the cycle show. Shannon was a reckless person, and when he realized he couldn't get along with Crash, he challenged him to a cross-country race, the winner of which would get sole ownership of the show. During the race, Shannon attempted to run his former partner off the road, but instead caused himself to wreck, his cycle flipping at 95 miles an hour, throwing him into a skid across the tarmac for more than 25 yards...on his face. He's wanted nothing but revenge ever since, and he was approached by an organization called "They", who gave him his hypnotic helmet. He then removes the helmet and shows Roxanne his hideously disfigured face. Blaze then enters the lair with the ownership papers to the cycle show, demanding that he and Roxanne be allowed to leave. The Orb instead commands his men to open fire on the two, but the gang is stopped by the entrance of Spider-Man. The Orb jumps on his cycle and again kidnaps Roxanne, forcing the Ghost Rider and Spider-Man to jump on cycles of their own and give chase. The chase leads them out of the lair, which is the power room to an abandoned subway rail, and into Grand Central Station. Spider-Man shoots a strand of web that grabs hold of Roxanne, freeing the girl from the Orb's grasp. With Spider-Man making sure the girl is safe, Blaze chases the Orb back onto the subway rails, but the villain fails to see an oncoming train. The subway train crushes the villain, and Blaze narrowly avoids the same fate by grabbing onto a railing attached to the ceiling. He then returns to the platform, the ownership papers in his hand. He sets the papers afire with his hellfire, saying that he's almost glad the Orb didn't live long enough to find that the papers were worthless forgeries. Blaze and Roxanne then part company with Spider-Man, saying that perhaps they will meet again.

THE ROADMAP
This over-sized Treasury Edition, subtitled "The Astonishing Spider-Man", contained selected reprints showcasing Spider-Man's team-ups with other characters, including the X-Men (Marvel Team-Up # 4), Werewolf by Night (Marvel Team-Up # 12), Ghost Rider (Marvel Team-Up # 15), and Iron Fist (Marvel Team-Up # 31).

Inner Demons Episode 52 - "The Exorcism of Katy Milner"



The Power of Inner Demons Compels You! We here at the show are used to those pesky demonic interlopers...you know, like the one that's possessing good old Frank Castle in some of tonight's comics from "Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider" Issues 3 & 4.

But poor Roxanne...I mean, Katy Milner, is having her own demonic problems this time with "Ghost Rider" Issue 17 from the 1970s. So much so, that our buddy Blaze has to phone a friend and get the Son of Satan himself to lend an Exorcist hand. 

And with "The Champions" # 3. you'll think that something new has come over Johnny Blaze, as well, considering the fact that he has the guts to walk on up to Zeus and give him a heart to heart talk. 

Our last review is "Ghost Rider" Issue 14 from the 2000s, in which Flamehead finally figures  out a way to take down Lucifer for good. 

Stay tuned for a very special #PostWritersGR segment with listener feedback from fans like you! 

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from StitcheriTunes, or Google Podcasts.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!

Inner Demons Episode 51 - "Flipper: The Dolphin of Vengeance"


These days we all miss hanging out with our old buddies. Well, in Ghost Rider (2019) Issues 5 & 6, our pal Danny Ketch meets up with his Hearts of Darkness bros Frank Castle and Logan. And when they get through with each other, they'll wish they had socially distanced!

Next onto the totally nuts Ghost Rider Issue 16 from 1976...the one where the villain's dastardly plan has him using mating calls to place explosives on dolphins' backs. And things turn from bad to worse when a Great White Shark shows up for about a page and a half. 



But hopefully that last review won't "sink" your hopes, because Brian takes on the recent Poll winners and World War Hulk tie-in of Ghost Rider (2006) Issues 12 and 13 in which Johnny Blaze is dumb enough to stand between a furious Bruce Banner and his own revenge on Earth's Heroes.


You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from StitcheriTunes, or Google Podcasts.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!

Inner Demons Episode 50 - "Scraping at the DoOoOor!"


Only a madman would venture into watching crazy Nic Cage movies for the enjoyment of the listeners. But is he really mad...or just possessed? Brian, host of Inner Demons, climbs aboard that flaming piece of construction equipment and heads headlong into the feature length commentary of "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance."

Thankfully, he won't be making the trip alone as he drags fellow genre fan (but GR Noob) Joe Zola into the fray. Will these life-long friends make it through this Cage-Rage ordeal OR will they part ways on this Highway to Hell?

But more importantly, why are Twinkies so indestructible? 

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from StitcheriTunes, or Google Podcasts.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!

Inner Demons Episode 49 - "The Revenge of Ghost Rider's Mother 2099"




Some people say that Ghost Rider has a face that only a mother could love...but how about his old foe Lilith? So this Episode, Brian hopes to figure it out with the "Spirits of Ghost Rider" One-Shot called Mother of Demons. From there we take a trip across the galaxy with future Frank Castle in the pages of Revenge of the Cosmic Ghost Rider Issues 1 & 2. 

If that wasn't enough, Inner Demons travels to both the far future and several decades in the past with the next two issues. First, is the recent Ghost Rider 2099 Issue 1 that has a retelling of Zero Cochrane's origin. Lastly, how does a man with a giant Eye-Ball for a head successfully navigate the Ventura Freeway? Let's check out 1975's Ghost Rider #15 starring The Orb to find out. 

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from StitcheriTunes, or Google Podcasts.  

You can also find us on Facebook, just search for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!

Inner Demons Episode 48 - "Blazing A New Path"


Inner Demons returns with a new format but same thirst for Vengeance! Chris Munn has handed the keys of the Hellcycle to host Brian and his first pit-stop on this Highway to Hell is Ghost Rider (2019) Issues #3 and #4. What could possibly go wrong when Danny Ketch is given new powers and abilities to take on King of Hell Johnny Blaze? Next up is Ghost Rider (2006) #13...where two flaming heads are better than one as GR finishes the fight against Lucifer/Jack O'Lantern. Lastly, is the winner of the last fan poll, Ghost Rider (1990) Issue 20 as GR has to contend with the Astrological A-hole Zodiak AND the immortal death-seeker Suicide.


You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from StitcheriTunes, or Google Podcasts.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!