Cover Date: October 1977
On Sale Date: July 1977
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Irv Watanabe
Colorist: uncredited
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Cover Artist: Carmine Infantino
The masked stuntman known as the Human Fly performs a magnificent stunt for Cyrus T. Barker’s “Daredevil Death-Defiers Show” and afterwards meets Johnny Blaze, who is performing in a later event at the show. Reporter Harmony White, determined to unmask the Human Fly, sees him going into the trailer of Alex Marks, who she believes could be the Fly. Marks tells her that he was a Formula One driver who nearly died in a crash and it was the Human Fly who helped him to walk again.
The next day, the main event of the show, “The Doomsday Race”, is set to begin with both Johnny Blaze and Alex Marks participating. Unknown to everyone, however, is that the Human Fly has taken Marks’ place in his racing car. When the race starts the participants discover that the desert is trapped with spikes that shoot out of the ground, destroying their cars. Only Blaze and the Fly make it through to the second obstacle, which is a set of bridges that turn to drop the racers into the river. Blaze transforms into the Ghost Rider on his way down, realizing he would never survive the fall otherwise, while the Human Fly is barely able to make it across. When Ghost Rider emerges from the water, the surface ignites due to oil that had been placed there, dooming any survivors to a fiery death. Ghost Rider catches up to the Fly, who tells him that he suspected the race to be rigged, which is why he took Marks’ place. The two make their way through the final trap while Barker watches with binoculars, amazed that they survived. He attempts to run away with the money from the race’s prize and proceeds but is stopped by Alex Marks and Harmony White. Later, the Human Fly and Marks part ways with Johnny Blaze, the three of them having donated their winnings to charity in the Human Fly’s name.
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| Nice transition sequence! |
THE ROADMAP
Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1973) # 25 and appears next alongside the Champions in Iron Man (1968) Annual # 4
The Human Fly was a comic series based around a real-life masked stuntman whose identity was kept a secret. The series lasted for 11 issues and neither the character nor the real person have been seen since the late 1970s.
CHAIN REACTION
To read my review of The Human Fly (1977) # 2 see my book Wheels On Fire: An Unofficial Guide to Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider: 1972-1983!
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