Darkhold: Pages From the Book of Sins (1992) # 1

"Rise of the Midnight Sons, Part 4: Black Letter"

Cover Date: October 1992; On Sale Date: August 1992

Writer: Christian Cooper; Artist: Richard Case; Inker: Mark McKenna; Letterer: Phil Felix; Colorist: Glynis Oliver; Editor: Bobbie Chase; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Richard Case

In New York City, a mysterious dwarf delivers a black letter to aging record producer Donald Walsh. Later that night, Walsh goes home and kills his wife by transforming into a swarm of worms. In Rome, nurse Victoria Montesi experiences a vision of Walsh’s transformation while out to lunch with her roommate Nash. When the two go back to their apartment they are caught by an explosion triggered by them opening the door. Montesi wakes up in the hospital and is visited by her father, Vittorio Montesi, and Sam Buchanan, an Interpol agent assigned by the Vatican to protect her. Vittorio explains all about the Darkhold, the so-called “Book of Sins” that their family has sworn to protect through the generations. Vicki refuses to believe the stories of the Darkhold, even when she experiences another vision of the people around her being consumed by worms. Meanwhile, back in New York, Oxford Professor Louise Hastings is approached by John Blaze, who takes her to a back alley to meet Ghost Rider. The two explain that they saw Louise and others in a vision of a world overrun by Lilith and her demonic children.

At the hospital in Rome, a ninja attempts to kill Vicki in her bed, but finds that she has snuck out. She’s attacked on the streets by more ninjas, who she realizes are the Darkholders, a secret cult who worship the Book of Sins. Buchanan rescues her from the ninjas and, against his better judgment, agrees to go with her to New York to discover the source of her visions. At that moment, Lilith meets with the leaders of the Darkholders, who give some of their men for the Lilin Doc to reshape into demonic killers.

Later, Vicki and Sam arrive at the Walsh home, which has been taped off as a crime scene. Inside the empty home they find the black letter and Louise Hastings, who tells them that the police flew her in to consult on the case when the letter was found to contain a missing page from the Darkhold. Louise explains that the Darkhold was written by the Elder God Chthon and would one day summon him home from exile. The recovered page translates into a spell for immortality as a swarm of worms. The trio are attacked by Donald Walsh, who has transformed into a creature comprised of worms. Ghost Rider and Blaze crash through the window and drive Walsh away, but not before they capture some of the worms.

Soon, at a hotel in Manhattan, Walsh is interrogated and reveals that the letter was delivered by a dwarf; when he read the words on the page, a creature called “the Other” appeared and offered him his greatest wish, to live forever. He didn’t know it would be as a rotting pile of worms who has to consume other living beings. Later, Walsh reforms inside the hotel to try and kill Vicki and when she runs Louise tells Blaze and Buchanan to not use their guns. Vicki leads Walsh to Central Park, where she and the others are also confronted by Lilith and the transformed Darkholders. Before Walsh can kill Vicki a swarm of birds appears to devour all of the worms, killing Walsh. While Lilith attempts to teleport away, she is struck by a blast of hellfire from Blaze’s shotgun before she escapes, though she leaves her Lilin daughter Nakota behind. Sam realizes that any gunfire would have scared away the birds, which had been Louise’s plan all along. While Ghost Rider and Blaze continue their fight against Lilith, the other three decided to stay together to search for more missing pages of the Darkhold. Elsewhere, an arsonist at the Library of Congress is approached by the Dwarf.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 112

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 6: Showdown"

Cover Date: August 1992; Publication Date: June 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch; Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Fred Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

Ghost Rider and Jack Russell are on the trail of the Braineaters, who are chasing the young boy Billy.  Russell takes silver bullets and merges them with Ghost Rider's chain, which when thrown into the Braineaters prevents them from ever becoming werewolves again, causing their deaths if they attempt to transform.  The gang's leader, Scuzz, arrives and battles Ghost Rider on the rooftop of a building, but allows himself to be impaled on a spiked fence rather than become a normal human again.  Later, Dan Ketch and Jack Russell talk about how Billy has been reunited with his remaining family.  Dan laments that he's unable to control the Ghost Rider, so before he leaves Jack tells him that if he ever needs a friend he just has to listen for the howling to know he's there with him.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 111

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 5: Roadkill"

Cover Date: August 1992; Publication Date: June 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch; Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Fred Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

Danny Ketch wakes up in the sewer with Jack Russell, remembering nothing since he was beaten nearly to death outside the Black Moon Bar & Grill, the headquarters of the Braineaters.  At the bar, the leader of the Braineaters named Scuzz tells the gang's human concubine Lupe that the kid they were holding hostage has outlived his usefulness.  Remembering what Dan said to her before he was savagely beaten, Lupe manipulates the Braineaters into fighting one another while she escapes with Billy.  The bikers quickly realize what's happened and give chase after them.  Lupe tells Billy to keep running and stands defiant, but the Braineaters all just ride past her on their bikes.  Only Scuzz stops, wanting the pleasure of killing Lupe himself.  Dan and Jack arrive at the bar and find the dying Lupe in the alley, and with her dying words she asks Dan if she "did good".  Dan transforms into an enraged Ghost Rider, who chases down Scuzz and punches him against a wall.  Scuzz, however, says that in the time it takes to kill him the rest of the Braineaters will have found and killed Billy, so what will Ghost Rider chose to do: kill Scuzz or save Billy?

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 110

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 4: Under Cover at the Black Moon Bar and Grill"

Cover Date: July 1992; Publication Date: May 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch; Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Fred Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

With the Braineaters holding the little boy Billy hostage and Jack Russell seemingly dead, Ghost Rider has surrendered himself and has had his limbs chained to motorcycles.  When the Braineaters attempt to rip him apart, Ghost Rider is able to break the chains, but the werewolves escape with Billy still in their possession.  The weakened Ghost Rider is found by Russell, who barely survived his fall of the bridge.  Jack has a plan and sends Dan Ketch out to local bars to try and locate the Braineaters in their human forms.  At the Black Moon Bar & Grill, Dan finds the Braineaters and strikes up a conversation with their human concubine, Lupe.  Dan sees through the girl's tough exterior and tries to appeal to the good inside her, but he's interrupted by the Braineaters.  They drag him outside of the bar and beat him nearly to death, leaving him unconscious in the alley.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 109

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 3: Battle on the Brooklyn Bridge"

Cover Date: July 1992; Publication Date: May 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch; Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Freddy Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

The Werewolf confronts Danny Ketch in the cemetery, but transforms back into Jack Russell to propose a partnership. He tells Danny about the Braineaters, a biker gang of werewolves that he's encountered before and feels obligated to stop.  Realizing that the boy, Billy Baldwin, witnessed the Braineaters in their human forms the two vigilantes track him to the Brooklyn Bridge, where he's being chased by the Braineaters.  A motorcycle battle commences, but Russell is knocked off the bridge and Billy is grabbed by the werewolves, who demand Ghost Rider's surrender.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 108

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 2: Claw and Bone"

Cover Date: June 1992; Publication Date: April 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti & Ken Branch; Letterer: Steve Dutro; Colorist: Freddy Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

A young boy named Billy Baldwin just watched a pack of werewolves kill a couple in the park and is now witnessing Ghost Rider and the Werewolf by Night, each thinking the other to be the killer, fight.  The battle is brief as they quickly uncover Billy, who says that neither of them killed the couple.  Billy runs away and Ghost Rider departs, leaving the Werewolf to decide which one to follow.  At the Baldwin home, the werewolf gang the Braineaters have come looking for Billy, torturing and killing his family while their human concubine Lupe watches.  Finally, at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Ghost Rider transforms back into Danny Ketch, who then sees the Werewolf by Night looming over him.

Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 107

"Return of the Braineaters, Part 1: Bad Moon Rising"

Cover Date: June 1992; Publication Date: April 1992

Writer: Chris Cooper; Artist: John Stanisci; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti; Letterer: Mike Heisler & Steve Dutro; Colorist: Freddy Mendez; Editor: Terry Kavanagh; Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco; Cover Artist: Sam Keith

In Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Ghost Rider discovers the mutilated body of a person that appears to have been mauled by a large beast.  The next day, Jack Russell reads about the murder in the newspaper and goes off to find the killers, thinking to himself that he's been tracking them across the country.  That night, a young couple is being mugged by a large biker, but the mugger flees on his motorcycle when he's interrupted by a group of bikers that have their own plans for the couple.

Later, Jack is in the park searching for the killers while a group of kids play nearby.  One of the kids named Billy accidentally sees the bikers killing the couple; they are the Braineaters, a group of werewolves that kill indiscriminately.  Billy overhears them discussing how another gang of Braineaters encountered Jack Russell and were wiped out, which this gang's leader Scuzz says happened because they forgot the first rule: anyone who sees them change has to die.  Ghost Rider deals with some criminals in the city, then makes his way toward the park.  Billy is discovered by the Braineaters, who give chase after him, and Jack arrives just in time to discover the bodies of the couple they killed.  Ghost Rider appears on his motorcycle and, upon seeing Jack in his werewolf form, assumes he is the killer he's been searching for and attacks.

Ghost Rider Collector's Edition (1993) # 1

"Eye of the Beholder!"

Cover Date: 1993
On Sale Date: October 1993

Writer: Chris Cooper
Artist: John Hebert
Inker: Bill Anderson
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Editor: Glenn Herdling
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: John Hebert

During a funeral held at Cypress Hills Cemetery, three criminals threaten the mourners at gunpoint, demanding their cash and valuables. Before they can hurt anyone, they are stopped by the Ghost Rider, who gives the first hood a dose of the Penance Stare. Outside the cemetery gates, Kirsten Crowley waits behind the wheel of the crooks' getaway van and admires herself in the rear-view mirror. She sees her partners fleeing the cemetery with Ghost Rider giving chase, so she abandons them and drives away. When she reaches the bridge, she realizes that Ghost Rider has pursued her, and in an attempt to out-maneuver him she runs the van off the bridge. She's caught by the Ghost Rider's chain, but when he takes her hand to pull her up the right side of her body is consumed by hellfire. Before he can get answers as to why this happened, the sound of police sirens force the Rider to depart. Back at the Cemetery, Ghost Rider transforms into Dan Ketch, who regrets what happened to Kirsten. The Caretaker appears and tells him to stop whining and visit her at the hospital if he's that worried about her.

The next day, Dan arrives at the hospital with flowers in his guise as a motorcycle messenger. As he walks to her room, he overhears two doctors talking about Kirsten being a confirmed mutant. Dan concludes that it must have been her latent mutant powers that caused the reaction with Ghost Rider's hellfire. He enters the room, and finds that the right side of Kirsten's body has been horribly burned and disfigured. She angrily knocks the flowers from his hand, and when a nurse enters to help pick them up Crowley yells at them to get out of her room. After they leave, Kirsten's anger at how she used to beautiful causes her mutant powers to activate, setting the right half of her body on fire once again. She starts terrorizing the hospital, forcing Dan to transform into Ghost Rider in order to stop her. She attacks the Rider, and at first he takes the fire blasts without fighting back, as he blames himself for what happened to her. When she turns her attention to the innocent bystanders, however, he realizes that the only person to blame for her cruel fate was Kirsten herself. Ghost Rider grabs her from behind and gives her the Penance Stare, which forces her to see the ugliness within her soul instead of her outward appearance. She collapses to the floor and the Rider leaves; but when she asks for help, the nurse she threatened to kill is there to embrace her.

Harvey Dent's understudy.

THE ROADMAP

This limited-edition comic was available exclusively through Kay Bee Toys as a promotional giveaway attached to the X-Men game for the Sega Genesis. As a result, this comic is incredibly rare and hard to find. Copies do pop up on eBay on occasion, though usually with a high price.

Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 38  and he makes his next appearance in Nightstalkers (1992) # 7.

CHAIN REACTION

Ghost Rider Collector's Edition # 1 - frequently referred to as "Ghost Rider: Hot Pursuit" due to the cover blurb - is near-mythical amongst Flameheads.

I remember seeing the advertisements for this promotional comic in the regular Ghost Rider comic in the mid-90s, and I so badly wanted to get it. Unfortunately, there wasn't a Kay Bee Toys anywhere near where I lived, so I had no way of tracking one down. In fact, it wasn't until last year that I got my hands on a copy through the wonders of eBay, even if it did cost me a pretty penny to purchase. Sadly, it didn't live up to the years of anticipation I had for it; though I shouldn't have been surprised, considering it was a promotional comic with a fill-in creative team doing a totally inconsequential stand-alone story.

The story isn't that bad, but its nothing phenomenal either. The most interesting aspect is Ghost Rider's feelings of guilt over what happened to Kirsten Crowley, and the responsibility he feels when she finally gets to seek her revenge against him. Kirsten's a bit of a shallow character, the stereotypical narcissist concerned only with her physical beauty, and once that beauty's taken away she blames everyone but herself. As Ghost Rider eventually realizes, its no one's fault but her own due to the choices she made in her life. If it hadn't been hellfire that destroyed her, it eventually would have been something else. We also get the typical "feel good ending" with the nurse accepting Kirsten's pleas for help, while the Spirit of Vengeance drives on to its next destination. Its a simple story, but it gets its point across fairly well.

I'm unfamiliar with artist John Hebert, other than seeing his artwork on another Ghost Rider story in one of Marvel's Holiday Specials from around the same time as this comic. He's certainly at the start of his career, with the expected amateur bits to his work, but for the most part he does a solid job. In particular, he does a good rendition of Ghost Rider himself, which is certainly the most important part to get right. The only complaint I have, really, is his design for Kirsten while she's in the hospital. Would a severe burn victim really be dressed in what looks like body armor? I suppose its supposed to be some sort of rejuvenating outfit, but it looks way too "super-villain" to be taken seriously.

This isn't a bad comic, far from it in fact. But unless you're a die-hard Ghost Rider fanatic who absolutely has to own every one of his comics (which I admit to being one of those, sad to say, lol) I can't recommend it due to the high price tag it carries today.

Not the jacket, anything but the jacket!